On Tuesday, May 5, the Department of Social Science will host a guest lecture by philosopher and feminist theorist Clara Serra titled The Meaning of Consent.

In this talk, Serra will discuss sexual consent and how its meaning is shifting in contemporary culture. Approaching the topic from philosophical, historical and political perspectives, she will unpack the ambiguities inherent in the very idea of consent. Beneath the apparent simplicity of the consent lies the question of: what does it actually mean to consent?

Serra will explore the implications of the dominant doctrine of affirmative consent, arguing that it signals a broader desiderative shift – a re-signification of consent that moves away from its semantic proximity to will and closer to the notion of desire. This shift, she suggests, raises pressing questions about how desire is understood, articulated and regulated, and whether it can ever be expressed with complete clarity.

The York community is invited to attend. .��

Date: Tuesday, May 5
Time: 12 - 1:30 p.m.
Location: Department of Social Science, Ross S701

About the guest speaker:

Serra is a philosopher and feminist theorist. She holds a PhD from the University of Barcelona, where she completed her dissertation on the concept of sexual consent in contemporary feminist theory. Her research engages with political philosophy, feminist theory and critical legal studies.

Serra is the author of several books, including The Meaning of Consent (Anagrama, 2024). She is currently a lecturer and researcher at BAU, Centre d’Estudis Universitaris d’Arts i Disseny of Barcelona and collaborates as an external researcher with the Complutense University of Madrid. Her work combines academic research with a strong engagement in public debate, and she contributes regularly to leading media outlets.

Alongside her academic work, Serra has been actively involved in institutional politics, having served as Secretary of Equality in the early years of Podemos and as a Member of the Madrid Parliament from 2015 to 2019.

A recent article in the Toronto Star covered the closure of Filmores Hotel and Gentleman’s Club, a strip club located in downtown Toronto. The club had been in business for 45 years and closed its doors on Jan. 31. The article features quotes from several of the club’s longstanding dancers who reflect positively on several aspects of the club and its management, including flexible hours, a sense of control and community, and the diversity of its employees. Also quoted was Tuulia Law, an associate professor in the Department of Social Science, sharing her academic expertise on sex work and sex industry management. Law discusses the repercussions of the club’s closure on the dancers’ lives and the community at large.

Tuulia Law holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Criminology from the University of Ottawa. She works with community partners in the sex industry to research topics like labour relations, working conditions, management and the performance of gender, class and race. Her additional research interests include intersectional gendered violence, sexual assault on campus and criminalized masculinities.

Read the full article in the (behind paywall).

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, �첥��Ƶ launched a new research cluster titled Overcoming Epidemics in Transnational Black Communities – Response, Recovery and Resilience. The cluster is made up of Black scholars from five York faculties who have been working to understand how structural inequalities influence the way that Black communities experience, respond to and recover from epidemics.

Sylvia Bawa, associate professor of sociology, and Jeffrey Squire, an instructor in the Department of Social Science, are co-principal investigators on the study. Their work centres the voices of Black communities by engaging directly with organizations and community members in Toronto and internationally to ensure their work is addressing real-life concerns. Their findings will now be shared in a way that encourages dialogue and helps members of the community devise practical recommendations to support one another during future epidemics.

Read the full story in YFile.

The Ontario Research Fund has awarded $1,614,137 to �첥��Ƶ to support the development of its research infrastructure. The funding will support 14 projects across multiple faculties and disciplines, strengthening York’s capacity for innovative research.

The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) is among the recipients, with two projects selected for funding. LA&PS congratulates the researchers whose work will contribute to advancing research excellence at �첥��Ƶ. LA&PS researchers included in the funding:

Aimi Hamraie, associate professor, Department of Social Science
Critical Lab Design: Establish a dedicated research space at York that centres disabled people as designers and makers of technology through research‑creation focused on disability culture and community.
$75,000

Manar Jammal, associate professor, School of Information Technology
Futuristic Infrastructures for AI Framework: Pioneering Self-Healing Cloud and Smart Cities: Establish a high‑performance AI lab to advance self‑healing cloud systems and smart city research.
$75,120

Read the full article in YFile.

Fatimah Mufti, a student in the Law & Society program, was featured in a recent YFile article about how students can gain inspiration through novel co-op experiences. Despite Mufti’s strong interest in pursuing a career in law, she chose co-op placements outside the legal field to broaden her perspective and challenge herself professionally.

Mufti completed an eight-month paid role as a research analyst with the Ministry of Infrastructure in the Ontario government, where she conducted risk assessments, technical research and data visualization across a range of different projects. Her second placement was with ventureLAB, a technology non-profit based in Markham, where she gained experience in presenting, customer engagement and administration.

She shared that these hands-on experience have helped her mature and build the skills and confidence needed to succeed in a professional environment.

