Celebrated Afro-Colombian singer-composer Víctor Hugo Rodríguez recently visited Algoma University as a guest musician and knowledge holder. His visit, supported by the Institute of Peoples, Territories and Pedagogies for Peace (IPTP), in collaboration with the Faculty of Cross-Cultural Studies (FCCS), the Music program and the EDI Office, formed part of Black History Month events scheduled across the Sault Ste. Marie and Brampton campuses.

Rodríguez’s visit was also integrated into a Special Topics course, Music, Territories and Social Movements, offered through the Community, Economic, and Social Development (CESD), Sociology, and Music programs. The course, delivered by Dr. Vivian Jimenez-Estrada, Dr. Edward Turgeon with support from Dr. Sheila Gruner, examined how music shapes, and is shaped by, land and territories, and explored the cultural identities and histories of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, the social movements that represent them, including related to their ongoing resistance to colonization and accumulation by dispossession, advocating for environmental, racial, and gender justice, territorial rights, and self-determination. Music plays a critical role in the lifeways of Original peoples as well as for Afro-descendants who were forcibly brought to the Americas.

Through his music and storytelling traditions, Rodríguez brought an Afro-Colombian and global perspective on Black diasporic identity and musical expression to Northern Ontario. Students participated in workshops organized within the jointly-delivered course, where music, social movements and concepts associated with territory and land-defense were central.

“This course is about the role and importance of music to decolonize learning, emphasizing histories and lived experience in the defence of lands and waters, and within territories conceived in ways distinct from western-centric modes,” said Dr. Sheila Gruner, CESD Associate Professor and Director of the IPTP. “Having Victor Hugo in the classroom -in dialogue with knowledge holders Joel Syrette (Anishinaabe), Fernando Hernandez (Maya Tzotzil) and musicians such as Dr. Turgeon-, allowed students to see how music can carry stories of the Black diaspora and Anishinaabe and other Indigenous peoples, while speaking to their governance, defence of the environment, role in peacebuilding, and a profound sense of place.”

This visit reflects Algoma University’s ongoing commitment to global collaboration, grassroots diplomacy, and decolonial education. By hosting artists and knowledge holders through the IPTP, the University creates opportunities for students to engage with historically marginalized voices and explore how governance, community, and cultural expression intersect. 
This project was led by the Institute of Peoples, Territories, and Pedagogies for Peace in collaboration with Algoma University’s Faculty of Cross-Cultural Studies, with notable support from the Departments of Music, Sociology and Community Economic and Social Development, and the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

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