The Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies officially launched its new name, The Feminist Institute of Social Transformation (FIST), over a breakfast event on Sept. 14
The event featured speeches from students, FIST director Amrita Hari and Pauline Rankin, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
The name change reflects Carleton University’s history as one of the first Canadian universities to offer a women’s studies course, according to Rankin.
“FIST stands on the shoulders of earlier generations of feminists at Carleton,” Rankin said during her speech. “Certainly, the feminist theory and practice that propelled those women has evolved through the very necessary critiques from Indigenous, Black, and queer feminists, among many others.”
The current social landscape calls for an institute like FIST, Rankin said.
“We find ourselves in a historical epoch defined by the rise of fascist-friendly governments, a climate crisis, attacks on reproductive rights, rollbacks on 2SLGBTQA+ protections, rampant racism, hostility towards disability justice [and] the scourge of gender-based violence,” she said.
Hari, who was appointed as FIST’s new director in July, said the name change “captures the values, ideas and aspirations guiding [the institute’s] several curricular changes.”
Jay Baldwin, a third-year women’s and gender studies student, who spoke at the breakfast launch, is optimistic about FIST’s future.
“I think it’s important that we recognize the fact that we cannot erase the injustices and inequalities made in the past by institutions, but we can look forward and make academia a more inclusive space for people of all identities to exist and share their viewpoints,” they said in an interview with the Charlatan.
Among new minors, FIST also introduced new courses centring around trans feminisms, fat studies and the feminist intersections of anti-racism and Indigeneity this fall.
Eileen Naazie, a second-year Women’s and Gender Studies MA student, considers the new name a tool for change.
“I see the name as a stepping stone in making people realize that anyone can be a feminist and fight for the transformation of the society … and I am here for it,” Naazie said.
Baldwin, a disabled, Black, and queer student, said FIST said the new name better represent the diversity of the student population.
“I think it’s important because as we grow and transform as students and individuals, the institutions that we’re a part of should reflect that,” they said.
Featured graphic by Angel Xing.
