Book Launch: Memorializing Violence: Transnational Feminist Reflections 

Edited by Alison Crosby & Heather Evans 

Date: April 3, 2025 
Time: 12:00pm – 2:00pm ET 
Location: 519 Kaneff Tower, York University – Keele Campus & Online (Hybrid) 
RSVP to attend in person: cfr@yorku.ca 
Register to attend online: https://yorku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_65v7PA_7SCi_X5zO3MQfLA

Join the CFR in celebrating the launch of Memorializing Violence: Transnational Feminist Reflections, edited by CFR associates Professor Alison Crosby and Heather Evans.  

Memorializing Violence brings together feminist and queer reflections on the transnational lives of memorialization practices, asking what it means to grapple with loss, mourning, grief, and desires to collectively remember and commemorate–as well as urges to forget–in the face of disparate yet entangled experiences of racialized and gendered colonial, imperial, militarized, and state violence. The volume uses a transnational feminist approach to ask, How do such efforts in seemingly unconnected remembrance landscapes speak to, with, and through each other in a world order inflected by colonial, imperial, and neoliberal logics, structures, and strictures? How do these memorializing initiatives not only formulate within but move through complex transnational flows and circuits, and what transpires as they do? What does it mean to inhabit loss, mourning, resistance, and refusal through memorialization at this moment, and what’s at stake in doing so? What might transnational feminist analyses of gender, race, sexuality, class, and nation have to offer in this regard? 

The book features work by Alison Crosby, Heather Evans, Malathi de Alwis, Carmela Murdocca, Amber Dean, Karine Duhamel, Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj, María de los Ángeles Aguilar, Pilar Riaño-Alcalá, Shahrzad Mojab, Chowra Makaremi, Ayu Ratih, Honor Ford-Smith, Juanita Stephen, Erica S. Lawson, Ola Osman, Alma Cordelia Rizzo Reyes, Charlotte Henay, Camille Turner & Mila Mendez. The book is available for order at this link: https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/memorializing-violence/9781978843257/ 

Professor Alissa Trotz from the University of Toronto will be the discussant for the launch. More details to follow!  

Co-sponsored by the York Research Chair in Reparative and Racial Justice, the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, and the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies. 

"Me, Margaret Lowenfeld and Margaret Mead: Queer Kinship in the Past and in the Present" with Katherine Hubbard

Visiting Scholar in Sexuality Studies Talk

Date: April 22, 2025
Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm ET
Location: Online
Register: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/C-XVQvXpQTmwMC1xcokM2Q

Margaret Lowenfeld (1890-1973) and Margaret Mead (1901-1978) met in 1948. This eventful first meeting in London was the start of a fascinating working friendship, albeit a somewhat uneven one. The two women share particular similarities across their careers, including their positions as women in their respective fields of psychology and anthropology, though Mead was notably more renowned. They also both had substantial and long-lasting relationships with other women. I similarly met them both in London, albeit over seventy years later, in an archive. In this talk I provide a personal and reflexive account of the production and analysis of my article 'Being captured by queer kinship: Margaret Lowenfeld and Margaret Mead' which is in press with History of the Human Sciences. In doing so I will reveal some of the often unspoken aspects of writing queer history. I discuss what a lesbian feminist historical approach uniquely provides and the emotions involved in such work, alongside the challenges of publishing reflexive or unusual queer feminist work. Throughout, I embark on a mission to position myself and various events in my life explicitly to highlight the kinships which extend back to the past. I also recognize and identify the queer feminist networks of care that have been undeniably critical for me to be able to produce this analysis in the present. In presenting this material I aim to not only argue how essential feminist thinking is on a theoretical level, but to also show essential feminist action is on a practical level, in producing feminist scholarship.

Katherine Hubbard is Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey. Her research and teaching are interdisciplinary, including sociological, psychological and historical components. At present, she is centrally focused on research areas pertaining to feminist histories of Psychology, sexuality, and queer studies. Her work takes a distinctive affirmative and inclusive approach. She is especially known for multi-methods research on queer feminist British history, analysis of gendered power within Psychology and broad applications of queer theory. Her books include Queer Ink: A Blotted History Towards Liberation (2020) and A Feminist Companion to Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology (2024). Her current book-based project is Queer Studies: The Basics (due 2025) with co-author and collaborator Dr David Griffiths. Other recent collaborations include, the excavation of feminist voices in Psychology in the UK, an LGBTQ+ inclusive historical analysis of aversion therapy as practised in the UK, and a project studying the role of affect when doing queer history.

