2025 Graduates Reflect on Time at GRSJ
As our 2025 graduates prepared to say farewell to UBC, we asked them to take a moment to reflect on their time with GRSJ – what stood out for them, what they’ll miss and what’s next now that they’ve completed their degree. Here’s what some of them had to say! Marianne El-Mikati, MA What Stood […]
Celebrating the Graduating Class of 2025
We’re proud to recognize the achievements of this year’s graduates from the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice. Throughout your time at UBC you’ve engaged deeply with complex issues and contributed to important conversations around equity and justice. Your hard work matters, and we’re excited to see how you carry it forward in […]
Elder Margaretta James: Coming Home
For Elder Margaretta James (Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation), a Master’s student at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at UBC, academic research is a deeply personal endeavour. Her thesis exhibition, Coming Home, is a powerful act of storytelling—one that draws on her lived experience to illuminate histories that have often been overlooked or forgotten.
Simran Garcha’s TedX talk: How to Confront Domestic Abuse
GRSJ student Simran Garcha recently delivered an inspiring TedX Talk where she shared her transformative journey from a childhood marred by domestic violence and silence to a life of healing and advocacy. Raised in a South Asian family where silence was equated with strength, Simran unpacks the personal and cultural costs of suppressing truth. Through […]
Whalers Washing House returns to its home on Nootka Island after 120 years
Elder Margaretta James (GRSJ Masters Student) was part of a Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation delegation that recently went to New York to retrieve what may be the largest treasure of a First Nation ever taken to the U.S.
Margaretta James Receives King Charles Coronation Medal
Heartfelt congratulations to GRSJ grad student, Elder Margaretta James (Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation) who has been awarded a prestigious King Charles Coronation Medal in recognition of her work with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth people, especially through the yearly Yuquot Summerfest, which she leads. Elder Margaretta James is currently pursuing her Masters with GRSJ and […]
Beauty in BIPOC: A Q&A with GRSJ Student Sarina Virani
GRSJ is proud to host a special pop-up photography exhibition in our lobby from March 14- April 4. Beauty in BIPOC, curated by GRSJ student Sarina Virani, showcases the artistic work and thoughtful perspectives from a variety of women of colour at UBC. Drop by GRSJ at Buchanan Tower (10th floor) to check it out […]
Guns and Manure: Sri Lanka’s Army and Organic Agriculture
Congratulations to GRSJ MA student Upandha Udalagama on their recent article published in The Diplomat, The article is part of her broader thesis examining agricultural policy through a feminist political ecology lens. “I was in Sri Lanka when this transition unfolded, but it took leaving the country to fully explore its deeper implications. This perspective […]
V. Pauahi Souza Receives Most Impactful Paper Award
Congratulations to GRSJ PhD Candidate V. Pauahi Souza who recently received the Most Impactful Paper Award at the 2025 International Conference on Language Documentation & Conservation (ICLDC) at University of Hawai’i Mānoa. Pauahi was a recipient of the award with UBC Linguistic Department PhD Candidate Michelle Kamagaki-Baron for their presentation called “Access to ‘ōlelo Hawai’i […]
CSIS Pedagogy Project Receives OER Rapid Innovation Grant
Congratulations to GRSJ PhD candidate Allen Baylosis and GRSJ faculty member Dr. Isabel Machado, who have received an OER (Open Educational Resources) Rapid Innovation Grant to support the development of an open pedagogy project in Machado’s CSIS 450 course. The project involves students writing and producing illustrated essays as part of an open-access digital book. […]