“Creating Space: Precarious Status Women Leading Local Pandemic Responses” is a collaborative, two-year project that brings together five organized research units (ORUs) and six researchers representing five 91ŃÇÉ« Faculties, as well as 10 partners, working on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion to advance a feminist response to the impacts of COVID-19 through systemic change.

The project was awarded $667,609 and aims to centre precarious status women’s experiences to support self-determination and accelerate systemic change to reduce gender-based violence, promote workplace health and safety and increase economic security.

Associate Vice-President Research Jennifer Hyndman says the successful application was made possible through a groundbreaking collaborative effort. “Such collaboration across Faculties, schools, and disciplinary boundaries is unprecedented among the ORUs at 91ŃÇÉ«,” she said.

The community-based project will be led by Professor Luann Good Gingrich (director, Global Labour Research Centre; Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) and Professor Heidi Matthews (Osgoode Hall Law School), the project's co-principal investigators, along with four research directors: Professor Elaine Coburn (director, Centre for Feminist Research; International Studies at Glendon Campus); Professor Deborah McGregor (Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice; Faculty of Environmental & Urban Change/Osgoode Hall Law School); Professor Gertrude Mianda (director, Harriet Tubman Institute; Gender & Women's Studies at Glendon Campus); and Professor Yu-Zhi Joel Ong (director, Sensorium: Centre for Digital Art & Technology; School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design).

“Our project will take advantage of this unprecedented moment of significant appetite for new ways of thinking and living together that are more just and sustainable,” said Matthews. “As devastating as the pandemic has been for women and gender-diverse individuals, particularly those from Indigenous nations and racialized communities, it has also pried open space to dismantle the otherwise rigid status quo structures that work to marginalize these groups.”

“Creating Space” involves five 91ŃÇÉ« ORUs – the Centre for Feminist Research, the , the , the , and  â€“ and nine community partners representing female temporary foreign workers, asylum seekers, Indigenous women and undocumented frontline workers: ; .; ; Black Creek Community Health Centre; ; ; ; ; and . The project will also be supported by its international human rights law collaborator, the .

The multidisciplinary team brings together expertise in labour, digital arts, international law and human rights, Indigenous legal traditions and knowledges, feminist and Indigenous methodologies, and migration and Black diaspora studies.

“We are committed to a collaborative approach that emphasizes relationships and mutual learning, and opening space for creativity and innovation to reimagine the legal and economic systems that create status insecurity for many women in Canada,” said Good Gingrich.

Funding for this project highlights 91ŃÇÉ«'s efforts in working to support gender equality during the COVID-19 recovery. Sara Slinn, associate dean research and institutional relations at Osgoode Hall Law School, said "Osgoode is very proud to be involved in this timely and important project."

LA&PS associate dean research and graduate studies, Ravi de Costa, said the grant is a testament to the strength of social science and humanities research at 91ŃÇÉ« – not only in LA&PS, but across the University. He commended Good Gingrich and Matthews for putting together a "superb" group of researchers from five faculties.

"The research they will do in this project will provide a critical and largely missing understanding of the effects of the pandemic on some of the most marginalized members of society.”

The project will:

• design collective, autonomy-focused, and locally rooted strategies to address economic insecurity, frontline workplace safety and systemic gender-based violence
• launch a new human rights initiative to devise innovative legal arguments that disrupt dominant legal paradigms by supporting Indigenous-led self-determination
• create a participatory, experimental multimedia digital framework to shift the public conversation and accelerate systemic change around gender and status precarity.

Good Gingrich and Matthews say they anticipate cross-Canada impact. Researchers and graduate students contributing to the project will work with partner organizations to build capacity and support mutual knowledge exchange. This work will shape transformative policy, innovative and critical strategies for legal intervention, and change the conversation on a national level.

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The conference will take place March 23, from noon to 6pm, at 152 Founders Assembly Hall, Founders College, Keele campus. It is hosted by H20Congo, a non-governmental organization started by 91ŃÇÉ« alumni Barbro Ciakudia (BA Hons. ’11) and Nancy-JosĂ©e Ciakudia (BA Spec. Hons. ’08), and 91ŃÇÉ«.

Cuneyt, a singer, and Hamna Mughal, a human rights activist and poet, will kick off the conference, followed by talks with Nythalah Baker, senior adviser, education & communications for 91ŃÇÉ«'s Centre for Human Rights, and Professor Justin Podur (left), the Faculty of Environmental Studies graduate program director. Podur will give an overiew of the confict in the DR Congo and provide the historical context, as well as show a video he's put together.

Podur has written on political conflicts and social movements and has reported from Palestine, Haiti, the DR Congo and others. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Haiti's New Dictatorship: From the Overthrow of Aristide to the 2010 Earthquake (Pluto Press).

Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize winning film, , shot in the war zones of the DR Congo in 2006, will be screened in the afternoon. The documentary breaks the silence surrounding the tens of thousands of women and girls who have been kidnapped, raped and sexually tortured in during the DR Congo’s ongoing civil war. In the film, rape survivor and filmmaker Lisa F. Jackon talks with activists, peacekeepers, physicians and with the rapists themselves. She travels to remote villages to meet rape survivors who have been shamed and abandoned, providing a piercing, intimate look into the horror, struggle and ultimate grace of their lives. 

Two more speakers will take to the floor, including Jim Karygiannis, the  Liberal member of parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt. There will be storytelling by Ellias Nabutete, singing by Kasim and Blandine, poetry by SobAbu, as well as dancing by Fumu Jamez and the Maria Bahru dance company.

For more information, visit the Centre for Human Rightswebsite.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The screening will take place Wednesday, March 21 at 280N 91ŃÇÉ« Lanes, Keele campus. A light lunch will be served starting at 12:30pm with the film beginning at 1pm. It’s free and open to the entire 91ŃÇÉ« community.

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is an award-winning film that challenges viewers to re-examine how they think about race. The film follows youth leader and motivational speaker Anthony McLean as he runs a groundbreaking mentorship program for black teens in Brampton, the most demographically changing Canadian city. In doing so, McLean is forced to re-examine his own identity. The film deals with issues of racism, stereotyping, identity and what it really means to be “black” or “white”.

Following the screening of Colour Me, Sherien Barsoum, the film’s director, and McLean will lead the audience through a discussion, as well as answer questions about the film and its messages about diversity and identity.

International Day for the Elimination of Racism is observed annually on March 21, because it was on that date in South Africa in 1960 that police opened fire and killed 69 people as they were peacefully demonstrating against Apartheid.

For more information about the film, visit the website. To learn more about combatting racism, visit the Ěý·É±đ˛ú˛őľ±łŮ±đ.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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The Ontario Legal Philosophy Partnership (OLPP), which celebrates its founding with a launch reception on Friday, May 13 in the Great Hall of McMaster’s University Club, is the brainchild of three internationally recognized legal philosophy professors who will be the partnership’s administrators. (Osgoode); Michael Giudice (91ŃÇÉ« Philosophy); and Wil Waluchow (McMaster Philosophy and the Senator William McMaster Chair in Constitutional Studies) are the brain trust behind the partnership.

Above: From left, OLPP founders and administrators Michael Giudice (91ŃÇÉ«), Wil Waluchow (McMaster) and François Tanguay-Renaud (Osgoode)

"Through the OLPP, Osgoode, as well as McMaster's and 91ŃÇÉ«'s departments of philosophy confirm their status as international leaders in legal philosophy and associated dimensions of political and moral philosophy,” said Tanguay-Renaud, co-director with Giudice of the new combined Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in Philosophy (JD/MA) program offered by Osgoode and 91ŃÇɫ’s philosophy department, and acting director of the at Osgoode.

“This collective effort, which builds on solid pre-existing relations between the partners, promises to enable new ambitious research collaborations and grant applications, allow for the development of cutting-edge opportunities for our JD and graduate students, and project even further the partners' already well-established reputations in the field."

Tanguay-Renaud said the OLPP formalizes existing links between the three partners that have become increasingly solid and fruitful since the beginning of the millennium.

“The OLPP will create even further opportunities for each institution and their students,” said Tanguay-Renaud, noting that it has already helped to inspire and dynamize the Nathanson Centre’s Legal Philosophy between State and Transnationalism international seminar series, Osgoode’s ’Or ’Emet annual public lecture, the Transnational Legal Theory Journal, the McMaster visiting speakers series, Osgoode’s recent criminal law theory international conference, and other prominent legal philosophy initiatives at McMaster and 91ŃÇÉ«.

The OLPP’s latest initiative sees McMaster’s philosophy department, under the leadership of Waluchow and fellow OLPP member Professor Stefan Sciaraffa, hosting an international conference on “The Nature of Law: Contemporary Perspectives” May 11 to 15, with most of the biggest names in general analytical jurisprudence present.

The OLPP, which is also composed of a large contingent of faculty members from the three partner institutions, will be strongly represented in the conference program with Giudice delivering one of the keynote addresses. One of Osgoode’s newest hires, Professor l (hired from the University of Warwick in the UK), and Distinguished Research Professor (now serving as acting dean of 91ŃÇɫ’s Faculty of Graduate Studies) will also be presenting papers.

Suzanne Crosta, dean of McMaster’s Faculty of Humanities, and Osgoode Hall Law School Dean both have high praise for the OLPP. “We look forward with great anticipation to the rich intellectual synergies that will result from the new partnership,” Crosta said.

“The partnership brings together internationally recognized scholars to explore a shared passion for the philosophy of law and will provide a unique experience for the law and philosophy graduate students involved,” noted Sossin.

