Law 692 (Fall 2013)

Law 692: Feminist Legal Studies Workshop I
(Fall term, 2013), 1 credit

Course description:

The Feminist Legal Studies Workshop is designed to enable students to work closely with faculty in analyzing and discussing with leading feminist theorists and scholars visiting Queen's Faculty the topics of the speakers' papers.

The Feminist Legal Studies Workshop course is offered for one course credit per term. In the fall term of 2013, it is designated as Law 692; in the winter term of 2014 it is designated as Law 693. Students may enroll for one credit in the fall term, or for one credit in the winter term, or for a total of two credits in both terms combined. This course can also be combined with an ISP for students who may wish to carry out in-depth independent supervised work in relation to one or more of the areas discussed in this workshop. Course Outline for 2013-2014.

Scheduling details:

The workshop speakers will be scheduled for the regular visitor slots on Mondays and Fridays, which run from 1 to 2:30 pm, and one or two additional meetings per term will be scheduled around everyone's class and other commitments. Speaker dates and locations are listed below.

Nature, mode, and content of evaluation of student participation:
Students will attend all the speakers events (4/term or all 7-8), will prepare advance reading for the first session of each term and two advance questions for the rest of the speakers in that term, plus 1-2 pages of briefing notes after each session (60% of course credit), will participate in the discussion at the speakers visit (10% of course credit), and will prepare a short term paper of approximately 10-15 pages on a topic that relates to any one of the speakers events (30% of course credit). To be taught by Profs. Amani and Lahey.


Fall term speakers (2013):


Monday September 30, 2013

1pm, Room 201 Macdonald Hall

Pamela Hrick

Clerk, Federal Court of Appeal, and Law '13

Conditional permanent residence and continuing need for critical gender legal analysis

Abstract: coming soon

Background Readings: A Dangerous Step Backwards and NAWL Gender and the Law Manual

Pamela Hrick is currently clerking for Justice David Stratas of the Federal Court of Appeal and is a Queen's Law '13 grad. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science with an honours specialization in Political Science from the University of Ottawa. Pam has been involved in student-driven feminist initiatives throughout her post-secondary studies. At the University of Ottawa, she helped organize a campaign called 'Take Back the Campus' to address issues related to sexual harassment and sexual assault in the university community. Following the campaign, she co-authored and helped implement a report recommending improvements to the university's processes of addressing sexual assault and sexual harassment. At Queen's, she and several other students co-founded the Feminist Law Students' Association, which addresses issues of women's equality in the law and the legal profession. Prior to attending law school, Pam worked at the national office of a federal political party and served as the Legislative Advisor to a provincial Attorney General.


Friday November 1, 2013
1pm, Room 201 Macdonald Hall
Jane Bailey
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law

Privacy in service of equality?: Online sexualized bullying in AB v Bragg

Abstract: coming soon

Background Reading

Jane Bailey is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (Common Law Section), who teaches cyberfeminism, technoprudence, contracts and civil procedure. She has been a feminist for as long as she can remember and is trying her best to raise two more to add to the collective. Her research focuses on the intersections of
law, technology and equality. Among her proudest professional achievements are:

(1) acting as co-principal investigator (together with Dr. Valerie
Steeves) on The eGirls Project - a 3 year project investigating girls' and
young women's firsthand perspectives on privacy, equality and identity in
online social networks (www.egirlsproject.ca);
(2) the creation and teaching of a first-year law course called
Cyberfeminism; and
(3) in her former life as a litigator, having assisted as counsel in the
battle against online hate propaganda before the Canadian Human Rights
Tribunal.


Monday November 4, 2013
1pm, Room 201 Macdonald Hall

Kate McInturff
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, former ED, Canadian Feminist Allilance for International
Why Put a Price on Suffering?: Costing Violence Against Women

Abstract:
What are the merits and faults of using economic indicators to promote gender equality in Canada? This presentation will examine the positive impact of engaging in economic debates-the potential to demonstrate quantitatively the extent of inequality in Canada, and to move decision-makers to put increased resources into narrowing the gender gap. It will, likewise, consider the negative impact of rendering pain and suffering in financial terms. Further, it will consider the effectiveness of using the framework of rational self-interest to address irrational resistances to gender.

Background Reading : The Gap in the Gender Gap: Violence Against Women in Canada

Kate McInturff is a Research Associate at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Kate is an ongoing contributor to the Alternative Federal Budget and has recently joined CCPA full time to lead an initiative on gender equality and public policy: Making Women Count. Kate is the past Executive Director of FAFIA and currently sits on the UN Advisory Group on Inequalities in the Post-MDG Framework and the Coordinating Committee of SocialWatch. Kate received her doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia in 2000.


Friday November 8, 2013

1pm, Room 201 Macdonald Hall

Rakhi Ruparelia

University of Ottawa Faculty of Law

Seeing Colour: A Workshop on Recognizing and Challenging White Privilege

Abstract: coming soon

Background Reading: The Race to Innocence: Confronting Hierarchical Relations among Women

Rakhi Ruparelia is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa specializing in the area of critical race feminism. She was the founding director of the Second Chance Community Legal Clinic in Cincinnati, Ohio.


Friday November 22, 2013
1pm, Room 515 Macdonald Hall
Maneesha Decka
University of Victoria

Beyond Personhood: Toward an Embodied Legal Subjectivity for Animals
*Co-Sponsored by the Visiting Speakers Series

Abstract: coming soon

Background Reading