The event is part of York's 50th-anniversary celebrations and the lead-up to International Women's Day, on March 8^th.

Participants will touch on a range of issues, including women's rights, social justice, racism, equity, diversity, disability and discrimination, and succeeding in non-traditional careers. 

“We wanted panellists who could reflect on all aspects of women’s lives and professional experiences at York over the last 50 years,” says Linda Grobovsky, senior adviser, education & communications, for York’s Centre for Human Rights, which is sponsoring the event.

Moderated by York economics Professor Brenda Spotton Visano, the panels take place Thursday at noon and 2:30pm in the Sandra Faire & Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building.

The panel at noon will feature:

Enakshi Dua, a professor in York’s School of Women’s Studies, specializes in race and gender, migration, women and development, and gender and community. She is the co-editor of Scratching the Surface: Canadian Anti-Racist Feminist Thought (1999) and On Women Healthsharing (1994).

Neita Israelite, a professor in York’s Faculty of Education and cross-appointed to the Graduate Program in Critical Disability Studies, Faculty of Health, specializes in deaf and hard-of-hearing education. As chair of Access York, Israelite serves on York’s Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities.

Didi Khayatt, a professor in York’s Faculty of Education, specializes in equity and social justice. She is the author of Lesbian Teachers: An Invisible Presence and has served as faculty adviser on the Gender Diversity Committee in York’s Centre for Human Rights, and as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual-queer representative on the President's Advisory Committee on Human Rights at York.

Karen Swartz (right) is director of York’s Office for Persons with Disabilities. A York grad (BA '81,BSW '87, MSW '96), she is working on her PhD in education with a focus on postsecondary education and disability.

Gill Teiman (PhD '92) teaches English, humanities, writing and ESL courses in York’s Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies and Faculty of Arts. Teiman was special assistant to the president on equity from 1997 to 2004. She documented the history of rights and equity at York in Idealism and Accommodation: A History of Human Rights and Employment Equity at York University (1959-2005).

The panel at 2:30 pm will feature:

Patricia Bradley is a professor and coordinator of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing for Internationally Educated Nurses in York’s School of Nursing.

Eileen Fischer, a marketing professor at York’s Schulich School of Business, holds the Anne & Max Tanenbaum Chair in Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise. She specializes in reputation and brand building, internationalization and rapid growth, as well as cultural perspectives – how consumers experience, react to, and influence markets and brands.

Marilyn Pilkington, a professor and former dean of York’s Osgoode Hall Law School, specializes in constitutional law, evidence and legal education. She was elected as a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and has served on law reform projects, public policy institutes, and tribunals dealing with human rights, trade and professional discipline.

Marianna Shepherd is an adjunct professor in York’s Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering. She has been a project scientist and principal investigator on several projects for the Canadian Space Agency and European Union’s INTAS program and most recently was a visiting research professor with the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere at Kyoto University in Japan.

Patricia Wood, chair of the Department of Geography in York’s Faculty of Arts, originally trained as a historian. She conducts interdisciplinary research on human rights, diversity, identity politics and citizenship in Canadian cities.

Both panels will be moderated by Brenda Spotton Visano, an economics professor in York’s School of Public Policy & Administration who specializes in theories and policies relating to money and institutional finance with a focus on financial instability and community-based financing. A former president of the Canadian Women Economists Network (CWEN/RFÉ), she chaired the joint CWEN/RFÉ-Canadian Economics Association Special Committee on the Status of Women in Economics, and spearheaded the first survey of women economists in Canada.

Media contact:

Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University: 416 736 2100 x22097, mehughes@yorku.ca .

York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as more than 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 26 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.

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