About Gender and Social Justice
The Gender and Social Justice program launched in September 2019, replacing the Women’s Studies program. Gender and Social Justice teaches students about social justice, with particular attention to the role of gender. Students learn to put intersectional feminism into practice in diverse ways as they work to build inclusive, just, sustainable communities, locally and globally.
Students, whether they are majors or minors ( see GSJ programs), or taking GSJ courses as electives, will find our courses timely, accessible, relevant, varied, and surprising. These courses seek to cultivate awareness of the experiences of people marginalized by such features as gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, and class. More than this, students will learn to use the theoretical framework of intersectional feminism to critically analyze systems and representations.
The Gender and Social Justice program is closely associated with the Department of Philosophy. Our staff administers both programs, and many of our faculty teach in both areas. For more information on the Philosophy Department, visit the Philosophy website.
Events
Getting ‘Real’: On Sexism, Transphobia, and the Value of Philosophy
Dr. Talia Mae Bettcher is Professor of Philosophy of California State University, Los Angeles. She is one of the founders and most influential scholars of the multi- and interdisciplinary field of trans studies, and is the author, most recently of Beyond Personhood: An Essay in Trans Philosophy (University of Minnesota Press, 2025).
We are very lucky to welcome her to Waterloo for this talk, which unpacks the representations of trans women as predatory men and looks at forms of sexist violence, transphobia, and racist violence and the vital role Philosophy plays within this arena.
News
Waterloo student wins Outstanding Graduating Student Award
Congratulations to Alana Matsuo!!! Awarded the Outstanding Graduating Student Award by the Women's, Gender, and Social Justice Association.
New Publication from Katy Fulfer and Kim Hong Nguyen
The new publication, We Can Do Better: Feminist Manifestos for Media and Communication
Features a chapter by Katy Fulfer and Kim Hong Nguyen. Chapter 12: When White Feminists Become Mean Girls: Calling White Feminists In to Stop Gaslighting, Gatekeeping, and Girlbossing
Congratulations to Bel Cairns
Congratulates on winning the 2024 Society for Linguistic Anthropology Undergraduate Paper Award in the Course Paper category for their ANTH 221/GSJ 221 paper: "Cis is a Slur": Twitter Takes on Preformative Language Ideology