Welcome to the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies, founded in 1991 and part of the College for Interdisciplinary Studies. The Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies is the home as well of the Centre for Race, Autobiography, Gender and Age (RAGA) whose Director is Sunera Thobani. We also share our building and work closely with the undergraduate Program in Women’s Studies, whose Chair is Wendy Frisby, situated in the Faculty of Arts. Before the Graduate Program began in 2000, the Centre’s activities consisted primarily of co-ordinating and profiling feminist work throughout the campus and of networking across British Columbia, Canada and globally to ensure that UBC was better known for its record of feminist initiatives and that the UBC community better understood the diverse needs and resources pertinent to feminist scholarship.
Over the years, the Centre has become a hub for a wide network of Faculty and Research Associates who are engaged in interdisciplinary and disciplinary feminist projects many of which also connect us with diverse communities beyond the university in Canada and abroad. Indeed, we can claim to be pioneers in the kind of interdisciplinary research that is now increasingly recognized to be a preferred model for dealing with relevant contemporary research on cultural, political, economic and social issues. This substantial tradition of feminist research has served us well in laying the foundations for our dynamic Graduate Program. Currently 25 students are enrolled in the MA and PhD programs. We have built up a diverse Visiting Scholars Program that hosts researchers from around the world, and a Community Visitors Program that provides research support for local non-profit organizations. Through our weekly seminars, open to the public, during the academic year and our regular special events and conferences we have built up and consolidated an energetic and innovative research centre that fosters cutting-edge feminist research.

Gillian Creese, Director and Professor of Sociology