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History:
Women's Studies began as an interdisciplinary endeavour at the University of Toronto in 1971, and became a New College program in 1975. On January 1, 1999, an Institute for Women?s Studies and Gender Studies (IWSGS) was formed to bring together the undergraduate program, a graduate collaborative program, and the co-ordinating function for research in Women?s Studies throughout the University. In July 2005, after six years of exponential growth, IWSGS was renamed the Women and Gender Studies Institute (WGSI) and became an independent unit with a direct reporting relationship to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, and the right to hold tenured and tenure-track appointments.
The Institute currently is home to 14 core full-time faculty members, and 3 administrative staff members. The number of faculty members is projected to grow even further in the next two years. A free-standing MA program begins in September, 2007.
Offerings:
- Undergraduate degree: major, minor and specialist programs
- MA in Women and Gender Studies
- Graduate Collaborative Program for MA and Ph.D. students in other departments
Strengths:
WGSI faculty have been at the forefront of emergent interdisciplinary scholarship in transnational and postcolonial STUDIES. The institute has organized and hosted high profile events on the theme of Transnationality and Gender. These include on-going public lecture series and workshops that highlight transnational feminist scholarship across disciplines at UofT, and that also feature national and international women and gender studies scholars (see http://www.utoronto.ca/iwsgs/trans/index.html for details). Through its Visiting Scholar Program, WGSI has brought to campus international scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds to create a stimulating environment for the exchange of ideas. WGSI has become a leading contributor to innovative pedagogy in women and gender studies, in Canada and internationally. WGSI has reformulated its undergraduate program and created a new MA program to reflect the global context of contemporary women and gender studies. This approach fosters students' understanding of the Canadian experience as the outcome of historically and geographically situated processes.
WGSI's organizational initiatives address the location of UofT within a culturally diverse, economically disparate and socially complex city and nation. The Institute fosters a strong student community with academic and practical ties to local communities through various partnerships, the senior practicum course, and initiatives such as the Community Knowledge Alliance. WGSI is extending its outreach to international women?s advocacy and policy organizations, and looks forward to expanding its research projects and exchanges with other institutions.
WGSI Staff
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