Canadian Women's Studies Association
L'association canadienne des études sur les femmes

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP

Through your membership in the Canadian Women’s Studies Association / l’association canadienne des études sur les femmes (CWSA/ACEF) you demonstrate your support for ongoing feminist research, scholarship, education, service and activism in Canada.

Professional Network

When you are a member of the CWSA/ACEF, you are part of a professional network of scholars and educators working in the area of Women’s and Gender Studies. You have access to Professional Development information on the website – from how to search for academic work in Women’s and Gender Studies to issues of tenure and promotion – as well as an annual conference where you can collaborate with local, regional, national and international colleagues on panels, roundtables, research, performances and other endeavours.

To further participate in the CWSA/ACEF and the ongoing development of Women’s and Gender Studies in Canada, members are encouraged to join the book and / or essay prize committees, the communications committee, or allow their nomination for the CWSA/ACEF Executive.

Annual Conference

Your membership sustains a national dialogue between professors, community scholars, graduate students, undergraduate students and activists who convene yearly at the annual CWSA/ACEF conference held in conjunction with the Congress of the CFHSS / FCSH. The conference creates a forum for our ongoing research interests, alongside discussions of pedagogy and the current state of Women’s and Gender Studies. Further, the conference offers the invaluable opportunity to network with colleagues in your field, meet scholars who share your research and teaching interests, and become acquainted with authors you have read and admired. Keynote speakers have included Cynthia Enloe, M. Jacqui Alexander and Anna Mae Timson. By attending the conference, presenting a paper, or participating in a roundtable, you become part of producing the terms and purview of Women’s and Gender Studies each year.

Annually, an award for outstanding scholarship is awarded at the conference, as well as undergraduate and graduate student essay prizes. Women’s and Gender Studies program co-ordinators have the opportunity to attend the annual chairs’ meeting planned by the CWSA/ACEF. This event coincides with the conference and facilitates critical reflection and dialogue across Women’s and Gender Studies programs and departments in Canada. As a matter of strategic priority, CWSA/ACEF membership is inexpensive – especially for non-faculty. CWSA/ACEF applies for SSHRC funding for conference travel assistance each year and these funds, when granted, are offered to students to help defray travel costs. Additionally, the Association also has monies available to help with travel costs for unwaged and under-waged members.

CWSA/ACEF website and listserv

To keep members informed throughout the year, the CWSA/ACEF maintains a website and a listserv where announcements for employment opportunities and calls for papers are posted and circulated. The website maintains an up-to-date listing of Women’s and Gender Studies undergraduate and graduate programs, departments and research institutes in Canada.

Outstanding Scholarship Award

Between 2001 and 2011, the CWSA/ACEF awarded an annual book prize for a monograph published by a CWSA / ACEF member. Starting in 2012, this award is shifting to an Outstanding Scholarship Award, to better recognize the variety of work produced by association members.

Undergraduate and Graduate Essay Prizes

Two essay prizes are open to CWSA/ACEF members who wish to nominate their students’ essays for national recognition, a cash prize, a CWSA/ACEF membership, and some travel costs towards attending the annual conference.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

The Canadian Women's Studies Association/l'association canadienne des études sur les femmes is the national professional association for the academic discipline of Women's Studies in Canada. Joining the association indicates both support for and affiliation with the discipline -- and our numbers have increased steadily over the past 10 years!

There are currently 4 categories of membership in the CWSA/ACEF: student or unwaged; individual - waged; individual - low income; and institutional. Institutional memberships include one free membership at either the 'student or unwaged' or 'individual - low income' level for someone attached to the program/department. Additionally, institutional memberships are available for a three-year term at a reduced rate. Membership runs from January to December of the calendar year. You must be a member of the association in order to submit an abstract for the annual conference and to be considered for any of the awards and prizes mentioned above.

Membership forms can be found here or better yet, use our new online membership process. Membership rates are listed per annum, although members are welcome to join for multiple years at a time.

Individual: Waged:

1 year $70

    Faculty members with full university appointments are encouraged to voluntarily increase their membership fee to $100. These additional funds will allow CWSA/ACEF to better respond to rising conference fees, to expand the services we offer to graduate students, and to begin to create a surplus for such projects as a rotating post doc award to support smaller programs.

Individual: Retired and Low Income:

1 year $25

    Retired members are welcome to join at either the full individual rate or the low-waged rate.

Student or Unwaged:

1 year $15

Institutional Membership:

Small institution or program $75
Medium size institution or program $125
Large institution or program $200

NEW! Three-year membership rates are also available:
Small institution or program: $200.00 over 3-year period
Medium institution or program: $350.00 over 3-year period
Large institution or program: $575.00 over 3-year period

Please note that institutional memberships include one free membership at either the 'student or unwaged' or 'individual - low income' level. Please fill in the name and information of the individual to whom that membership should be applied on the form.

Thank you for supporting CWSA/ACEF!