The seminar " Women in the Law " is offered by Penny Bain, Lynn Smith and Marguerite Jackson in 1974-75 at the request of students and is taught for several years continuously. Different areas of law, especially criminal law, employment law, and family law, and the way women are treated under them, are addressed. Special focus is on the evidentiary rules regarding women complainants in rape cases and the myths underpinning those rules.

Barbara Findlay replaces Marguerite Jackson and teaches the seminar with Lynn Smith (and later alone). Many feminists in the legal profession attend the seminar.

The Clara Brett Martin/Women and the Law dinners and speakers begin in 1975 or 1976, initiated by Ruth Lea Taylor. Speakers include Rosemary Brown, Carolyn Askew, Mary Eberts, Wendy Harvey, Rosalie Abella, Judy Rebick, Madame Justice Claire L'Heureux -Dubé, and Sharon McIvor.

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1980s

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The " Women in the Law " seminar is renamed "Women and the Law." Barbara Findlay continues to teach it from time to time.

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Lynn Smith offers an equality rights seminar in the mid-1980s.

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The seminar " Law, Myth, and the Unconscious " (later "Psychoanalysis and Feminist Theory ") is introduced by J.C. Smith in the mid-1980s.

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Several faculty members work with the Western Judicial Education Centre on continuing education programs for judges on gender and diversity issues. This work continues into the 1990s.

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Several faculty members contribute research and legal skills to LEAF (the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund) and West Coast LEAF in regard to litigation and legislative reform work. This work also continues into the 1990s.

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1989-90

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In Spring 1990, Marlee Kline offers the first seminar in Feminist Legal Theory. The seminar continues to be offered almost every year since that time.

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1990-91

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A "feminist perspectives" section of the Perspectives course is taught to all first-year students. Christine Boyle teaches it the first year, and later Nitya Iyer and Christine Boyle teach it together. Eventually, Feminist Perspectives becomes an option rather than a compulsory component, as do all Perspectives courses.

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1991-92

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Lynn Smith is appointed as Dean of the Faculty Law (1991-97).

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Marlee Kline offers the seminar Feminist Perspectives on Law in the Women's Studies program at UBC.

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1992-93

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An endowed Chair in Women and the Law is established , thanks to the initiative taken by faculty members (including Peter Burns, Dennis Pavlich, Marlee Kline, and Lynn Smith). The Chair is approved as part of the "World of Opportunity" campaign. Funds are raised by a committee chaired by Risa Levine and through matching funds from the B.C. government.

The mandate of the Chair is to reinforce and strengthen the existing base of feminist legal studies in the Faculty and to foster scholarship and learning directed toward social change related to the position of women position in society. Susan B. Boyd is appointed as the first incumbent of the Chair.

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A new seminar called Law, Family and Gender is offered by Susan Boyd and later renamed Women, Law and Family .

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A research paper written by Laura Spitz, UBC Law student for the seminar "Law, Family and Gender", wins the 1993 National Association of Women and the Law Essay Competition.

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The Feminist Legal Studies Lecture Series is established within the Faculty Seminar Program. Speakers include Joan Brockman (Criminology, Simon Fraser University) and Regina Graycar (Law, University of New South Wales).

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American feminist legal scholar Ann Scales is the Walter S. Owen Visiting Chair in Law.

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1993-94

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The new course Feminist Legal Studies , designed to provide a survey of the history of western feminist legal thought and recent developments in law and feminism, is introduced and taught by Susan Boyd.

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A three-year research grant is received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada by Susan Boyd and a group of researchers (including Law faculty members Marlee Kline, Nitya Iyer, Judith Mosoff and Claire Young). The title of the interdisciplinary and collaborative project is " Challenging the Public/Private Divide: Women, Law, and Social Change ."

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The "Chair in Women and the Law" is renamed the " Chair in Feminist Legal Studies ."

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1994-95

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The graduate seminar Feminist Legal Studies: Key Themes and Current Debates is offered for the first time, coordinated by Susan Boyd with the assistance of faculty members Christine Boyle, Nitya Iyer, Marlee Kline, Judith Mosoff, Marilyn MacCrimmon and Claire Young. Visiting professors from England, Australia, and New Zealand also participate.

