Academic, writer, and activist in the gender and sexuality field, Professor Stevi Jackson, a faculty member working at the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York in the U.K., has been named the 2017 Ashley Fellow and will be visiting Trent University over the next few weeks, leading a series of public events and lectures.

“Professor Jackson brings with her a wide variety of experience and knowledge pertaining to gender, sexuality and social change,” explains Lindsay Morris, head of Lady Eaton College at Trent University, co-host with the Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies department, of the 2017 Ashley Fellow at Trent. “Her presence on campus will be a unique opportunity to engage students in a meaningful conversation that will both inspire curiosity, and challenge traditional thought.”

Prof. Jackson has retained her interest in sexuality throughout her career, but has also worked on broader aspects of feminist theory, family relationships and childhood. Her current interests include theorizing sexuality, especially heterosexuality; theories of self and subjectivity; modernity, gender and intimacy in Asia and Europe.

As the 2017 Ashley Fellow, Prof. Jackson will engage the Trent and Peterborough communities in a variety of free, public events, including:

• Wednesday, January 25, 2017: Public lecture starting at 4:00 p.m.in Lady Eaton College, The Pit, with a reception to follow at 5:30 p.m. Prof Jackson will speak on Internationalizing the critique of heterosexuality and the benefits and pitfalls of thinking beyond the parochially “western.”
• Tuesday, January 31, 2017: Public talk from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., in Lady Eaton College, Senior Common Room 301 with Prof. Jackson and guest speaker, Dr. Elaine Stavro, associate professor in Political Studies at Trent. Together, they will speak on the Legacy of French Theory.
• Wednesday, February 1, 2017: Public panel from 2:00 p.m. –5:00 p.m., in Lady Eaton College EC 201. Panelists include Prof. Jackson, Dr. Momin Rahman, Sociology professor at Trent, and Douglas Janoff, LGBT Rights Advisor for Global Affairs Canada. The panelists will discuss Sexualities beyond western modernity: Understanding the similarities and differences in Muslim and Asian sexual diversity.
• Wednesday, February 8, 2017: Public lecture at 7:00 p.m. in Lady Eaton College, The Pit. Prof. Jackson will discuss activist lives in and after Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement: Challenging authoritarianism in public and private spaces.
• Wednesday, February 15, 2017: In Prof. Jackson’s final public panel, she will be joined by Dr. Joan Sangster, Gender and Women’s Studies professor at Trent; Dawn Lavelle-Harvard, director of the First People’s House of Learning; and Dr. May Chazan, assistant professor in Gender and Women's Studies, to discuss, the successes and failures of feminism over the last 50 years and the likely future for gender politics. This discussion will take place in the Gathering Space in Gzowski College from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

About the Ashley Fellowship

The Ashley Fellow is a visiting scholar hosted each year by one of Trent University’s Colleges.  The fellowship is funded by a bequest from the late Professor C.A. Ashley, long-time friend of Trent University and an enthusiastic proponent of the role that informal contacts of college life can play in the academic pursuits of the University. The Ashley Fellow usually resides at one of Trent's residential Colleges for part of the year, delivering lectures and meeting with faculty and students.