New name for women’s studies department

March 8, 2016

The UVic women’s studies department has changed its name to the Department of Gender Studies.

Today is International Women’s Day. “This year’s campaign theme is global gender parity with a focus on such areas as the workplace and leadership,” says Annalee Lepp, chair of the newly named Department of Gender Studies at UVic. “But it is also critically important to consider what other pressing local and global gender-based social justice issues require serious attention.”

The new name better reflects the program’s field of study which “focuses on how gender, in relation to other categories of difference (race, ethnicity, class, sexual identity, ability, age and citizenship, etc.), shapes people’s lives, knowledge, possibilities and resistances,” adds Lepp.

“The department’s name change is the culmination of our ongoing work to push the boundaries of the already dynamic discipline of women’s and gender studies. At UVic, key areas of interdisciplinary focus include Indigenous gender politics and resurgence, human rights and development, health and medicalization, anti-racism and nationalism, war and militarism, girlhood studies, cultural and media production, as well as masculinities, queer, and trans studies."

“This move is in line with the growing number of women’s studies programs across North America that, in the past seven or so years, have undergone program name changes.”

Today is also perfect timing for the Ideafest debate, “Is feminism finished?” from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in room A110 of the David Turpin Building.