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The Feminist Legal Studies LL.B course is cross-listed with Women's Studies and offered to upper-year students in Arts as well as to law students.

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A grant from the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (UBC) assists professors in providing social context about issues such as gender, race, sexual orientation and disability in law courses and materials.

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1995-96

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A Feminist Legal Studies display is a key feature of the 50 th Anniversary celebrations of the Faculty of Law in October 1995.

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The workshop " Equality Rights and Family at the Supreme Court of Canada: Miron, Egan, and Thibaudeau " is organized in August 1995.

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1996-97

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Australian feminist legal scholars Regina Graycar and Jenny Morgan are Visitors to the Faculty during fall term 1996. Regina Graycar is the Douglas McK. Brown Visiting Chair in Law.

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The Centre for Feminist Legal Studies (CFLS) is approved by the Faculty of Law and the University in Spring 1997.

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This website on Feminist Legal Studies at UBC is developed.

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The English language side of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law is brought to British Columbia , to be shared between UBC's Faculty of Law and the University of Victoria Faculty of Law. The first co-editors are Nitya Iyer (UBC) and Hester Lessard (Victoria). In later years, Susan Boyd and Marilyn MacCrimmon (1997-98) and Marlee Kline (1998-2000) replace Nitya Iyer as co-editors.

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Nitya Iyer is appointed to the BC Human Rights Tribunal. She resigns from UBC in 2000.

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1997-98

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Ruth Buchanan joins the Faculty of Law and offers the new seminar Globalization and Law .

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The book Challenging the Public/Private Divide: Feminism, Law, and Public Policy , edited by Susan Boyd and including chapters by several feminist faculty members and graduate students, is published by the University of Toronto Press (1997).

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Susan B. Boyd is appointed as the first director of the CFLS.

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The CFLS organizes a lecture series and workshop " Outlaw or In-Law: Lesbian Litigation in Same-Sex Cases ," on February 10, 1998.

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Dr. Olexandra Rudneva, Director of the Centre for Women's Legal Rights Development at the Academy of Legal Sciences of the Ukraine, is a Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Law, March 16-20, 1998.

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Former dean Lynn Smith is appointed to the BC Supreme Court and resigns from UBC.

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Susan Boyd and Claire Young receive (with three others) a three-year research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (1998-2001) on Feminism, Law and Social Change in Canada, 1967-1997: (Re)Action and Resistance . The project is collaborative with Dorothy Chunn (principal investigator), Robert Menzies of the School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, and Hester Lessard of the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria.

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Space in Annex I is renovated for the CFLS, thanks to a grant from the UBC President's Office.

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1998-99

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Marlee Kline is Acting Director of the CFLS while Susan Boyd is on sabbatical.

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The CFLS is officially opened with a party and a launch of the book Women and The Equality Deficit: The Impact of Restructuring Canada's Social Programs , written by Gwen Brodsky and Shelagh Day and published by Status of Women Canada.

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The CFLS launches its Lecture Series featuring, among others, Sheila McIntyre (Faculty of Law, Queen's University) on "Two Decades of Feminism and Anti-Feminism in Canadian Legal Education" and Megan Ellis on "Litigating Sexual Abuse Issues."

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Judy Fudge of Osgoode Hall Law School is the Douglas McK. Brown Visiting Chair in Law and teaches the course Feminist Legal Studies . She presents "Exclusion, Segregation, Discrimination and Privatisation: Law, the Canadian State and Women Public Servants, 1908-1998" in the CFLS Lecture Series.

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Claire Young is appointed the Dunhill Madden Butler Chair in Women and the Law at the University of Sydney in Australia for February to May 1999.

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Work begins on the research project The Challenge of Change: Rethinking Law as Discipline funded by the UBC Hampton Fund. The CFLS is a catalyst for the project and houses the meetings of the research group. Marilyn MacCrimmon and Ruth Buchanan are principal investigators and several other faculty members are co-investigators. Articles are published in (2001) 20 Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice

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1999-2000

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Hester Lessard (Faculty of Law, University of Victoria) is a Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Law. She presents her research on university harassment policies in the CLFS Lecture Series.

