On April 28th and 29th, 2025, the Research for Social Change Lab, located at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, hosted an Institutional Ethnography Activist Scholar Open School. This event was grounded in George Smith’s work “Political Activist as Ethnographer” and brought people together from across Canada to listen to experts in the IE field and engage in discussion.

The event invited participants to reflect on the ideas and issues discussed not just through thought but also creatively by encouraging them to make art throughout the event, with the afternoon of the second day spent engaging with various forms of creative activity, such as button making, silk screening, and zine making.

The Open School also provided students working in and around IE to present some of their research and receive feedback from fellow attendees.

This event would not have been possible without support from Trent University’s Interdisciplinary Social Research (IDSR) program, the work of our keynote speakers, Dr. Eric Mykhalovskiy, Dr. Colin Hastings, Dr. Viviane Namaste, Dr. Alexander McClelland and Dr. Mitchell McLarnon and the work of the Research for Social Change Lab’s director, Dr. Naomi Nichols. A special thank you to Brian Nichols for coordinating the art-making aspects of the event.

Video recordings of two of the keynote presentations will be available for viewing shortly - stay tuned!

On the second day, participants heard from keynote speakers Dr. Eric Mykhalovskiy and Dr. Colin Hastings reflect on a recorded conversation Dr. Mykhalovskiy had with George Smith as he was beginning his PhD project.

After another round of presentations from students, participants spent the rest of the afternoon engaging in creatively reflecting on the ideas. Participants developed a range of artistic pieces, from silk-screened t-shirts to buttons to the creation of zines.

On the first day, participants heard from keynote speakers Dr. Viviane Namaste and Dr. Alexander McClelland and their work on actioning IE in the realm of public health surveillance of HIV. In the afternoon, participants broke out into smaller groups to discuss the theory behind activist scholarship, the ethics of activist research and different kinds of activist methodologies.

The group reconvened to hear presentations from students who received feedback from the activist scholars in attendance. To end the day, attendees listened to Dr. Naomi Nichols and Dr. Mitchell McLarnon discuss how research can be used to advance housing justice.