Working in both French and English, Dr. Corrie Scott is a professor at the University of Ottawa, where she teaches undergraduate courses and graduate seminars and has served as both Graduate and Undergraduate Director. We congratulate Dr. Corrie Scott and are very excited to be working with her over the next two years.

During her mandate as Joint Chair in Women’s Studies, Dr. Scott will plan activities that revolve around the theme of “Feminist AI Literacy for Everybody”. She will pursue three main objectives which are both practical and political in nature.

First, Dr. Scott aims to alleviate some of the burden that AI-driven challenges present for instructors in both Institutes by inviting scholars, activists and artists to lead workshops with the aim of providing practical teaching support as well as space for students to explore the impact that AI is having on their lives. How do we adjust assignments and evaluations to ensure meaningful learning and assessment in a way that “moves us closer to justice, not just inclusion or diversity” (Mingus 2011)? How can we better communicate the importance of creativity and critical thinking skills to students? How do we extend intersectional feminist texts that we already teach to unpack AI’s epistemological, ethical and political implications?

Her second objective is to improve student feminist AI literacy by developing new graduate and undergraduate courses that Dr. Scott will teach at the University of Ottawa and ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University. Feminist AI programming will equip students with a structural analysis of power that empty AI branding is designed to obscure. Topics might include algorithmic justice, data gaps, Afrofuturism, digital colonialism, ghost work, structural gender and racial “bias”, Indigenous data governance frameworks, relational epistemologies, edtech, anti-black and anti-Palestinian surveillance culture, climate justice, labour rights, sociotechnical ableism, crip technoscience and linguistic injustice. Dr. Scott will be teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses including WGST 5902D Feminist AI Literacy for Everybody at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ and FEM6500C FĂŠminisme et IA at uOttawa.

Third, she will invite scholars doing work on AI to speak at larger events intended for the wider campus community. She seeks to amplify scholars, artists and activists whose work questions AI’s corporate tendency to prioritize efficiency over meaning, extraction over care, output over creativity and private profits over the collective good. Her third objective is thus to think big and contribute to building the collective political power required to set AI on a better path across both campuses. Dr. Scott’s Joint Chair activities will engage with alternative ways to imagine what AI could be – an “engine of abundance” (Lewis et al., 2024) rather than a mechanism of extraction; a tool built for all peoples, not just the privileged; crip technoscience (Hamraie and Fritsch 2019) rather than “retrofitted” accessibility (Dolmage 2025). Dreaming big is a necessary antidote to empty AI hype and doom-laden tech pessimism (Bender and Hanna, 2025).

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The Feminist Institute of Social Transformation (FIST) is pleased to share that our Director and Associate Professor, Dr. Megan Rivers-Moore, was recently featured as a guest on hosted by: Stenley Philippe, EDI, Outreach and Recruitment Officer.

A longtime friend of the podcast, Dr. Rivers-Moore joined the host for a wide-ranging conversation exploring the political and social climate of the current moment, the importance of education and community engagement, and the significance of graduation as a milestone in students’ lives. The discussion also touched on popular culture, demonstrating how feminist scholarship can help us critically engage with the issues, conversations, and cultural moments shaping our world.

Throughout the episode, Dr. Rivers-Moore reflects on the role of feminist education during periods of social and political change, highlighting the importance of creating spaces where critical thinking, collective learning, and transformative action can thrive. Her insights speak to the core mission of the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation: advancing research, teaching, and community engagement that challenges systems of oppression and contributes to more just and equitable futures.

We invite members of the FIST community and the broader public to listen to the episode and learn more about the programs, courses, research, and community initiatives offered through the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation.

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Published in the latest issue of the International Mad Studies Journal, Dr. Shanouda‘s article, , examines how Canadian universities respond to student suicidality through policies and practices that prioritize surveillance, control, and containment. Drawing together insights from Mad Studies and carceral geography, the critically analyzes the growing use of defensive architecture, involuntary leave policies, and hospital-based interventions, arguing that these measures reflect a broader “carceral turn” within higher education.

The explores how institutional responses framed through risk management and safety discourses can disproportionately impact mad, disabled, and racialized students. Rather than addressing the social, historical, and structural conditions that shape student distress, these approaches often position students as problems to be managed, reinforcing exclusionary understandings of mental health and wellbeing.

Dr. Shanouda‘s scholarship continues to advance critical conversations at the intersections of disability justice, Mad Studies, anti-carceral frameworks, and transformative approaches to education. Through this work, he invites readers to reconsider how universities understand care, safety, and belonging, and to imagine institutional responses that move beyond containment toward justice and collective responsibility.

The post New Publication by Prof. Fady Shanouda Explores the Carceral Geographies of the University appeared first on Feminist Institute of Social Transformation.