What’s more, Brian Leiter, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago and one of the most eminent legal philosophers of our day, has written glowingly about the OLPP on his philosophy . "This will be of interest to students of legal philosophy, involving 91ŃÇÉ«, Toronto (and its law school, Osgoode) and McMaster University," writes Leiter,  "which, together, comprise probably the strongest legal philosophy cohort in Canada and one of the best ones in North America."

For more information, visit the  website.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Right: Professor Sanjeev Purshotam Sahni (left), head of strategic human resources and assistant dean of Research & International Collaborations at Jindal Global Law School, and Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Lorne Sossin

Osgoode is leading the way among Canadian law schools in this kind of research-driven collaboration in India and in thinking creatively about how to engage legal educators and the legal profession in both countries to achieve mutually beneficial results, says Lisa Philipps, Osgoode associate dean research, graduate studies & institutional relations.

The delegates found the trip valuable both for their current research on transnational legal issues and for the development of Osgoode’s institutional relationships and collaborative programs in India.

“As this Osgoode trip to India vividly demonstrated to those who participated, we have much of value to learn from India, and much to share as well,” says Osgoode Dean .

Above: Professor Charles D. Maddox, assistant director of the Centre for Global Corporate & Financial Law & Policy, Professor Vikramaditya Khanna, visiting faculty at Jindal Global Law School, and Philipps, associate dean research, graduate studies & institutional relations at Osgoode, discuss issues at the symposium in India

Sossin and Philipps were among the Osgoode delegates to attend a two-day joint symposium, , with faculty and graduate students from Jindal Global Law School at O.P. Jindal Global University. The symposium explored issues ranging from access to justice and legal regulation of sexuality to the tax treatment of foreign investment.

Left: From left, Arun Khatri, Jindal Global Law School research associate, with Dayna Scott, Lorne Sossin and Allan Hutchinson of Osgoode

It was a continuation of last year’s symposium at 91ŃÇÉ«, funded by the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada and Osgoode's , which included a delegation from India (See YFile, Oct. 25, 2010).

“This two-part conference was designed to establish an Indian-Canadian conversation on issues of pressing mutual interest,” says Philipps. “Indeed, too often, a separation of opinions between elements of the global North and global South is presumed insurmountable on issues ranging from climate change to development. In the last five years, from Hong Kong to Copenhagen, critical global issues have been mired in a difference in perspective between nations.”

Right: From left, Philipps; Professor Y.S.R. Murthy, assistant dean of projects & institutional development and executive director of the Centre for Human Rights Studies; and Charles D. Maddox

Through research and collaborations, such as the one with India, “We can facilitate discussions about innovative solutions to local and global policy issues,” she says. “Canada and India have the possibility to play bridge-builders in this North-South dialogue. It is believed that a Canadian-Indian dialogue can adopt a more sober, and potentially incisive, outlook on a range of global policy issues that simply cannot be ignored as yet another decade draws to a close.”

One of the benefits of the collaboration is a Memorandum of Understanding between the two law schools, which is currently being developed to include JD and graduate student exchanges and continued faculty visits. Discussions are underway toward a variety of joint teaching and research initiatives. Osgoode also renewed its student exchange agreement with the National Law School of India at Bangalore and strengthened relations with other law schools, including the National Law University in Delhi.

Left: Professor François Tanguay-Renaud (left), acting director of the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime & Security, and Sanjeev Purshotam Sahni

“Osgoode faculty, staff and students have expressed both interest and excitement to develop more exchanges, internships, joint conferences, research projects and collaborative pro bono projects, just to scratch the surface,” says Sossin.

In addition, Osgoode faculty met with Supreme Court justices, government ministers, independent think tanks, non-governmental organizations and leading members of the legal profession.

A selection of the best new research coming out of this collaboration will be published in an upcoming peer-reviewed special issue of the .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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Scott, who is the director of Osgoode’s Jack & Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime & Security, has been awarded a 2010 Ikerbasque Fellowship by the Bacsque Foundation for Sience. The foundation is a granting agency established by the Government of the Basque Country in Spain in 2008 with the mission to consolidate the Basque Country as “a European point of reference for excellence in the field of research.”

Left: Craig Scott

The fellowship will support 12 months of personal research and collaboration with the Transnational Law Research Group of the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain. Scott will build on his existing scholarship pertaining to the civil liability aspects of corporate social responsibility in relation to human rights and environmental protection, as well as interact with Deusto’s Trans-Law Research Group to widen the scope of the group’s study of economic law.

Right: Stepan Wood

Wood, who is the coordinator of Osgoode's Juris Doctor-Master in Environmental Studies Joint Program and director of the Moot Court Program, has been awarded a Jean Monnet Fellowship at the Robert Schumann Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy. Wood will complete a project titled “ISO 26000 and the Legitimation of Transnational Governance Authority in the Field of Corporate Social Responsibility” during his sabbatical next year.

Wood is the fifth Osgoode faculty member to have been chosen as a Jean Monnet Fellow at EUI, following Professors Michael Mandel, Craig Scott, Peer Zumbansen and Robert Wai.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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