University College

Before handing the reins on to the next cohort, this year’s UC Literary and Athletic Society brought the iconic Fireball dance back to the University College building after years of disruption.

Read more about the work behind one of campus’ most cherished traditions before we celebrate our newest graduates at tomorrow’s convocation ceremonies. 🎉🎓

Read more at the QR code and link in bio.

UC ceremonies stream at 11 and 1:30 pm — see you there!

Four of sixteen exceptional students will join University College in 2026 from the inaugural cohort of at the University of Toronto.
 
With program delivery in partnership with and the , Wolf Scholars are selected from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants and distinguished by their intellectual curiosity, leadership potential and strength of character. These students will begin their undergraduate studies across the faculty this September.
 
A warm welcome to incoming students, Ifechi, Nargis, Jiya, and Alexander! (left to right, top to bottom) 🎉
 
Learn more about UC’s Wolf Scholars at the link in bio or in post.




 
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It was a delight to host Nandini Das of the University of Oxford for the W. J. Alexander Lecture in English — the last public lecture of the the 2025-26 year 📖🎉

Thank you to all who attended and our colleagues in the department of English for co-organizing and facilitating the graduate masterclass. We look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s lectures!

🎬 Experience ‘Aki’ (2025) live with University College, Cinema Studies and the Canadian Film Forum. Meet the director Darlene Naponse at the ensuing panel discussion and Q&A with Julia Pegahmagabow and the 2025-26 Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor Wanda Nanibush.

📆When:
Sunday, April 26th, 2026
Doors open at 2:30 pm ET
Programming starts at 3:00 pm

📍Where:
Innis Town Hall, Innis College
2 Sussex Ave., Toronto, ON
M5S 1J5

The event is free, and all are welcome, though registration is required. Learn more & register via the QR code in post or the UC website!

Darlene Naponse is an Anishinaabe Kwe from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Northern Ontario. She is a writer, film director, and video artist. Naponse completed a Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts and was the 2017 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize Finalist. Her features include ‘Cradlesong’ (2003), ‘Every Emotion Costs’ (2010), ‘Falls Around Her ‘(2018) and ‘Stellar’ (2022). ‘Aki’ (2025) is her latest film.
Wanda Nanibush is the 2025-26 Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor at University College. She is an Anishinaabe-kwe image and word warrior, curator and community organizer from Beausoleil First Nation. She is the Helen Frankenthaler Visiting Professor in Curating in the PhD Program in Art History at CUNY in 2025 in the Graduate Department of Art History. Nanibush is part of the curatorial team for Counterpublic 2026, St.Louis’ Triennial. She is also the founder of aabaakwad, an international yearly gathering of over 80 Indigenous curators, writers and artists.



Julia Pegahmegabow is the founding executive director (eniigaanizid) of Akinoomoshin Inc. an anishinaabe being (aadiziwin) education organization situated in the community of adikamegshiing (Atikameksheng Anishnawbek). The work of Akinoomoshin Inc. is dedicated to transforming the learning experience for anishinaabek through Anishinaabemowin (language) immersion, anishinaabe kendasowin (knowing), and aki kendaman (earth learning) in a teaching lodge learning environment called akinoomoshin wiigwam.

🎬 Experience ‘Aki’ (2025) live with University College, Cinema Studies and the Canadian Film Forum. Meet the director Darlene Naponse at the ensuing panel discussion and Q&A with Julia Pegahmagabow and the 2025-26 Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor Wanda Nanibush.

📅 When:     
Sunday, April 26th, 2026  
Doors open at 2:30 pm ET 
Programming starts at 3:00 pm
 
📍Where:    
Innis Town Hall, Innis College  
2 Sussex Ave., Toronto, ON 
M5S 1J5

The event is free, and all are welcome, though registration is required. Learn more & register via the QR code in post or the UC website!
 

Darlene Naponse is an Anishinaabe Kwe from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Northern Ontario. She is a writer, film director, and video artist. Naponse completed a Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts and was the 2017 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize Finalist. Her features include ‘Cradlesong’ (2003), ‘Every Emotion Costs’ (2010), ‘Falls Around Her ‘(2018) and ‘Stellar’ (2022). ‘Aki’ (2025) is her latest film. 



Wanda Nanibush is the 2025-26 Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor at University College. She is an Anishinaabe-kwe image and word warrior, curator and community organizer from Beausoleil First Nation. She is the Helen Frankenthaler Visiting Professor in Curating in the PhD Program in Art History at CUNY in 2025 in the Graduate Department of Art History. Nanibush is part of the curatorial team for Counterpublic 2026, St.Louis’ Triennial. She is also the founder of aabaakwad, an international yearly gathering of over 80 Indigenous curators, writers and artists.



Julia Pegahmegabow is the founding executive director (eniigaanizid) of Akinoomoshin Inc. an anishinaabe being (aadiziwin) education organization situated in the community of adikamegshiing (Atikameksheng Anishnawbek). The work of Akinoomoshin Inc. is dedicated to transforming the learning experience for anishinaabek through Anishinaabemowin (language) immersion, anishinaabe kendasowin (knowing), and aki kendaman (earth learning) in a teaching lodge learning environment called akinoomoshin wiigwam.

