To introduce communities to the Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA), project lead – Moska Rokay – will be hosting three virtual sessions from December 2020 through January 2021.
The sessions will be held on Zoom and will be recorded (in true archival fashion).
The need for a Muslim community archive The chance to tell your story in your own words is power. For a very long time, Canadian Muslim communities have had their representations, stories, and identities shaped by mainstream media, overwhelmingly non-Muslim and burdened with narratives of terrorism, war, violence, Islamophobia, and extremism. To talk back to such narratives is to take back the reins of representation, and create the possibility of a more robust, diverse, and representative account of Muslims in Canada. As our environmental scan has already shown, the need for such an archive is paramount in Canada.
The time is now for Muslims in Canada to seize their narrative power.
The powerful stories “stuff” can tell That’s why MiCA is interested in the stories that “stuff” can tell. From photographs, postcards, and family movies to collections amassed over time, an archive of records that’s made up of Canadian Muslim communities and individuals, has the potential to transform how people understand and appreciate the history of Muslims in Canada.
Webinar #1 THE VALUE OF ARCHIVES Tuesday, December 8, 2020 7:00pm to 8:30pm (EST) Register here
The first session will introduce people to the value of archives, present the Muslims in Canada Archives (MiCA), and celebrate the late Daood Hamdani’s significant contributions to understanding Muslim Canadian history and demographics.
Webinar #2 THE STORIES IN ARCHIVES Tuesday, December 12, 2020 7:00pm to 8:30pm (EST) Register here
The second session will explore how archival materials help us better understand the histories of Muslims in Canada past and present, as well as the long-term benefits for future generations. The session will also discuss opportunities for Muslim communities to exert their narrative power, how MiCA enables this, and will end with a conversation about MiCA’s future potentials/uses for community members.
Webinar #3 CONTRIBUTING TO THE MUSLIMS IN CANADA ARCHIVES Tuesday, January 12, 2021 7:00pm to 8:30pm (EST) Register here
The final session invites interested community members to participate in MiCA. The session will walk through the submission process, what the archival team does with your records, and how donors and funders can be involved to help make MiCA’s vision a reality.
********
About MiCA
MiCA is a collaborative and participatory initiative at the Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS), that provides a platform to present the rich experiences of Muslims in Canada.
MiCA acquires, organizes, preserves, and makes accessible records of and about Canadian Muslim individuals and organizations that possess enduring value for the preservation of the history and documentary heritage of Muslims in Canada.
Postdoctoral Fellow Sana Patel was recently featured on The Scope (BritishMuslimTV) alongside Leila Bdeir to discuss Islamophobia in Canada. Sana explained that Canada has a long history of Islamophobia which includes American influence. She also described the ways in which online spaces allow Islamophobia to prevail due to their unregulated characteristics. You can view the full episode at: […]
We’re excited to share with you a new article from the Reading Muslims project. This entry – written by Jeffrey G. Reitz and co-authors Patrick Simon and Emily Laxer – outlines the findings from a comparative study on Canada’s and France’s effectiveness in integrating their Muslim minorities. The study questioned the narrative of Canada’s presumed […]
The Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS) is hiring for two positions: Business Officer & Administrative, Outreach and Communications Assistant to the Director. Given the expanding scope and operations, the IIS is bringing on more staff to enhance and support its various projects and work. We encourage anyone interested in working at the IIS to carefully […]