Read the full article in YFile.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has announced the recipients of the November 2025 SSHRC Connection Grants. Ten �첥��Ƶ research projects received funding.

Congratulations to the researchers from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) whose innovative projects were selected. These projects span a wide range of disciplines and demonstrate the depth and diversity of research expertise within our Faculty.

The one-year Connection Grant funding will support key knowledge-mobilization activities including events, workshops and outreach initiatives that help strengthen the impact and reach of this important work.

Projects involving LA&PS researchers are listed below.

Converging and Conflicting Buddhist Legal Frames: Secular Governances and Buddhist Transgressions, led by Alicia Turner (associate professor, Department of Humanities, LA&PS) with co-applicant Benjamin Berger (professor, Osgoode Hall Law School), received $24,619.

The Relational Turn: Looking Back, Thinking Ahead, led by Ruth Buchanan (professor, Osgoode Hall Law School) and co-led by Annie Bunting (professor, Department of Social Science, LA&PS) and the University of Toronto, received $20,096

Waste-work: race, caste, and labour in the new global politics of disposability, led by Shubhra Gururani (associate professor, Department of Anthropology, LA&PS), received $23,503.

Monstrous Intimacies at 15, led by Tiana Reid (assistant professor, Department of English, LA&PS), received $24,055.

Colère et Espoir autour de la Palestine : Perspectives d'artistes et de chercheur.es en sciences sociales, co-led by Nadia Hasan (assistant professor, School of Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies, LA&PS) with partners from Université Laval and Université du Québec à Montréal, received $24,997.

Respite, Care, and Ethics for Cultural Workers: A Traveling Symposium, led by OCAD University and co-led by Casey Mecija (associate professor, Department of Communication & Media Studies), received $49,996.

De l'économie politique postcapitaliste à l'utopie — Rencontre entre recherche en sciences sociales et pratiques artistiques, led by Saint Paul University and co-led by Audrey Laurin-Lamothe (associate professor, Department of Social Science, LA&PS) and partners from Lund University, Université Laval, and Université du Québec en Outaouais, received $23,646.

Lusophone Studies Association Meeting, “Voices and Visions: Lusophone Communities in the Global Landscape,” led by the University of British Columbia and co-led by Robert Kenedy (associate professor, Department of Sociology, LA&PS), received $24,375.

��ó: Tewatia'tarò:rok Taetewatia'takéhnha', led by the University of Toronto and co-led by Jeremy Green (assistant professor, Department of Humanities, LA&PS), received $50,000.

Read the full story in YFile.

Many Canadians are facing insecurity in wages, employment and housing, creating a cost-of-living crisis. Carlo Fanelli, an associate professor in the Department of Social Science, has written an article for Policy Options responding to a recent piece in the Globe & Mail titled “What cost-of-living crisis? The data tell a different story.” The Globe & Mail article argues that the crisis is a result of perception, but Fanelli disputes this, pointing out that median wages are growing slower than rising consumer prices. Additionally, the labour market has become more unstable, and the housing crisis has furthered insecurity, with housing inflation outpacing overall inflation. He argues we need new policies that support low- and middle-income levels to ensure that working full-time provides stability and security.

Fanelli teaches and conducts research in the areas of work and labour market restructuring, labour and employment law, public policy, political economy and socio-economic inequality. Since 2009, he has been editor-in-chief of Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research. In addition to his scholarly writing, he has written for The Huffington Post, iPolitics, Policy Options, The Hill Times, Jacobin and other outlets. His work has also been featured in the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Global News, Financial Post, CBC News, CTV News, �ճհ�’s The Agenda and other media.

Read the full article in .

Cynthia Kwakyewah, a professor in the Department of Social Science, has written an article for The Conversation examining how the long history of resource exploitation in Ghana has caused extensive harm to the environment and the wellbeing of its citizens. She discusses her research into how oil, gas and mining companies have acted exploitatively, and how activists in Ghana, including non-profit organizations and local courts, are shifting the landscape to create more accountability. Kwakyewah highlights how this activism demonstrates that change and justice can happen within Africa, rather than relying solely on intervention from the global North. She outlines her research process, the social activism undertaken by Ghanian civil society organizations and the tangible outcomes of this activism.

Kwakyewah is a global sociologist with research interest in human rights and social justice, sustainable development, environmental and climate justice, spatial inequality and civil society activism. Her scholarly work has been published in top peer-reviewed academic journals such as Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Business Strategy and the Environment and Transnational Human Rights Review. Kwakyewah earned a PhD in sociology from Oxford University (UK) as a recipient of both the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship and the Klaus Murmann Doctoral Fellowship. In recognition of her outstanding academic achievements, she was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal in 2018, an honour presented to the top-performing graduate student at �첥��Ƶ.��

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