NEWS AND UPDATES

IN MEMORIAM (posted on April 8, 2013)

Dear Women's and Gender Studies Colleagues,

It is with great sadness that I tell you that our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Kate Bride, passed away Sunday, April 7, 2013, at the age of 44. Kate was one of the co-organizers of the WGSRF annual conference for the past three years, and we looked forward to seeing her again this year at the University of Victoria. Kate had been ill for the past few weeks with a recurring illness, but took a sudden turn for the worse on Friday, and passed away on Sunday. Our hearts go out to her family, her loved ones, and her many friends across Canada. Indeed, her Facebook page over the past few days has been a living testament to the range of connections and friendships she inspired across her many communities. Those who knew her, however briefly, remember her for her intelligence, generosity, kindness, humour, that wonderful smile, and her beautiful spirit. She is greatly loved - and greatly missed.

Annalee Lepp
President


Association News
  • 2013 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR EXECUTIVE AND COMMITTEE POSITIONS!
  • The calls for nominations for the 2013 Graduate and Undergraduate Essay Prizes are now ready (see the link for 'Awards and Prizes'  under the 'Welcome' tab above). And note the new period of eligibility.
  • AND IT'S OFFICIAL! WE ARE NOW -- AS THE HEADER ABOVE INDICATES -- WOMEN'S AND GENDER STUDIES ET RECHERCHES FÉMINISTES,  OR WGSRF FOR SHORT! PLEASE NOTE: YOU CAN STILL USE THE WWW.CWSAACEF.COM URL AND IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY REDIRECT YOU TO OUR NEW NAME AND DOMAIN NAME FOR AWHILE.
  • OUR NEW BANK ACCOUNT IS ALSO SET UP (SEPTEMBER 11, 2012). IF YOU ARE SENDING US A CHEQUE FOR ANY REASON, PLEASE MAKE IT OUT TO WGSRF...THANKS!
  • BIG NEWS! At the 2012 conference and AGM, the membership voted on a new name for the association. Pending all the necessary changes with the CFHSS, our name will be.... Women's and Gender Studies et Recherches Féministes! Spread the word .... And stay tuned for more info as we undertake all the changes to our website, facebook page, etc. 
  • The association has a new Facebook page too -- check it out! "like" it! And spread the word!
  • And check out the new section on the website for Members' News! Send your news (publications, journals edited, new positions, etc.) to the website manager for inclusion on this page - and help us build our networks and communities of WGS practitioners. (Note that your membership has to be up to date for this feature).
  • The Association also has a Communications Policy to regulate the kinds of messages it sends out to members.

Annual Conference
  • NEW! We're excited about the confirmed keynote speakers for this year's conference in Victoria, June 2-4, 2013: Robyn Wiegman and Maria Campbell! Robyn's talk is entitled "The Times We're In" - abstract forthcoming. And more info about Maria's talk asap soon. Stay tuned!
  • The call for papers for the 2013 conference at the University of Victoria is ready! See the 'Annual Conference' tab above for more information and or the accompanying proposal form.
  • The programs for past conferences continue to be available for your perusal. See the 'Resources' tab above. 

Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture, and Social Justice (new name as of May 2012)
  • The Call for Papers for issue 36.2 is now ready!
  • Many exciting changes are underway for Atlantis, the "journal of choice" of the association. Starting with issue 36.1, the journal will cease print publication and move to a completely open access electronic format -- a change that, it is anticipated, will greatly increase visibility for the journal. The current editors of the journal are Annalee Lepp (continuing) and Ann Braithwaite (continuing). Stay tuned for much more on the exciting changes coming to this journal, the longest continually published Women's and Gender Studies journal in Canada.

Women's and Gender Studies in the news
  • CBC "The Current": See here for a compilation of all the letters written by members of the association (and forwarded to the communications officer for inclusion on the website). Very impressive! And listen here (a few minutes into the 'Letters' section) for Ann Braithwaite on 'The Current' with Anna Maria Tremonti, January 2010.
  • Women's and Gender Studies in the Media - again. See here for a number of links to the National Post article and editorial about Women's and Gender Studies, as well as for the association's response. Winter 2010 was a busy semester for WGS in the media spotlight.

Other items of interest