She is one of the founding members of the Sex, Gender and Sexuality Research Group at the University of Surrey, is a past Chair of the University LGBTQI Equality Group, and was the first Programme Director for the interdisciplinary MSc course in Sex, Gender and Sexuality studies having established it. She is also a Co-I on the FUTURESEX initiative which aims to bridge academic, activist and community groups and an international member of Psychology's Feminist Voices. She received the American Psychological Association (Society for the History of Psychology Division 26) career award (2024).

Book Launch: Maternità femministe

The first Italian translation of Andrea O’Reilly’s seminal works on matricentric feminism 

Date: April 30, 2025 
Time: 11:00am – 12:30pm ET 
Location: Online 
Register: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/UrEx_lq-RsSpju3uDTUyGQ 

Join us to celebrate the launch of CFR Visiting Scholar Dr. Veronica Frigeni’s Maternità femministe, the first Italian translation of Andrea O’Reilly’s seminal works on matricentric feminism. In this online event, Dr. Frigeni will be joined by Dr. Andrea O’Reilly and Dr. Laura Brightwell to discuss the original text, the translation, and why matricentric feminism is needed in the global context.  

AI and Feminism: Foundations of a Critical Dialogue on Gender, Power, and Technology

Date: Saturday, March 15, 2025
Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm ET
Location: Seymour Schulich Building, ADERSIM Lab, N004, York University - Keele Campus
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/ai-and-feminism-foundations-of-a-critical-dialogue-on-gender-power-and-t-tickets-1147271352499?aff=oddtdtcreatorhttps://www.yorku.ca/cifal/ai-feminism/

This interdisciplinary course bridges foundational concepts in artificial intelligence (AI) with feminist theories, offering a critical framework to examine how AI technologies reinforce or challenge societal power dynamics. Participants will explore key feminist principles, including intersectionality, alongside AI fundamentals such as machine learning and algorithmic design. Through lectures, case studies, and reflective activities, the course emphasizes critical theory and ethical considerations, equipping attendees with tools to interrogate and reimagine AI systems in ways that promote equity and inclusion.

A microcredit certificate will be issued to all participants from CIFAL York and The Centre for Feminist Research.

Find the course outline and more information at the following link: https://www.yorku.ca/cifal/ai-feminism/

Knowledge Mobilization for Grad Students

Date: March 12, 2025
Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm ET
Location: 626 Kaneff Tower, York University - Keele Campus & Online (Hybrid)
RSVP: https://forms.office.com/r/7sVjaxKQTr

What is knowledge mobilization? How do you do it? And why does it matter? Join Andi Schwartz, Hannah Maitland, and Stephanie Jonsson for this informative session that will answer these questions. Panelists will draw on their experience in journalistic and self-published writing, podcasting, and non-profit organizing to provide tangible examples of knowledge mobilization activities and show you how to get started.

Resisting Displacement: Sex Worker Activism & Anti-Trafficking Policing in Olympic Cities — Spotlight: Los Angeles 

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
Time: 8:00pm - 9:30pm ET
Location: Online
Register: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/2GD-77jrS_uMnFZSHqVNeg

Join the CFR's Critical Trafficking and Sex Work Research cluster for an important conversation with sex worker rights groups in Los Angeles who are mobilizing in response to the ongoing challenges of wildfires and event-driven evictions. This discussion will delve into the intersection of displacement, policing, and the fight for justice in the context of the upcoming Olympic Games.

Preparing a Book Proposal Workshop

IRDL-CFR-GSRN Professional Development Series

Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm ET
Location: 749 Kaneff & Online (Hybrid)
RSVP: https://forms.office.com/r/dSfaUrtV4i

Are you ready to take the next step in your academic publishing journey? Join us for an engaging workshop designed specifically for graduate students and early-career scholars.

What to Expect:

• 30 minutes: Presentation on the essentials of crafting book proposals for edited volumes and monographs.
• 45 minutes: Hands-on activity to draft your own book proposal using a provided template. 
• 15 minutes: Group discussion to share ideas, ask questions, and receive feedback. 

This workshop will provide you with:

• Insights into turning conference presentations into book projects. 
• Strategies for developing impactful proposals for edited books and monographs. 
• A practical framework to begin your book proposal immediately. 

By the end of the session, you’ll have the tools and confidence to present your work to publishers and begin your journey as a published author. 

Women in Academia

IRDL-CFR-GSRN Professional Development Series

Date: January 29, 2025
Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm ET
Location: 626 Kaneff Tower
RSVP: cfr@yorku.ca

The Women in Academia panel will explore women's experiences in the academic world. The panel will feature honest conversations with scholars, highlight personal stories, share strategies for professional growth, and emphasize the importance of mentorship and collaboration. Attendees will gain insights into navigating academia, championing equity and inclusion, and amplifying women’s voices across diverse disciplines.

