Patricia Nyaundi Lecture at the CWSE: Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our 15th annual Dame Nita Barrow (DNB) lecture. We’re excited to have Patricia Nyaundi speak about Truth Commissions.

Patricia is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, and served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission from Feb 2010 through August 2012. She’s just been appointed the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, and will begin this new position after her stay at the CWSE.

The lecture is free and starts at 7pm at the George Ignattief Theatre, 15 Devonshire Place, Toronto. There will be a reception at the CWSE after.

To give you an idea of what to expect at tomorrow’s event with Patricia, the video above is of our 12th annual DNB visitor Wahu Kaara, who spoke about Women, Power and Politics in November 2009. (She starts 5:00 minutes in).

Vandana Shiva at Convocation Hall

We’re working on getting up the video footage of our November 12th talk with Vandana Shiva at the CWSE. In the mean time, you can watch the address she gave at Convocation Hall earlier in the day.

RFR Celebrations 40 Years of Feminist Publishing

Since 1972, Resources for Feminist Research (RFR/DRF) has been a journal of interdisciplinary feminist scholarship and research, housed at the CWSE. 

This year is RFR’s 40th anniversary, and given the dearth of feminist publishing in Canada, we want to celebrate this accomplishment. We’re still here and we’re still publishing quality work, despite the challenges.

We’ll be posting more information about RFR’s history and future, as well as interviews, but in the mean time, we invite you to join us for our 40th anniversary celebrations: 

November 8, 2012

4-8pm (reception at 6pm), William Doo Auditorium (New College), 45 Willcocks Street, Toronto

4pm – Doors open

4:15pm – 1st Panel: Routes and Roots of Feminist Cultural Production

Panel chair: Eve Haque

Panel Participants: bh Yael, Richard Fung, Tara Goldstein,  Katherine McKittrick,  Ruth R.Pierson and  Kathleen Rockhill

6:00 – 6:30 refreshments

6:30pm -8:00pm: 2nd panel – Fragments of Feminist Commemoration

Panel Chair: Sheryl Nestel

Panel Members: Margrit Eichler,  Didi Khayatt,  Sherene Razack, Lisa Sloniowski

Co-sponsors: Centre for Women’s Studies in Education, CWSE, (OISE/University of Toronto); Canadian Journal of Women and the Law; The School of Disability Studies (Ryerson University); Sociology and Equity Studies (OISE/University of Toronto); Women and Gender Studies Institute (University of Toronto); Department of Gender Studies (Queen’s University); Department of Sociology (Ryerson University).

CWSE’s Feminist Media Studies Circle: Scary Carrie & Chutney Popcorn

This past Halloween the CWSE hosted the first session for the new season of our annual Feminist Media Studies Circle. The series is in its third year now, and each year it’s run by different students working at the CWSE.

Facilitated by Eve and Andrea, the theme of this past meeting was Scary Carrie: Horror Films and the Female Monster. The discussion focused on the representation of women in the horror film Carrie (1976). They also discussed the introduction of Carol J. Clover’s book, Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in Modern Horror Film (1992). Clover talks about the role of both the female monster and the female hero and their impact on the audience, perpetuation of the horror genre, and broad constructions of gender.

The chat ranged from menstruation, to women as perpetrators, to horror films’ target audience – men. This led us to questions about the portrayal of women in horror films. Has there ever been a feminist female monster? Is Carrie feminist? The group watched the trailer to The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999). Although there were large advances in the women’s movement between 1976 and 1999, there seemed to be no changes in the depiction of women between the two films.

Participants also contributed reflections about other horror films that they had watched. The consensus: until there are horror films for women and by women, it’s hard to fathom a feminist female monster.

The next Feminist Media Studies Circle will be November 28. 1-2:30pm, at the CWSE (room 2-227, OISE, 252 Bloor St W, Toronto).  The topic will be Love, Ladies, and “Chutney Popcorn”: Lesbian Representations in Film. Please register in advance to get the reading materials: cwse.oise@gmail.com.

Vandana Shiva now sold out

Just a quick post to let everyone know that tickets are now sold out our Vandana Shiva event on November 12 (see this post for details).  If you don’t have a ticket but still wish to come, we will have standing room in the back on a first-come first-serve basis.  For those of you who do have tickets, please make sure you arrive before 6:30!