Our conference was a huge success! Thank you to all speakers, sponsors, execs, and volunteers who helped make this happen.

Delegate Handbook 2015 : Message from the President, Speaker bios, Workshops, and Sponsor information.

To view pictures, please click here.

Suppression of Oppression

WEC’s 3rd Annual Women’s Conference 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015: 10:00am-5:00pm

TEL Building, York University

Join us in exploring themes and issues that revolve around the atrocities that marginalized communities encounter around the world. What are the systematic societal and institutional barriers that make it difficult for the oppressed to navigate and use spaces? In what ways do these barriers produce forms of privilege for some and oppression for others? How can we empower our communities to resist these oppressions?

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Mamdouh Shoukri – York University President

Farrah Khan – Public Speaker and Educator on Gender-Based Violence

Neha Khera – Investment Manager with MaRS, Co-Founder of Girls In Tech Toronto

WORKSHOPS AND SPEAKERS

There will be five workshops offered, of which delegates will attend three. Delegates select workshops during registration for the conference.

1. Battles on women’s bodies: Rape warfare. This workshop addresses the issue of sexual violence as a systematic weapon of war. Why has this become such a powerful tool? What are the stories of these women and their communities? What is being done about it and how do we push for this to stop?

Presented by: Tiffany Hsiung -Director of the documentary “Within Every Woman”, Toronto Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (Toronto ALPHA)

2. Challenging the narratives: Sexism online, in the media, and our everyday lives. This workshop addresses the systematic discrimination and stereotypes that shape our societal norms and values. Furthermore, it explores the link between rape culture, the internet, and inequality.

Presented by: Steph Guthrie – Feminist Advocate and Community Manager, Founder of Women in Toronto Politics

3. The toxic culture of gaming and tech. This workshop targets the representation of women in gaming and how this relates to online misogyny. How are women portrayed in games? How does this influence gamers thoughts? What are the implications?

Presented by: Soha Kareem – Board of Directors, Dames Making Games

4. Stolen Sisters. This workshop addresses the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. What are the various dimensions associated with this issue? What are the the history and politics around the issue? What are the different viewpoints and why is there so much resistance from our government to get something done? What can we do?

Presented by: Lee Maracle – Aboriginal Studies Program Instructor teaching the Oral Tradition and Traditional Teacher for First Nation’s House, University of Toronto, St. George

5. Resistance through expression. This workshop will focus on the use of art as a tool of resistance and empowerment.

Presented by: Lishai – Writer, Arts Educator, Performance Poet

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CONFERENCE ITINERARY

The following is a general schedule of the conference.

Time	Event	Location

10:00am-11:00am	Registration and Breakfast	TEL building
11:10am-11:20am	Opening ceremonies	TEL 0005
11:20am-11:40am	Keynote speaker	TEL 0005
11:50am-12:50pm	Workshop 1	0009, 0011
1:00pm-2:00pm	Lunch	0013, 0015
2:10pm-3:10pm	Workshop 2	0009, 0011
3:20pm-4:20pm	Workshop 3	0009, 0011
4:30pm-5:30pm	Closing Ceremonies	TEL 0005

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WITH THE SUPPORT OF

Lean In at York University

CONTACT

Please contact Khalidha Nasiri, President at: wec@yorku.ca with any questions, comments, or concerns.