Speakers: Cheryl Van Daalen-Smith, Natalie Coulter, and Kisha McPherson

The Big CV Workshop for Grad Students

IRDL-CFR-GSRN Professional Development Series

Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm ET
Location: 749 Kaneff Tower & Online (Hybrid)
RSVP: https://forms.office.com/r/s5iM97ZzAT

The first event in the IRDL - CFR - GSRN professional development series! Join IRDL Director and CV whiz Natalie Coulter to learn how to put together a detailed CV that allows you to effectively showcase your professional experience and skills. Best for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars on (or soon-to-be-on!) the job market. 

Stay tuned for more details on other events in the IRDL-CFR-GSRN Professional Development Series. The series will include sessions on knowledge mobilization, book proposals, and more. Visit the CFR website for updates.

Researching The Grey Socio-digital Divide: A Critical Reflexive And Relational Approach

Date: Friday, December 6, 2024 
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm ET
Location: 857 Kaneff Tower, York University - Keele Campus
Register: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=GBNTNBFw1E-H8KQ4FsSb0DU80mEDFrZKkR-7B1wuPhlUNkxEVjZKNENSWFFQUlFUNlJGRVgzUjkxOS4u&route=shorturl

With Earvin Charles Cabalquinto, Monash University 

Reflection by Dani Magsumbol, Graduate Programme in Political Science, York University  

This provocation critically interrogates the processes, positionality, and ethical considerations in understanding the researching the socio-digital exclusion embodied and constantly negotiated by older Filipino migrants in Australia and their support networks spread across countries.   

Dr Earvin Charles Cabalquinto is an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer at Monash University. His current projects focus on interrogating the dynamics and outcomes of digital inclusion and exclusion in a migration context.  

This event is co-sponsored by the Centre for Refugee Studies, Global Labour Research Centre, Centre for Feminist Research, CRC in Migration Policy, Impacts and Activism Speaker Series and the Philippine Studies Group at the York Centre for Asian Research 

Not Your Rescue Project: Stop the Harms of the Anti-Trafficking Movement

Book Launch & Panel

Date: Friday, November 22, 2024
Time: 2:00pm - 7:30 pm
Location: Workers Action Centre, Suite 206, Community Organizing Space, 720 Spadina Avenue
Register: https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/not-your-rescue-project-panel-and-book-launch

The federal, provincial, and municipal government officials have implemented anti-trafficking policies and allocated significant funding, primarily to law enforcement, while mobilizing NGOs, businesses, and the public to join efforts to end human trafficking. However, rather than providing protection, these initiatives often harm sex workers, as well as racialized and migrant communities, due to the negative impact of the anti-trafficking industry.

Concerns about human trafficking have led to increased policing, restrictive regulations, and the shutdown of Asian massage parlours and the workplaces of sex workers. Migrant Asian women, in particular, are frequently misrepresented as passive victims, viewed as incapable of consent and in need of "rescue." This anti-trafficking agenda often advances whorephobic, racist, and anti-migrant policies, resulting in the harassment, arrest, racial profiling and deportation of migrant sex workers and massage workers, e.g. The lobbying efforts of anti-trafficking organizations have influenced the City of Toronto to adopt a repressive policy against Asian owned massage parlours. In 2019, Toronto proposed the elimination of the holistic license, posing a threat to the livelihoods of over 2,000 predominantly low-income, middle-aged Asian women.

We are organizing this panel and book launch to expose the harms caused by the anti-trafficking industry and to highlight the experiences and resistance of Asian migrant sex workers and massage workers.

Schedule:

2:00 to 6:00 p.m.: Panel Discussion and Group Dialogue
Join community members, activists, and scholars as they discuss the impact of anti-trafficking policies on Asian and migrant massage workers, and explore ways to build solidarity and support workers’ rights.

6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.: Break and snack

6:30 to  7:30 p.m.: Book Launch – Not Your Rescue Project: Migrant Sex Workers Fighting for Justice by Elene Lam and Chanelle Gallant
Celebrate the launch of Not Your Rescue Project. All book sales will be donated to Butterfly to support their work for migrant sex workers' rights.

Film Screening: Changing Gears

Date: November 14, 2024
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm ET
Location: Carlton Cinema, 20 Carleton Street, Toronto
Tickets: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/charlies-freewheels-youth-education-society/events/changing-gears/

This presentation is funded by the LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research.
The proceeds from this event will help support Charlie’s FreeWheels programming.

