Minding Our Minds: Holding Space for Hard Conversations

^{Dean Kelley Castle addresses attendees at the Minding Our Minds conference. (Photos by Neil Gaikwad)}

By Sam Chater

For many students, speaking up in class today feels riskier than it used to. Third-year student Anjali Jagadeesh described how a single moment of being misunderstood early in her university life stayed with her. 

“It wasn’t just, ‘I did a bad thing,” she said. “It became, ‘I am a bad person’. I was in first year when this happened and it really messed with me. I was scared to speak up again."  

Jagadeesh was describing not the headline version of cancel culture, but the everyday experience of second-guessing what to say in tutorials, residence lounges and group chats. For students still figuring out who they are, the fear that one comment could define them can lead to silence. 

That silence and what it means for learning and mental health, was at the centre of this year’s Minding Our Minds conference. Now in its 13th year, the annual gathering brought together students, faculty, researchers and mental health professionals to explore how campus culture shapes the way students speak, listen and learn from one another. The conference was open to all Victoria University students, including students from Victoria College and Emmanuel College. Organized by the Office of the Dean of Students, Minding Our Minds focuses each year on a different theme at the intersection of student wellbeing and campus life. 

“Cancel culture can inhibit the very purpose of a university,” said Victoria University President Rhonda McEwen, “the free and respectful exchange of ideas, the ability to challenge assumptions, and the chance to grow intellectually and emotionally. When students feel constrained or silenced, we risk losing the transformative power of education.” 

Speakers noted that the term itself is used in different ways. Alison Thompson, associate professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, highlighted the need to distinguish between accountability and punishment. 

“There are very different understandings of what people mean when they say ‘cancel culture,’” Thompson said. “If we’re talking about holding someone accountable, that can be constructive. If we’re talking only about punishment, it usually isn’t.” 

Psychiatrist-in-Chief at the University of Toronto, Dr. Andrea Levinson, spoke to the psychological impact of online scrutiny. 

“We often see a move from, ‘I did something harmful,’ to, ‘I am harmful,’” she said. “This is followed by compulsive online checking, refreshing those feeds late at night, scanning comments, anticipating the next social media post. That loop sustains arousal and impacts day-to-day routines.” 

This emotional pattern can also shape how students show up with one another in classrooms. Third-year student Mahta Rastgar noted that the pressure to self-censor often comes from subtle reactions, not public backlash. 

“Judgment doesn’t always look like ruining someone’s reputation,” she said. “It’s the shocked looks, the headshakes, the ‘what did they just say?’ debriefs after. That creates an echo chamber where everyone agrees and no one risks disagreement.” 

Dr. Romin W. Tafarodi, associate professor of psychology, explained that in online spaces, people signal who they are by echoing shared condemnation. 

“When people see the risks of expressing minority views, they retreat to spaces where everyone already agrees,” he said. “That fragments communication and deepens polarization.” 

The question then became: how do we create environments where students feel safe enough to speak? Faculty and student panellists suggested that stating, at the outset of a course, that disagreement is expected and not a personal judgment can create space for learning rather than self-censorship. 

“We will always face differences,” said Dr. John Duncan, associate professor and director of Ethics, Society and Law. “They make life interesting, but we shouldn’t pretend they aren’t difficult.” 

He noted that learning often involves realizing you were wrong, an experience that can feel disorienting or exposing. But if students withdraw the moment discomfort appears, the chance to learn and to understand one another is lost before it begins. 

Duncan also pointed to long-running co-curricular programs offered through the Office of the Dean of Students that bring students and community members together to practice difficult conversations across difference, including the Ideas for the World discussion series and the Difficult Conversations program. 

Student panellists suggested more low-stakes chances to practice disagreement, clearer guidance on how to debate, and instructors occasionally modelling minority views in class. 

Dean of Students Kelley Castle said students are seeking more space to explore difficult topics without feeling pressured to take sides. 

“Students told us they want more academic co-curricular programs to explore difficult topics, express opinions, and even to form them in the first place,” Castle said. “Students can’t be so pressured to ‘pick a side,’ especially when they might not even really know enough to do so. 

“We also heard that students aren’t just suffering after being cancelled; they are often self-isolating and avoiding discussion, worried that they will be judged — even in classes where there are participation marks. 

“At Victoria University, we have been building spaces for years where students can explore complex ideas without such fear. Through programs like Ideas for the World and our Difficult Conversations series, we are expanding that work so students can enter challenging discussions with no prior knowledge and still feel confident taking part. 

“A healthy campus does more than respond to problems. It creates open and kind opportunities for students to grow. We are already developing new co-curricular opportunities based on what we heard from students this year.”