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Sharon McIvor is the first First Nations woman to be keynote speaker at the annual Women and the Law Dinner.

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Canadian Feminist Literature on Law: An Annotated Bibliography by Susan B. Boyd (with Josée Bouchard and Elizabeth Sheehey) is published as Volume 11 of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law (1999).

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Speakers in the CFLS Lecture Series include Dr. Sylvia Tamale (Makerere University, Uganda) on "Women and Parliamentary politics in Uganda" and Luningning Alcuitas on "Human Rights from the Perspective of Philippine Domestic Workers."

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2000-2001

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The CFLS launches a Feminist Mentorship Program to link women students and women legal professionals.

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The CFLS begins its collaboration with the Poverty and Human Rights Project directed by Shelagh Day and Gwen Brodsky and funded by the Law Foundation of BC.

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Speakers in the CFLS Lecture Series include Annabel Webb ("Seeking Justice for Girls Living in Poverty"), Tanis Doe ("Difficult Choices? Women, Fetal Disability, and Equality Rights in Canada) and Anita Braha ("A Feminist's Law Practice: Practicalities and Possibilities").

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Visiting Scholars include Prof. Sanda Rodgers (former dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa), who speaks on "Institutional Abuse & Alternative Remedies: Constructing a Feminist Process for Compensating Survivors" and Dr. Gwen Brodsky, who speaks on "Women and Poverty: What's New in the Supreme Court of Canada."

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Ruth Buchanan publishes Gender on the Line: Technology, Restructuring, and the Reorganization of Work in the Call Centre Industry (Status of Women Canada, 2000).

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Claire Young publishes Women, Tax & Social Programs: The Gendered Impact of Funding Social Programs Through the Tax System (Status of Women Canada, 2000).

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2001-02

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Marlee Kline is awarded the 2001 J.C. Smith Scholar Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the Faculty of Law.

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Funds donated from that award to the CFLS are used to establish the Marlee G. Kline Essay Prize .

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Speakers in the CFLS Lecture Series include Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien ("The Intersection of Gender and Race: Report from the Durban World Conference"), Nitya Iyer ("Negotiating Work and Family: Feminism After Law School"), and Madam Justice Lynn Smith ("The Legal Profession and Women's Equality").

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Margot Young (Faculty of Law, University of Victoria) is appointed as the Walter S. Owen Visiting Chair at UBC for 2001-02. She delivers "Equality in Times of Cutbacks" to the CFLS Lecture Series.

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Visiting Scholars include Jenni Millbank (University of Sydney), who speaks on "Imagining Otherness: Refugee Claims on the Basis of Sexuality in Canada and Australia" in the CFLS Lecture Series, and Sundhya Pahuja (University of Melbourne), who speaks with Ruth Buchanan on "Postcards from the Edge: Feminist Methods, Globalization and the Law."

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The CFLS launches LawFemme , a semi-annual Newsletter .

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Several articles on legal knowledge and legal education are published by UBC feminist professors in Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice , vol. 20. The articles are products of the project The Challenge of Change: Rethinking Law as Discipline , funded by the UBC Hampton Fund.

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UBC suffers a great loss with the death of Marlee Kline of leukemia on November 29, 2001.

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Marilyn MacCrimmon takes early retirement, but continues as an associate of the CFLS.

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2002-03

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Margot Young is a Visiting Professor during 2002-03 and is appointed formally to the UBC Faculty of Law July 1, 2003, taking up the position in Law and Social Justice .

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Dr. Catherine Dauvergne is appointed to the Faculty of Law as the Canada Research Chair in Migration Law . She is the keynote speaker at the UBC Law Women's Caucus 26th Annual "Women in the Law" Dinner.

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Dr. Sharon Cowan of the University of Warwick School of Law is a Visiting Scholar during August 2002, and presents her work on Sexual Identity and Law.