Moderator: Mike Layton, Chief Sustainability Officer, York University
Panel: Adam Hasham, Senior Advisor, Metrolinx and Alexandro Zamora, Associate
Professor, York University

Indians on Indian Lands: Book Talk with Nishant Upadhyay

Date: November 7, 2024
Time: 7:00pm ET
Location: Another Story Bookshop, 315 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Register: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/indians-on-indian-lands-nishant-upadhyay-with-guests-tickets-1042952618357?aff=oddtdtcreator

Moderated by: Nadia Hasan, Assistant Professor, York University

In their new book, Nishant Upadhyay unravels Indian diasporic complicity in its ongoing colonial relationship with Indigenous peoples, lands, and nations in Canada. Upadhyay examines the interwoven and simultaneous areas of dominant Indian caste complicity in processes of settler colonialism, antiblackness, capitalism, brahminical supremacy, Hindu nationalism, and heteropatriarchy. 

Join us for a book talk in conversation with Sanober Umar, Associate Professor of Politics at York University and Pamila Matharu, independent artist, educator and cultural producer.

Sponsors: Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, Centre for Feminist Research, Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages, Department of Social and Political Thought

Girls' Studies Research Network Social

Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Time: 11:30am - 1:00pm ET
Location: Room 749, Kaneff Tower
Register: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgty4eGR_NHNJJPi1x7cg0tQGw6cJExbAGBbY7VzuSenLqlg/viewform

Join the Girls’ Studies Research Network for a pizza lunch! Meet other girls’ studies scholars in a casual, friendly setting while enjoying a free lunch.

The GSRN is a interdisciplinary network whose aim is to contribute to the development of the field of Girls' Studies through sharing information and resources and encouraging discussion.

Contact fre14@yorku.ca to RSVP, for details, or with questions.

Palestinian Art in Times of Revolution with Dr. Nayrouz Abu Hatoum

Part of the series Unsettling Anthropology: Violence, Terror & Resistance

Date: October 25, 2024
Time: 3:00pm - 5:00pm ET
Location: Online
Register: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqdOihqD4rGdw_2q8ANyxK2Glc_WOI3Z5M#/registration

Nayrouz Abu Hatoum is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and
Anthropology at Concordia University. She was the Ibrahim Abu-Lughod postdoctoral
fellow at Columbia University in 2018/ 2019 academic year and is a co-founding member of
Insaniyyat: Society of Palestinian Anthropologists. Her research investigates visual politics in
Palestine, focusing on alternative imaginations, place-making, and dwelling practices under
settler-colonial conditions. She is currently working on an ethnographic project exploring the
politics of visual arts production and its role in expanding Palestinian imaginaries.

For any further queries, please email: unsettlinganthropology@protonmail.com

Advancing Equity and Applying Intersectionality in Europe: Challenges and Contradictions

Date: Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Time: 2:30pm - 4:00pm ET
Location: S638 Ross Building (Hybrid Event)
Zoom Registration: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIpduCqrTIsG9Bt9fYc3Oxpll4L3dTJKgv5#/registration

2025 will mark half a century since the first European directives prohibiting identity-based discrimination. However, social inequities are increasing. Moreover, equity policy remains hugely 'siloed,' predominantly focused around single issues/identities, best serving intersectionally privileged groups (e.g. white women). Yet, intersectionality, the Black feminist theory that inequalities are indivisible from one another, is increasingly difficult for those with influence on equity policy to ignore or explicitly resist. This presentation will give an overview of intersectionality, identify barriers to its operationalization in Europe, examine the UK in more detail as a case study, and reflect on contemporary challenges and contradictions for advancing equity and applying intersectionality. 

Ashlee Christoffersen is a Banting Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Politics and Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Her research is about the operationalization of intersectionality in policy and practice. She is the author of The Politics of Intersectional Practice: Representation, Coalition, and Solidarity in UK NGOs (2024, Bristol University Press), and articles about equity policy and intersectionality in the European Journal of Politics and Gender, Social Politics, Canadian Public Administration & Policy & Politics. 

Beyond the Interface: Critical Perspectives on Sex Work and SexTech

Date: October 17-19, 2024
Location: Online
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/beyond-the-interface-critical-perspectives-of-sex-work-and-sextech-tickets-1039013165347?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Contact: beyondtheinterfaceconference@gmail.com

Join us for a groundbreaking 3-day virtual conference that will ignite your curiosity and challenge your perceptions. The Centre for Feminist Research's "Critical Trafficking and Sex Work Studies Research Cluster" at York University is hosting an immersive exploration of the intersection between sex, technology, and society.

