Fields of Specialization & Faculty Affiliation

The following 7 interrelated fields of specialization identify the research and teaching strengths of the Graduate Program in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies at York University.

  1. The fields represent broad areas of interest in feminist research and all fields foreground the intersections of women and/or gender/s with sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, ability, and age.
  2. Subfields, specific issues and topics are listed within each field.

1. Cultural and Literary Studies, Performance and Fine Arts

popular culture and representations; writing and literature; life writing and narrative studies; visual arts;
cultural histories; theories and methodologies; literary studies

2. Diaspora, Transnational and Global Issues

transnational feminisms and sexualities; international development; migration and immigration; globalization; colonialisms and imperialisms; violence; militarism and security

3. Histories

feminist histories; historical production of genders and sexualities; histories of women's studies; histories of feminist theory; histories of racialization; histories of class and class analysis

4. Politics, Economies and Societies

public policy; Feminist law and legal studies; work and labour studies; social institutions and social change; education; equity studies; health and healthcare policies; environment and nature; language and linguistics; political and social justice movements and social activism; life course and aging

5. Race

anti racist theories; race, colonization, and post-colonial theories; anti-racist feminism; histories of racialization; whiteness and racism

6. Sexualities

sexualities and genders; lesbian, gay, queer and trans studies; transnational sexualities; historical production of genders and sexualities; heterosexualities

7. Theories and Methods

feminist theories and pedagogies; postcolonial theories; anti-racist theories; political economy; psychology and psychoanalytic theories; gay/lesbian, queer and trans theories; feminist philosophies, feminist legal theories, marxist and socialist theories; feminist methods, methodologies and ethics; cultural theories and methodologies