Free School 2026
Voices of Solidarity: Palestinian Stories, Music and Scholarship on Turtle Island
Inspired by the 1960s Free School movement, OSI’s annual series is rooted in revolutionary ideas about how education is accessed and shared, inside and outside the classroom. Through artistic and collective inquiry, these events create opportunities to connect the university with local communities, fostering critical conversations.
This year’s Free School, Voices of Solidarity: Palestinian Stories, Music and Scholarship on Turtle Island, invites us to listen and learn with Palestinian artists and scholars working in a time of genocide, erasure and censorship. Grounded in solidarity with Indigenous people on this land, this Free School insists on the connections between decolonial liberation struggles, from Turtle Island to Palestine.
Produced in collaboration with the Voices of Palestine project, this series of four events feature acclaimed Palestinian and Indigenous scholars, journalists, theatre makers, and musicians. This project has been made possible in part by The Muslim Fund.
Co-curated by Natasha Greenblatt, Eliza Chandler, and Jess Machado
Graphic design by Afrah Idrees
Building Solidarity: A Conversation on Liberation from Tsi Tkarón:to to Palestine
Friday, November 6th, 7:30pm, Church of the Holy Trinity
Speakers: Dr. Megan Scribe and Dr. Hadeel Abu Hussein
Launching TMU’s Office of Social Innovation’s Voices of Solidarity Free School will be a keynote conversation with Palestinian legal scholar, Hadeel Abu Hussein and Indigenous feminist researcher, Megan Scribe (Ininiw iskwew, Norway House Cree Nation). This critical discussion on law, land, resisting and dismantling colonialism, and global Indigenous politics explores the politics of leading and supporting decolonial resistance on stolen land.
Journalism as Solidarity: Documenting Life and Death in Gaza
Monday, November 9th, 12pm, DCC 707
Panelists: Hedaya Saleh Shamun, Laila Hashem, and Mariam Shakka
Facilitator: Sonya Fatah
This panel features Hedaya Saleh Shamun, a Gazan writer, journalist, and researcher, in conversation with Laila Hashem and Mariam Shakka, two Palestinian performers from Living with Drones, a live journalism show created in collaboration with Gazan journalists.
Facilitated by Sonya Fatah, director of Living with Drones, this conversation will explore the panelists’ different experiences documenting the stories of Palestinian people in Gaza, asking complicated questions about the role of journalism in a time of genocide.
Living with Drones (LWD) was created in 2025 by stitched!, a community-based, interdisciplinary live journalism studio at TMU’s Creative School. Since its debut, LWD has toured to London, New York, Washington, Toronto, Ottawa, Waterloo, and more.
Love, Loss and Longing: A Night of Palestinian Theatre on Turtle Island
Friday, November 27th, 7:30pm, Factory Theatre
Playwrights: Nassim Abu Sarari, Ameer Idreis, Rimah Jabr, and Roula Said,
Actors: Nada Abusaleh, Oshen Aoun, and Nezar El-Rayes
Facilitator: Yolanda Bonnell
This program features readings from the plays of four Palestinian theatre makers living and working in Tsi Tkarón:to. In a time of flattened narratives, each playwright’s diverse experiences and styles invites audiences to witness the multiplicity and complexity of their stories, live on stage. A facilitated conversation with the playwrights will follow the readings about their work and what it means for them to create theatre in this moment.
Songs of Solidarity: A Celebration of Indigenous and Palestinian Music
Friday, December 4th, Church of the Holy Trinity
Hosts: Monique Mojica and Roula Said
Opening by: Brianna Olson-Pitawanakwat and Mskwaasin Agnew
Performers: John Kameel Farah, Mariam Shakaa, and Olivia Shortt
To close this year’s Free School series, this concert brings Indigenous and Palestinian musicians and performers together, harnessing the power of music and storytelling to move through grief, listen to one another, and work to create an embodied solidarity. The evening will celebrate Indigenous and Palestinian resistance and solidarity through music and culture.