Welcome to the GFWSSA! On behalf of the Gender Feminist & Women’s Studies Student Association (GFWSSA), we welcome you to York and to the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies. If you are a graduate student in the Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies program at York, you are automatically a member of the GFWSSA. Woo!
The GFWSSA is a social, advocacy, support and lobbying student group. Broadly speaking, we think about the politics of higher education (as GFWS graduate students, as TAs, as researchers, as contract faculty, as York University members, as feminists, as queers and gender queers, as trans folk, as women, as men, as racialized individuals, as low-income workers, as anti-oppressive and anti-establishment thinkers, and as colleagues and friends!). Specifically, we serve three main functions:
We help each other through the trials and tribulations of graduate school.
We sit on program and university committees to add our voice to issues like curriculum change. The committees range from admissions to political action to formal university-wide committees (you’ll find more information about said committees in the departmental handbook and the GFWSSA handbook).
We have parties.
As the newest members of our association, you have the opportunity to influence the direction of the program. Participating on a committee and being active in the GFWSSA ensures that students share in the responsibility for their future; it is vitally important that graduate students have a voice at York University. In addition, active involvement creates a sense of community among its members that allows for solidarity and collaboration.
Depending on the climate of the program and the current student body, the GFWSSA fluctuates in presence. What was once a more formal body with a constitution and nominated/elected leadership, has shrunk in prominence. However, in recent years, the GWSSA has experienced an upswing in energy. We are looking forward to your help to sustain such momentum. Since York is primarily a commuter campus, building a community can be difficult. In spite of this reality, and in the face of an increasingly neoliberal, competitive, and isolating academy, our main priority is to foster a vibrant support network that benefits us all.
If you wish to get involved, you can contact gwssa13@gmail.com. Presently, the GFWSSA is run by a rad bunch of volunteers. This GFWSSA hive mind includes:
- President: Fresange Maleka
- Secretary: Isabella Akaliza
- Treasurer: Dee Marksman-Phillpotts
- Events Coordinator: Sara Upshur
- Social Media/PR Officer: Blessing Ogunyemi
Reach out if you need us; we’re happy to help!
– GFWSSA
Subscribe to our mailing list! gwssa13@gmail.com
Twitter: twitter.com/YUGFWSSA
Instagram: instagram.com/yugfwssa/
For more information, please visit our website at: gfwssa.com
York University Graduate Students’ Association (YUGSA)
The York University Graduate Students’ Association (YUGSA) works to improve the learning, teaching, and working environments for all graduate students at York University.
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The Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.