🎬 Presenting the 2025-26 Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor Event

Experience ‘Aki’ (2025) live at an in-person film screening and panel discussion with the director, Darlene Naponse, hosted by the 2025-26 Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor, Wanda Nanibush. 
 
📅 When:     
Sunday, April 26th, 2026  
Doors open at 2:30 pm ET 
Programming starts at 3:00 pm
 
📍Where:    
Innis Town Hall, Innis College  
2 Sussex Ave., Toronto, ON 
M5S 1J5

This event is co-organized with the and the Canadian Film Forum. The event is free, and all are welcome, though registration is required.
 
Learn more & register via the QR code in post or the UC website!





Darlene Naponse is an Anishinaabe Kwe from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Northern Ontario. She is a writer, film director, and video artist. Naponse completed a Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts and was the 2017 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize Finalist. Her features include ‘Cradlesong’ (2003), ‘Every Emotion Costs’ (2010), ‘Falls Around Her’ (2018) and ‘Stellar’ (2022). ‘Aki’ (2025) is her latest film. 


 
Wanda Nanibush is the 2025-26 Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor at University College. She is an Anishinaabe-kwe image and word warrior, curator and community organizer from Beausoleil First Nation. She recently won the Toronto Book Award for her co-authored book Moving the Museum, and is the Helen Frankenthaler Visiting Professor in Curating in the PhD Program in Art History at CUNY in 2025 in the Graduate Department of Art History. Nanibush is part of the curatorial team for Counterpublic 2026, St.Louis’ Triennial, and in 2024, was awarded The Hnatyshyn Foundation Mid-Career Award for Curatorial Excellence. She is also the founder of ‘aabaakwad’, an international yearly gathering of over 80 Indigenous curators, writers and artists.

Nice to ‘C’‘U’ at UConnect 2026 ✨💼🔗😎🫰

UC students and the Office of the Dean of Students hosted the annual student-run UConnect Student Leadership Conference. The day-long event featured a full roster of programming, including information panels, a keynote presentation, and workshops to help attendees learn practical tools and skills to further their leadership goals.

Learn more via the link in post or on our website.

Storytelling can be a powerful way to explore identity, community and lived experience.

Artist and educator Theo Cuthand, recently named the 2025/26 Artist-in-Residence at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, uses film and video games to do exactly that.

Through his work, he invites audiences to reflect on Indigenous identity, queerness and resistance in meaningful ways.

We are proud to share stories like this from our University College community 💙

📖 Read more:

Through film and video games, Theo Cuthand explores Indigenous identity, resistance and lived experiences Theo Cuthand is an accomplished storyteller who uses multiple mediums to entertain as well as inform audiences about the nuances of Indigenous identity.

“I wanted to do something that will help U of T students forever.”
University College alumnus Amir Hussain (BSc 1987 UC) established the Shannon L. Hamm Award more than 30 years ago to honour his late wife and fellow alum, Shannon Hamm. Since 1993, the award has supported more than 50 students in the Peace, Conflict and Justice program, helping them pursue research, internships and studies focused on building a more just world.

Through his enduring generosity, Shannon’s legacy continues to inspire new generations of students committed to peace and justice.

Read more: https://www.uc.utoronto.ca/news/i-wanted-do-something-will-help-u-t-students-forever-uc-alum-amir-hussain-honours-late-wife

Join us as The University of Oxford’s Nandini Das presents ‘On Belonging’. Belonging is commonly understood as a matter of identity, attachment, or legal recognition. The 2025-26 Alexander Lecture approaches it instead as a precarious public condition: the capacity to appear, act, and be judged within a shared world. Drawing on sixteenth and early seventeenth-century England, a society simultaneously obsessed with borders and shaped by movement, ‘On Belonging’ argues that belonging was neither natural nor secure, and examines literature as a site where it was tested under pressure. The figures and texts at its center reveal belonging as a reversible position, shaped by language, faith, usefulness, and narrative continuity, and always vulnerable to withdrawal. 
  
📅 When:    
Tuesday, March 31st, 2026 
4:30-6:00 p.m. ET  
  
📍Where:   
Paul Cadario Conference Centre at Croft Chapter House 
University College 
15 King’s College Circle, Toronto, ON,  
M5S 3H3  
  
Featuring Nandini Das, Professor, Early Modern English Literature and Culture 
Exeter College, University of Oxford 
 
The Alexander Lecture is being held in person at University College with live online streaming for home viewers. Faculty, students, staff, and the public are cordially invited to this hybrid lecture. 
  
💡The event is free and all are welcome, though registration is required and seating is limited for in-person attendance.  
  
Please let us know if you require accessibility accommodations upon registration. For more information, contact [email protected]  
  
Learn more & register on the UC website via our Instagram story link or through the event post QR code.