Get Involved: Centre for Feminist Legal Studies (CFLS)

There are many ways to get involved at UBC Law. Read about the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies in this blog post by Camille Israël, a 2L and the coordinator of the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies (CFLS).

The CFLS is a research centre at UBC which focuses on feminist legal research, including issues such as gender, sexuality, family law, sexual assault, reproductive rights, aboriginality, access to justice, racism, poverty law, disability and more. Founded in 1997, the Centre works to ensure that feminist research and legal issues remain visible at UBC and to promote collaboration between scholars at UBC, those at other universities, students and members of the broader feminist community.

What do we do? We organize a weekly lunchtime lecture series as well as the annual Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice. Last term, speakers included Professor Ruthann Robson (author of Sappho Goes to Law School), Susan Bazilli (director of the International Women’s Rights Project) and Kasari Govender (executive director of West Coast LEAF), among many others. We also publish our LawFemme newsletter three times a year (http://faculty.law.ubc.ca/cfls/centre/newsletters.html) and host visiting scholars from all over the world.

We provide students with informal meeting/study/discussion space as well as a lending library of feminist works and faculty publications. Check out our collection online (http://www.librarything.com/profile/cfls) or come peruse it in person! We also maintain a collection of topic files on a variety of different areas of the law. These files are a treasure trove of rare reports, conference proceedings and other documentation. Thumb through them if you are looking for an introduction to a new topic, or use them as a resource to deepen your research in an area of law.

The Centre is part of the Positive Space Campaign (http://positivespace.ubc.ca/), an initiative intended to help make UBC more receptive to and welcoming of its lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, questioning, transgender, transsexual, gender variant, two-spirit and intersex (LGBQTTI) communities and individuals. It is a safe space where sexual and gender diversity is supported and valued.

I look forward to welcoming you to our space in the new building next year! The Centre will be located in room 424, the Marlee Kline Room.

If you would like more information about the Centre, you can visit our website at http://faculty.law.ubc.ca/cfls/ or like us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/UBC-Law-Centre-for-Feminist-Legal-Studies/113942732024780). You can also email me at cfls@law.ubc.ca if you have any questions, if you would like to be added to our student mailing list, or if you are interested in volunteering with the Centre next year.

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and see you in the fall!

-Camille