Seneca campuses remain open today but day and evening in-person classes will move online where possible, due to snowfall. Read more
Please enable JavaScript to use file uploader.
Welcome to Field Notes '26, a series from the Reconciliation & Inclusion team, offering curated resources to support deeper learning and inclusive practices across Seneca Polytechnic. Each issue features a bespoke collection of resources — such as books, TV shows and events — that the team has personally engaged with, reflected on and found meaningful in our own learning.
📖Read 📺Watch 🏙Local Favourites 🎫Other Recommendations
READ
Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis A collection of essays and speeches connecting movements for justice across borders, communities and generations. Davis explores how struggles against racism, economic injustice and state violence are deeply intertwined.
Why: It’s written by one of the most influential feminist scholars and activists of our time. Ideas are revisited across different contexts and conversations, which strengthens meaning and leads to a better understanding of her concepts.
Walking through Fire: The Later Years of Nawal El Saadawi, in Her Own Words by Nawal El Saadawi A deeply personal reflection from one of the Arab world’s most influential feminist tinkers, tracing decades of resistance, exile, imprisonment and public criticism. Through her own voice, Nawal examines what it means to challenge power structures shaped by politics, religion and patriarchy.
Why: It honours a woman who refused silence and shows that resistance is rarely comfortable.
Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel A novel that challenges assumptions around motherhood, choice and fulfillment. Guadalupe explores friendship, maternal roles and the societal expectations placed on women’s bodies.
Why: It broadens how we think about womanhood by centering the complexity of personal decisions and the nuances of caregiving.
Julia by Sandra Newman Remember Julia from your forced high school reading of 1984? This novel places a woman’s experience at the center of life under authoritarian control where men advance and women suffer. The novel examines surveillance, resistance and survival through a different lens.
Why: It reframes a familiar dystopian narrative to highlight how gender shapes experiences of power and constraint.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab A dark fantasy following women who navigate immortality, ambition and moral complexity across centuries. Schwab reclaims the vampire genre by centering female agency and desire.
Why: It challenges traditional portrayal of women in fantasy, allowing them to occupy power, darkness and depth on their own terms.
Educated by Tara Westover A memoir about growing up in a survivalist family where rigid beliefs and misogyny limit access to formal education. Tara’s journey toward higher learning becomes a complex negotiation between family loyalty, identity and self-definition.
Why: It underscores how access to education can reshape a woman’s future, particularly when barriers are embedded within family and belief systems.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner A memoir that weaves together grief, food and cultural identity following the loss of the author’s mother. Michelle reflects on what it means to inherit tradition, language and expectations across generations.
Why: It offers a nuanced portrayal of mother-daughter relationships and cultural identity, centering the layered experience of women across family.
WATCH
Netflix's The Diplomat Your next binge, featuring a small female lead navigating international crises, global politics and the complexities of a high-profile marriage to a disgraced former ambassador. The series places a woman at the center of diplomacy, decision-making and power.
Why: It portrays women leading in high-stakes political spaces, challenging assumptions about who holds authority at the global stage.
HBO's Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel's novel comes to life in this post-apocalyptic masterpiece, following interconnected lives before and after societal collapse. The story foregrounds memory, art, survival and the relationships that endure uncertain times.
Why: It centers women as protagonists in shaping what survives and reminds us that leadership, creativity and resilience are not confined to traditional power structures.
LOCAL FAVOURITES
Nosh Balls A women-founded snack brand based in Toronto that creates nutrient-dense, plant-based energy bites made with simple ingredients.
Why: There have great flavours such as cookie dough, peanut butter brownie and PB&J. They are all made in Canada and you can find them at Ambrosia's and Summerhill Market.
SugarKane Founded by sisters Donna, Renee and Nicky Charles, SugarKane is a Danforth-based Caribbean restaurant rooted in family tradition and West Indian heritage. The menu features dishes like oxtail, rice and peas, curry goat, jerk chicken, shrimp and split pea soup.
Why: It celebrates women-led entrepreneurship grounded in cultural heritage, showing how family, diaspora and lived experience can shape a business that feeds both community and identity.
The Reconciliation & Inclusion team knows the best learning happens in conversation. Let us know if you explore any of the resources above, or if there’s something you’d recommend we include in future editions. Share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments, or email us at ri@senecapolytechnic.ca.
Your session has expired. You are being logged out.