With nearly 40 captivating presentations and panels, this event will delve into the hottest topics in the field, including:

• Legal and Ethical Debates: Navigating the complex legal landscape and ethical considerations surrounding sextech and sex work.
• Inclusive Erotic Spaces: Examining representation and inclusivity in virtual realms and exploring how to create more equitable online experiences.
• Global Power Dynamics: Unpacking the impact of neoliberal globalization and neocolonialism on digital sex work.
• Wellness and Safety Online: Addressing the critical issues of health and safety in online environments.
• Technological Innovation and Social Change: Exploring how technology is shaping the future of sex work and social justice.

Featuring speakers from around the globe, including South Africa, France, Colombia, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Australia, the United States, and Canada, this conference promises a diverse and thought-provoking experience.

Don't miss this opportunity to connect with peer-led sex worker organizations, community-based researchers, technology companies, and leading experts in the field. Together, we'll push the boundaries of knowledge and create a more equitable and inclusive future.

Register now and prepare to be inspired.

Sponsored by Vice-President Research & Innovation Scholarly Events and Outreach Fund; York University's Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Research Events Fund; OPIRG York; the Jack & Mae Nathanson Centre; York Centre for Asian Research; Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies; Faculty of Graduate Studies Academic Excellence Fund; Centre for Feminist Research; the Harriet Tubman Institute; the Graduate Program in Film/Cinema & Media Arts; the Graduate Program in Communication and Culture; the Resource Centre for Public Sociology; the Department of Sociology; and the School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies at York University.

Innovations in Feminist Methodologies: An Emerging Scholar Roundtable

Date: October 16, 2024
Time: 2:30pm - 4:00pm ET
Location: Online
Register: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkdeCuqj8rGtYNfW1fwIvWnBxdU3fT6raS

This roundtable highlights research from current PhD students that advances feminist approaches to the study of political science. Exploring different research topics and methods participants will discuss how their current research is pushing the discipline in new directions.  

Featuring: Iris Bradford, Vanita Clare, Meagan Cloutier, Tka Pinnock 

Moderated by Sarah Wiebe 

CFR Annual Meet and Greet

Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Time: 3:00pm - 4:30pm ET
Location: 626 Kaneff Tower
RSVP: cfr@yorku.ca

Meet the new CFR Director and connect with CFR associates at the CFR’s annual meet and greet! If you are curious about joining the Centre or ones of its research clusters, have ideas for events or research grants for the year ahead, or just want to chat with other feminist researchers at York University, this is the perfect opportunity to connect. Please RSVP to CFR Coordinator Andi Schwartz at cfr@yorku.ca

Straight Work Curious Support Group

This event is for sex workers only (inclusive of escorts, strippers, alternative/erotic massage providers, street-based workers, etc.). Registration is required to protect everyone’s privacy and in support of a safer space.

Hosted by Maggie's, Work Safe Twerk Safe, and the Critical Trafficking and Sex Work Studies Research Cluster in the Centre for Feminist Research at York University & facilitated by a career stripper who is transitioning into nonprofit/legal clinic work.

Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2025
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm ET
Location: Virtual
Registration: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAtf-ysqj0pE9c2G8HvLBmw3mx8uAe2X6Qe#/registration

Genocide, Resistance and Rescue: Agency in the Rwandan Genocide with Dr. Jennie Burnet

Part of the series Unsettling Anthropology: Violence, Terror & Resistance

Date: Thursday, September 12, 2024
Time: 2:45pm - 4:45pm ET
Location: Virtual
Register: https://yorku.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcod-uvpzIrHtA9OF3FIIjTE5j9PSF37l8R#/registration

The recent calls to moralize violence, to condemn or to relativize it, disregard the inherently political nature of violence, that violence 'creates and sustains' political meanings (Paul Kahn 2008). This talk series focuses on political imagination behind all acts of violence, of the willingness of people to kill and being killed and, especially, aims to unsettle common assumptions and moral rhetorics which are pressed down upon us to condemn the violence of 'the others,' disregarding the meanings of and the historical context of their actions.

Jennie E. Burnet is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Institute
for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University in Atlanta,
United States of America. Her research explores the cultural and psychological aspects
of war, genocide, and mass violence and the micro-level impact of large-scale social
change in the context of conflict. She is the award-winning author of Genocide Lives in Us: Women, Memory and Silence in Rwanda. Her 2023 book, To Save Heaven and Earth: Rescue during the Rwandan Genocide, examines how and why some Rwandans risked their lives to save Tutsi from the carnage.