For Archival Sovereignty and Decolonization

The Critical Archival Praxis (CAP) Conversation Series aims to put critical archival scholars and practitioners in conversation around shared concerns, approaches, projects and sites. CAP takes seriously the formative role of praxis in the archival endeavour and works to surface varied and generative approaches to archival world building.

Join us for our winter-term conversation "For Archival Sovereignty and Decolonization: A Conversation with Dr. J.J. Ghaddar and Raymond Frogner."

Dr. Jamila J. Ghaddar is an archivist, historian, and educator who lives between Lebanon and the Netherlands. She is Assistant Professor in Archival Information & Digital Humanities at the University of Amsterdam, founding director of the Archives & Digital Media Lab, and a Research Affiliate at the American University of Beirut’s School of Architecture & Design. Ghaddar serves as Co-Chair of the International Council on Archives’ Palestine Archives Task Force; and Chair of the Middle East Librarians Association’s Archives & Records Management Training & Advocacy Group. She serves as a co-lead with Dr. Rami Zurayk and Dr. Hanine Shehadeh of the project, Fighting Erasure: Digitizing Gaza’s Genocide and the War on Lebanon.

Raymond Frogner is the Senior Director of Research and the Head of Archives for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR). He graduated with a Master of Arts Degree in History from the University of Victoria and a Master of Archival Studies Degree from the University of British Columbia. His mother was Métis with Cree relatives from Duncan’s Reserve in Northern Alberta. He is the co-chair of the International Council for Archives (ICA) Committee on Indigenous Matters. In 2019 he was the principal author of the ICAs Tandanya Declaration concerning public archives and Indigenous self-determination. He has twice won the W. Kaye Lamb Award for articles on the topic of archives and Indigenous rights. In 2020 he was nominated a Fellow of the Association of Canadian Archivists. In 2022 he was appointed to the National Administration Committee to support the investigation of unmarked burials sites of residential school children. He continues to research, teach, and publish on issues of Indigenous identity, rights, and social memory. In December 2025, he published his most recent article, “Red Jenkinson: Tracing Indigenous Influences on Canadian Archival Theory.”

The CAP conversation series is sponsored by the Faculty of Information and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library and spans three conversations over the 2025-2026 academic year. Stay tuned for details of our spring conversation happening April 10th and featuring Dr. Michelle Caswell and Dr. Jennifer Douglas.

Logistics:

The speaker series will take place in the Fisher Library's Hunter Maclean Room located at 120 St. George St. Toronto ON. Barrier free access to the Fisher space is available through Robarts Library.

This event is in-person and registration is required.

Please direct all inquiries to: jessica.lapp@utoronto.ca.