A series of events to mark the 20th anniversary of the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at York University celebrates the theme “Feminist Times, Feminist Futures” and will kick off on Jan. 16.
Titled “Embracing Intersectionality,” the first event in the series focuses on the groundbreaking feminist concept of intersectionality in order to highlight the importance of understanding how all our lives are experienced through gender, race, sexuality, and class.
This event features Sirma Bilge (University of Montreal) and two spoken word artists, Andrea Thomson and Kanwal Rahim, and is an experimental academic-cultural performance curated by Ilene Sova. The performance will focus on Bilge’s new book, Intersectionality, co-authored with Patricia Hill-Collins (Polity Press), and will include spoken word poetry in response to the book.
Thompson and Kanwal Rahim, will perform spoken word poetry inspired by the book.
Bilge is a professor of sociology whose work engages with the intersections of social formations of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class and examines how notions of of national/ethnic sameness and otherness articulate themselves through gender and sexual regulation.
A daughter of the Indus River and the Sindhu people, Rahim weaves dance, storytelling and humour into her artistic expressions and performances. She explores new body wisdom practices and healing traditions to deepen awareness and connection, while honouring the integrity of the body.
Thompson is a writer and educator who has performed her poetry across the country for over twenty years. She is the author of the novel Over Our Heads and co-editor of Other Tongues: Mixed Race Women Speak Out.
There will be open forum to engage with the speakers and refreshments served. The book will be available for purchase. The event is open to the entire community.
The School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, is the oldest and largest program in Canada that grants degrees in Gender and Women’s Studies and Sexuality Studies.
For more information, visit the website.