Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, & Sexuality GCWS

06/04/2026

Sankofa reminds us that it is not taboo to return for what you have forgotten. Join us for a transformative journey that treats writing not just as expression, but as a practice of survival, self-preservation, and memory-keeping. Through a dedicated morning pages ritual and engagement with powerful thinkers like Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Octavia E. Butler, you'll learn to move through creative discomfort with intention. Whether you are an artist, a journaler, or someone wanting to reconnect with your voice, this workshop offers a sacred space for your story.

🗓️ Dates: June 15, 18, 22, and 25, 2026
🔗 Secure your spot today: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/sfli-sankofa-as-sacred-writing-practice?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

Know someone who needs this creative reset? Help us spread the word by sharing this post with your network or inviting a friend to sign up with you! 🙌🏽

06/03/2026

How do religious commentaries, colonial laws, and modern films shape our understanding of South Asian women?

Join us on Wednesday afternoons at MIT for Women, Gender, and Sexuality in South Asia. This thematic course moves beyond the textbook to analyze the "symbols" of modernity and tradition. We’ll discuss everything from goddess traditions to contemporary resistance movements.

Featured Themes:
- Representations of women in religious texts.
- The impact of the caste system.
- Violence and resistance in contemporary times.

Spaces are limited for this cross-institutional collaboration! Apply NOW: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/fa26-wgs-south-asia?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

06/02/2026

Ever wonder how data can be used as a weapon against reproductive rights—and how movements can fight back? 🛡️💻 This micro-course exposes the data-driven tactics used by far-right organizations to roll back healthcare access, while offering feminist strategies to counter them. You’ll explore powerful concepts like "missing data" and "counterdata production" to critically assess the risks and opportunities of digital age activism. By the end of these sessions, you'll walk away knowing how to design a basic data activism strategy for your own community.

🗓️ Dates: June 15, 17, 22, 24, and 25, 2026
🔗 Don't wait—secure your spot today: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/sfli-data-reproductive-justice?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

Let’s build a powerful community of informed advocates. Please pass this along to your network or share it to your page to help us spread the word! 🙌🏽

06/01/2026

🌟 Ready to challenge how you think about gender, sexuality, and politics?

Join Feminist and Q***r Theory this fall:
📍 Meets at MIT
🗓 Mondays, 4-7pm
👩‍🏫 Taught by Dr. Heike Schotten (UMass Boston)

Dive into the foundational texts that shaped feminist, q***r, and trans* theory—and wrestle with the big questions that still define these fields today. From abstract theory to real-world political struggles, this course connects ideas to action.

Come ready to read deeply, think critically, and engage boldly.

Apply today:

Fall 2026; Mondays, 4-7PM Meets at MIT

05/31/2026

Looking to deepen your understanding of grassroots organizing? ✊🏾✨ Registration is now open for our upcoming Summer Feminist Learning Institute (SFLI) micro-course, Comrade Sisters: Lessons from Radical African American and Latina Feminist Struggles, 1960s-1970s. Led by Dr. Tatiana M.F. Cruz, this course explores the powerful, often overlooked roles that Black and Latina women played in movements like the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords, and the Brown Berets. You’ll learn how these activists challenged sexism from within militant nationalist movements and discover how to translate their historic strategies into actionable tools for today’s community organizing.

🗓️ Dates: June 19, 22, 24, and 26, 2026
🔗 Register here: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/sfli-comrade-sisters?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

Do you know someone passionate about social justice, history, or community action? Tag them in the comments or share this post to help us spread the word!

05/29/2026

SFLI registration is open and we’d love for you to join us!

Inspired by bell hooks’ Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black, our interactive, online micro-courses invite participants to turn intersectional theory into real-world praxis.

Who is this for? Our entire community. Whether you are a new graduate transitioning to your next chapter, a continuing student looking for summer enrichment, or a campus administrator, postdoc, non-academic staff member, or visiting scholar—there is a place for you here.

🗓 Courses begin June 15. To keep our dialogues deep and intentional, space is strictly limited and seats are filling up fast. Tuition is $420 per micro-course, with limited financial assistance available.

👉 Ready to join us? We would love to have your voice in the room. Head over to our website to explore the courses and save your seat today: http://www.gcws.mit.edu/sfli-home?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

05/27/2026

🌟 NEW FALL COURSE: Women, Gender, and Sexuality in South Asia

Examine the intersection of Religion, Culture, and Colonial Legacies in one of the most dynamic regions of the world.

📅 When: Wednesdays, 4:00–7:00 PM
📍 Where: MIT Campus
👥 Faculty: Drs. Jyoti Puri (BU) & Ayesha Irani (UMB)

Explore the tension between "tradition" and "modernity" through the lenses of patriarchy, caste, and q***r identity. Perfect for students of History, Sociology, Anthropology, and Gender Studies.

👉Apply TODAY: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/fa26-wgs-south-asia?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

05/27/2026

Science should serve the communities it studies, rather than extract from them. ✊🏽💡 Grounded in Black Feminist Thought and critical traditions, our new micro-course What Counts as Evidence? (And Who Decides?) teaches you how to move from rigid data theories to real-world equity. You'll examine your own decision-making biases and walk away with a practical, revised framework to apply directly to a current or future project. Whether you're working in public health, psychology, policy, or grassroots organizing, this course will transform how you measure success.

🗓️ Dates: June 15, 18, 22, 25, and 29, 2026

🔗 Secure your spot today: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/sfli-what-counts-as-evidence?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

Let's build a network of responsible researchers and advocates! Pass this along to your feed or send it to an organizer you know to help us spread the word. 🙌🏽

05/25/2026

It is not taboo to return for what you have forgotten. ✨ Join us for our upcoming Summer Feminist Learning Institute (SFLI) micro-course, Sankofa as Sacred Writing Practice and Return to Ourselves, led by Ga-Ewe folklorist and sound artist Dzidzor Azaglo. This immersive workshop explores how Black and African feminist and womanist writers use language and memory-keeping as methods of powerful world-building. Through grounding rituals, sound, and visuals, you will engage with a lineage of ancestral voices to deepen your relationship with creativity and build a sustainable daily practice. By the end of the course, you’ll even leave with your own personal creative artifact, like a zine or sound playlist! 📖🌿

🗓️ Session Dates: June 15, 18, 22, and 25, 2026
🔗 Secure your spot and register here: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/sfli-sankofa-as-sacred-writing-practice?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

Do you know a writer, artist, or storyteller who carries a story waiting to find its form? Tag them in the comments below or share this post to help us spread the word! 👇🏽

05/25/2026

What does it mean to draw the line between feminist, q***r, and trans* theory—and what happens when those lines blur?

🌟 Feminist and Q***r Theory
📍 MIT | Mondays, 4-7pm
👩‍🏫 Dr. Heike Schotten (UMass Boston)

This course takes you from foundational thinkers to pressing political questions, exploring how these overlapping fields challenge norms, reshape identities, and confront power.

Perfect for anyone curious about theory, politics, and the ideas shaping today’s debates.

Applications open. Apply at: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/feminist-q***r-theory-fall2026?utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com