The Simone de Beauvoir Institute

06/01/2026

This course proposes an examination of bisexual histories, theories, and discourses in Canada and the United States in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries through q***r and feminist lenses. Beginning with early studies of sexology through to the era of gay liberation and le***an feminism, and ending with the contemporary period of q***r activism.

Understanding that sexualities are shaped by numerous social and cultural factors, these topics will further highlight how bisexual identities form at intersections of race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Students will critically analyze primary sources such as magazines, newsletters, and other archival materials related to bisexual, q***r, and feminist histories. They will also engage with various texts anchored in feminist and q***r discourses that grapple with the subject of bisexuality in the realm of broader LGBTQ+ lived experiences. Students will leave this course with a stronger understanding of the epistemological and ontological positions of bisexuality and bisexual communities in both past and present.

Seats are still available, register now!

04/24/2026

Some images from yesterday’s symposium, “Living Archives, Moving Tides: Black Feminist Caribbean Thought”, celebrating the work of Dr. Merle Collins.

This symposium emerges from an ongoing commitment to think critically and collectively about diaspora as a site of knowledge production, a geography of struggle, and a space where Black feminist praxis and thought have long intervened against the violence of colonialism, racial capitalism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression. Black feminist Caribbean thought does not simply respond to these conditions—it generates its own analytic frameworks, methodologies, and possibilities for reworlding.

We hope to continue participating in organizing events that foster conversations that move across disciplines and geographies, and that center the knowledge-making practices of communities who’ve historically been erased and excluded from academic spaces.

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Nalini Mohabir and Tesfa Peterson and the Caribbean Studies Working Group for trusting us to come on board as organizers. We would also like to thank our sponsors: Reseau quebecois en etudes feministes, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies and Culture, the Black Perpectives Office, the Office of Community Engagement, the Grenadian Association and the Department of Geography, Planning and the Environment, whose support has made this symposium possible. Finally, we’d also thank Nigel Thomas and the folks at Logos Reading for their invaluable contributions to this event.

04/24/2026

Here are some images of yesterday’s symposium, “Living Archives, Moving Tides: Black Feminist Caribbean Thought”, celebrating Dr. Merle Collins work.

This symposium emerges from an ongoing commitment to think critically and collectively about diaspora as a site of knowledge production, a geography of struggle, and a space where Black feminist praxis and thought have long intervened against the violence of colonialism, racial capitalism, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression. Black feminist Caribbean thought does not simply respond to these conditions—it generates its own analytic frameworks, methodologies, and possibilities for reworlding.

We hope to continue fostering conversations that move across disciplines and geographies, and that center the knowledge-making practices of communities who’ve historically been erased and excluded from academic spaces.

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Dr. Nalini Mohabir and Tesfa Peterson and the Caribbean Studies Working Group for trusting us to come on board as organizers, as well as our sponsors: Reseau quebecois en etudes feministes, the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies and Culture, the Black Perpectives Office, the Office of Community Engagement, the Grenadian Association and the Department of Geography, Planning and the Environment, whose support has made this symposium possible. Finally, we’d also thank Nigel Thomas and the folks at Logos Reading for their invaluable contributions to this event.

04/14/2026

Meet our speakers!

Join us for a powerful day of conversation, reflection, and celebration honoring the work of Dr. Merle Collins, Grenadian writer, scholar, and public intellectual whose work centers Caribbean histories, language, memory, and the lived experiences of Caribbean women. Her most recent work Ocean Stirrings continues to trace diasporic lineages and recover the lives of Black women by focusing on the life and legacy of Louise Langdon Norton Little, the Grenadian-born mother of Malcolm X. For decades, Collins has been shaping how we understand storytelling, oral tradition, and the everyday geographies of Caribbean life by inviting us to listen deeply to the voices, silences, and memories that carry histories of colonialism, resistance, migration, and return.
📍 Event Details
🗓 Thursday, April 23, 2026
⏰ 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
📍 J.W. McConnell Building, 4TH SPACE
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
♿ Accessible location
💸 Free event
Come listen, learn, and think and celebrate with us as we honor a body of work that continues to shape Black feminist Caribbean thought and the ways we understand history, memory, and voice.

04/02/2026

Join us for a powerful day of conversation, reflection, and celebration honoring the work of Dr. Merle Collins, Grenadian writer, scholar, and public intellectual whose work centers Caribbean histories, language, memory, and the lived experiences of Caribbean women. Her most recent work Ocean Stirrings continues to trace diasporic lineages and recover the lives of Black women by focusing on the life and legacy of Louise Langdon Norton Little, the Grenadian-born mother of Malcolm X. For decades, Collins has been shaping how we understand storytelling, oral tradition, and the everyday geographies of Caribbean life by inviting us to listen deeply to the voices, silences, and memories that carry histories of colonialism, resistance, migration, and return.
📍 Event Details
🗓 Thursday, April 23, 2026
⏰ 10:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
📍 J.W. McConnell Building, 4TH SPACE
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
♿ Accessible location
💸 Free event
Come listen, learn, and think and celebrate with us as we honor a body of work that continues to shape Black feminist Caribbean thought and the ways we understand history, memory, and voice.
CaribbeanThought

01/29/2026

Join us at the SdBI for an information session and Q&A with Ninon Bouchard, a 3rd year sexology student and former SDBI student and WSSSA exec, who will briefly present the program and answer your questions about:
- Admission requirements
- Program structure and class content
- Careers in sexology
- Graduate programs in sexology
- Tips to help you prepare and adjust

This event will be recorded and is available hybrid, please REGISTER to receive the Zoom link. A copy of the recording will be available online at a later date.

01/28/2026

The SdBI’s Lilian Robinson Scholar Program is excited to host Dr. Judith Nicholson and her talk: The Green Book Guide in Montreal

What is the history of the Green Book Guide for Travel and Vacations in Montreal? This talk explores how a politics of automobility shaped and reflected conditions for African Americans who travelled by car to Montreal
using the Green Book between 1936 and 1967.

This talk invites collaboration to interpret how the Green Book haunts Montreal in our times. When we become aware of local locations listed in the guidebook, how do we regard them?

Join us February 18th from 4pm-6pm at

Dr. Judith A. Nicholson is Associate Professor in Communication Studies at Laurier University, where she teaches Critical Mobility Studies. Her journal articles and book chapters interpret mobility and racial politics. A current research project interprets automobility in Canada, or how the nation is shaped through infrastructure and ideology for cars and driving.

01/22/2026

We’re back! Join us for the SdBI Seminar Series!

Featuring Manvi Arora, Alexander Antonopoulos and Tamara Amoroso Gonsalves with Mary Shearman (Discussant).

📅 January 28| 1:30–3:30 PM | ER-672

01/20/2026

As part of the Artists Against Genocide fundraising event for Palestine 🇵🇸 and Sudan 🇸🇩 on January 31, there is a thrift section to support the cause.
You can donate from January 19 to 23 at SHIFT Concordia.
For the Tickets are available on the instagram’s bio

12/13/2025