Meeting of the minds

The Meeting of the Minds (Montreal, November 14-15) is an in-person gathering and conference designed to create space for a rich collection of voices from multiple disciplines. Building on the interdisciplinary dialogue initiated by the Mindset Sessions, the event aims to foster collective, innovative responses to the challenges and opportunities shaping today’s realities of higher education. We look forward to welcoming participants from across the educational spectrum—senior researchers, educators, early-career academics, teachers, administrators, and support staff—from Quebec, the rest of Canada, and abroad.

The CLIC project was created in response to a moment on our professional journey as language teachers when it became apparent to us how much richness we were encountering each time we communicated with our students. Their bravery and openmindedness in embracing a new culture, its languages, norms and perspectives may often be taken for granted, while their cultures and languages that they bring into the class meetings can too often be put to the side.

The CLIC project aims to change this by creating a space where the student experience comes first, and we as teachers become facilitators in the discovery and acquisition of new languages and cultures that come with it; where students become ambassadors of their languages and cultures; where we feel free to explore our multiple identities and celebrate them, learn from each other, and accept each other.

The CLIC Project recognizes the socially, culturally and historically situated nature of L2 learning and seeks to promote multicultural consciousness and awareness of the alienating forces of racism and sexism, among other hierarchical power dynamics. CLIC is committed to inclusive pedagogy, intercultural learning and equitable partnerships. Its endeavors aim to foster linguistic competency and civic literacy by creating resources, opportunities and learning spaces that invite and respect a diversity of voices and talents, explore multidimensional and cross-cultural perspectives and advance creative collaborations.