Spectres of In/Visibility: Filipina/o Lives in Canada- A National Symposium

Leading scholars will convene to address the absence of academic and policy discussions on Filipinos in Canada, the third largest non-European ethnic group in the country.
"Spectres of In/Visibility" will be held at the University of Toronto.

The symposium's featured speakers will include Dr. Eleanor Ty of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, Dr. Leonora Angeles of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, and Dr. Bonnie McElhinny of Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies at the University of Toronto.

According to the 2006 Statistics Canada Profile, the Filipino population in Canada is estimated to be 436,190 people. Although 31% of Filipinos have university degrees and 72% participate in the labour force, Filipinos in Canada make $5,000 less than the national average income. The Filipino community in Canada also has a higher proportion of women compared to the national population (57% compared to 51% nationally). Many of these women have come to Canada through the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), a federal work program that has garnered considerable attention among policymakers and in the media in recent months.

The symposium will focus on migration, labour, race, and gender issues, and will also showcase other topics, such as arts, health, and politics. John Paul C. Catungal, a graduate student in Geography at the University of Toronto, says that this broader view is necessary to expand the prevailing attention on the LCP and youth violence. He notes, "While the experiences of caregivers and at-risk youth are important, we want to go beyond
stereotypical 'nannies and gangsters' representations and explore the complexities of Filipino lives in Canada."

"The symposium was developed out of a community need to fill the research gap on Filipinos in Canada," says Dr. Roland Sintos Coloma, a faculty member in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education and the only Filipino professor at the University of Toronto. He adds, "It will be a groundbreaking gathering. It will bring together a critical mass of scholars throughout
Canada, for the first time, to develop a national academic platform for Filipino Canadian Studies."

The symposium is free and open to the public. It is organized by Kritikal Kolektibo, a group of faculty and graduate students interested in Filipino Studies at the University of Toronto. This event is sponsored by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and a number of faculties, institutes, and departments at the university. The registration form and
schedule are available online at http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rsc/filcan2009/.

Contact:
Roland Sintos Coloma, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Sociology and Equity Studies in Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto
Office Phone: (416) 978-0462
Email: roland.coloma@utoronto.ca

For event details and registration, please go to:
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/rsc/filcan2009/