In , Rivers-Moore and Hardy explore how sex workers in Latin America are building collective power outside traditional employment structures. Drawing on research in Guatemala and Colombia, the article challenges longstanding assumptions about who can unionize and how labour organizing takes shape.

The authors demonstrate that, despite significant structural barriers, sex workers have successfully formed formal unions and leveraged “institutional power” to advocate for labour rights, recognition, and improved working conditions. This work offers important insights into labour organizing among informal and marginalized workers, and contributes to broader conversations on feminist political economy and global labour movements.

Megan Rivers-Moore is the Director and Associate Professor at the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University. Her research focuses on how gender and sexuality operate transnationally, including projects on sex tourism in Costa Rica, sex worker organizing across Latin America, and clandestine abortion. Working at the intersections of sociology, gender studies, and Latin American and Caribbean studies, her scholarship examines labour, migration, and feminist political economy, with a strong commitment to community-engaged and activist research.

This publication reflects the continued impact of her research in advancing critical conversations on labour, gender, and collective organizing. !

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In , Dan Irving offers an autotheoretical exploration of desire, pedagogy, and trans becoming within graduate education.

Drawing on his experiences as a trans studies scholar, the piece reflects on the intersections of academic life, gender transition, and relational desire, and engages the concept of a “pedagogy of desire” through his relationship with his supervisor, Shannon Bell.

Blending personal narrative with critical feminist and educational scholarship, this work examines how desire can function as a generative force in learning environments, opening space for trans and queer becomings, ethical relationality, and transformative forms of knowledge production.

We are proud to share this important and thought-provoking contribution and the continued impact of Dan Irving’s scholarship.

Dan Irving is an Associate Professor cross appointed to the Feminist institute of Social Transformation and the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies teaching in the  (IIS) and Sexuality Studies (FIST) programs. To learn more about Dan Irvings, visit: www.carleton.ca/fist/people/dan-irving/

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This recognition celebrates his research project, Reconfiguring Intra- and Interpersonal Relationships in the Era of GLP-1 Weight-Loss Medications, which explores the complex social, relational, and embodied dimensions of emerging weight-loss technologies.

The FASS Research Achievement Award recognizes excellence and innovation in research across the Faculty. Fady’s work stands out for its timely engagement with emerging health technologies and its commitment to critical, community-informed scholarship.

We are proud to celebrate this well-deserved recognition and the continued impact of Fady’s work.

The post Celebrating Fady Shanouda: FASS Research Achievement Award Recipient appeared first on Feminist Institute of Social Transformation.

A three-day conference on October 2, 3, and 4, 2026, at Queen’s University (Kingston, ON) called Critical Feminist Histories in Canada. Our goal is to bring together feminist scholars to reimagine, revitalize, and reinvent the project of ‘feminist history.’

The conference is hosted by the (CCWGH), and we are committed to making this gathering an opportunity to welcome and support scholars whose work has too often been marginalized and silenced within Canadian women’s and gender history and beyond.

Keynotes include: Susan Stryker, historian, theorist, filmmaker, and activist and , the Canada Research Chair in Canadian Migration Policy

Plenary sessions: (1) Trans Histories; (2) Histories of Reproductive Justice; and (3) Feminist Histories for the Future

Please submit via email to cfhconference2026@gmail.com. The submission deadline is April 10, 2026. Applicants will be notified by early May 2026.

Please send inquiries to the Critical Feminist Histories organizers (Lisa Pasolli, Patrizia Gentile, Kristine Alexander, and Samantha Nicholls) at cfhconference2026@gmail.com

The post CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Critical Feminist Histories in Canada appeared first on Feminist Institute of Social Transformation.

This prestigious fellowship supports educators in advancing innovative teaching and learning practices, with a focus this year on immersive technologies and digital storytelling to enhance student engagement and success.

Dr. Birk is building off her experience of creating  to provide students in her Critical Race Studies classes with the tools to write and create their own narratives using digital storytelling. This project breaks away from traditional virtual reality experiences, which often present damage-centred narratives, and instead prioritizes empathy and inclusivity, while challenging students to critically examine systemic inequities.

The post Celebrating Manjeet Birk: 2025–26 Future Learning Innovation Fellowship Recipient appeared first on Feminist Institute of Social Transformation.

“Hi, I’m Megan Rivers-Moore, Director of the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation—aka FIST. We’re a small but mighty community at ĐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ where feminist ideas come to life through cutting-edge research, award-winning teaching, and real-world impact. Whether you’re here to study, organize, or just find your people, FIST is a space where you’ll be challenged, supported, and inspired. Let’s imagine a feminist future together—and build it

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