Feminist Institute of Social Transformation - Carleton University

Congratulations to all of our 2026 graduates in FIST! We are so proud of all of you and can’t wait to hear about your next adventures! 🎓🎉👏🏻

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 The Talking Raven Podcast 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.

Congratulations to Dr. Fady Shanouda, Associate Professor in the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation, on the publication of his new article, The Carceral Geographies of the University, in the International Mad Studies Journal.

Drawing on Mad Studies and carceral geography, the article examines how universities respond to student suicidality through surveillance, risk management, and containment, and invites us to imagine more just and transformative approaches to care, safety, and belonging in higher education.

Read more on our website at: www.carleton.ca/fist/news

The Feminist Institute of Social Transformation (FIST) is pleased to share a new publication by Megan Rivers-Moore, co-authored with Kate Hardy.

In Organising Beyond the Employment Relationship: Scaling Up and Institutional Power in Own-Account Unions, Rivers-Moore and Hardy explore how s*x 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, s*x 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.

Get paid while gaining real-world experience 💼

FIST is one of the few Gender Studies programs in Canada offering a paid co-op option as part of your degree.

Bridge your learning with hands-on experience in feminist research, social justice, and community engagement—while earning an average of $22/hour.

📍 Work across sectors including NGOs, policy, education, and advocacy
📍 Build your network in Ottawa’s dynamic professional landscape
📍 Graduate with practical experience and transferable skills

Learn more at: https://carleton.ca/fist/co-op/

Pre-long weekend ‘Coffee and Doughnuts’ with grad students in FIST! Sending everyone energy and clear minds as they wrap the term 💪👊

In Doing it for femme daddy, Fast Feminism, persistent desire, and the unbounded pleasures of critical educational praxis, 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, engaging a “pedagogy of desire” through his relationship with Shannon Bell.

Blending personal narrative with critical feminist scholarship, this work invites us to think differently about how desire can shape learning, open space for trans and q***r becomings, and transform how knowledge is created and shared.

We’re proud to share this powerful and thought-provoking contribution🎉

Celebrating Fady Shanouda 🎉

The Feminist Institute of Social Transformation (FIST) is proud to share that Fady Shanouda was awarded a FASS Research Achievement Award at the 2026 Vin d’honneur on March 26.

This recognition highlights his research project exploring how GLP-1 weight-loss medications are reshaping relationships, embodiment, and social understandings of health.

Fady’s work stands out for its critical, community-informed approach and its timely engagement with emerging health technologies.

We’re proud to celebrate this well-deserved recognition and the continued impact of his work 🎉

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

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 Canadian Committee on Women’s and Gender History (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 Ethel Tungohan, 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 [email protected].
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 [email protected]

✨ Event Recap ✨

Last night, we gathered in community for the Ottawa launch of Taslīm: We Are the Prophets by Carolyn Ramzy — an evening rooted in storytelling, reflection, and connection.

Through readings and conversation, Dr. Ramzy invited us into a powerful exploration of girlhood, diaspora, faith, and the weight and beauty of carrying ancestral knowledge across generations.

The space felt intimate and grounding — a reminder of how storytelling can hold complexity, spark dialogue, and bring us together in meaningful ways.

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to Carolyn for sharing this work so generously 💛