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Susan Boyd publishes Child Custody, Law, and Women's Work (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2003).

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Speakers in the CFLS Lecture Series include Dr. Lise Gotell ("Same-sex Marriage and the Construction of the New Good Queer"), Dr. Ljiljiana Biukovic ("New Rules for the Club: The EU Response to the International Problem of Human Trafficking in the Candidate Countries"), and Dr. Gwen Brodsky ("Poverty and Human Rights").

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The Poverty and Human Rights Project organizes a colloquium on "Poverty: Rights, Social Citizenship and Governance."

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2003-04

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The Centre for Feminist Legal Studies co-sponsored a talk by Her Excellency Mu Sochua , the Minister of Women's and Veteran's Affairs in Cambodia, titled "Women's Voices in Nation Building: Lessons Learned from the Cambodian Election in Building Democracy."

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The first lecture in the CFLS Lecture Series was given by newly appointed Dean Mary Anne Bobinski on "Women and Health Care Reform in the United States". Other CFLS lectures included Gayle Horii's "My Equality Challenge Against Correctional Service of Canada" and Nitya Iyer, "Pay Equity: Where Do We Go From Here?".

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Visiting scholar Fiona Raitt, of the Faculty of Law, University of Dundee, Scotland presented her paper, "The Children's Rights Movement and the Feminist Response" to the CFLS Lecture Series in February 2004 .

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LL.B. students Patricia Cochran and Kat Kinch worked pro bono for Justice for Girls . Annabel Webb , Legal Advocate and Co-founder of Justice For Girls presented a talk in the CFLS Lecture Series on "The Pink Book' - Seeking Justice for Girls Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act".

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On May 7 and 8, 2004 CFLS co-hosted a workshop with the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and the SFU Feminist Institute for Studies on Law and Society on "Feminist, Law and Social Change: (Re)Action and Resistance".

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Professor Susan Boyd is designated as a UBC Scholar at the Centre for Research in Women's Studies and Gender Relations during fall 2003, and as one of four Distinguished UBC Scholars in Residence with the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies for the calendar year of 2004, to work on her SSHRC funded project (Re)Forming Child Custody Law in Canada .

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Catherine Dauvergne obtains funding from Status of Women Canada for " Understanding the Effects of Canada's New Immigration and Refugee Protection Act on Women Asylum Seekers ".

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Professor Claire Young is awarded the Thérèse F. Casgrain Fellowship for research on the social and economic interests of women.

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2004-05

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New Research Projects included:

• Margot Young (Co-Investigator), "The Social Rights Accountability Project", SSHRCC CURA Research Grant, 2004-09  ($1 million).
• Margot Young (Researcher), "Re-defining Public Services in British Columbia: Challenges to Economic Security and Alternative Possibilities", SSHRCC CURA Research Grant , 2004-09  ($1 million).
• Susan Boyd (Principal Investigator), "Motherhood: Shifting Conceptions in Law and Society," Hampton Grant, awarded March 2005, for 2 years - $47,438.

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Susan Boyd was the Distinguished UBC Scholar in Residence with the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies for 2004 (http:www.pwias.ubc.ca/). During her term, Professor Boyd organised a PWIAS workshop that was co-sponsored by the CFLS.

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Women Law Students Project : Centre students assisted Susan Boyd in preparing a talk on Women Law Students in the Early 21st Century for the Women's Practice and Equality Issues Subsection, CBA, Vancouver.

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The Inaugural Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice: The Honourable Judge Mary Ellen Turpel Lafond, Saskatchewan Provincial Court of Justice, Thursday, October 14, 2004. Dr. Turpel-Lafond spoke on Women in Leadership and Advocacy for Children . A member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Dr. Turpel-Lafond was the first Aboriginal woman judge on the Saskatchewan bench.

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Speakers at the annual lecture series include Ann Livingston & Chantal Brunet of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users ("Issues for Women who Use Illicit Drugs"), F. Pearl Eliadis ("Out of the Wreckage: Rwanda's Women and the Genocide"), Kim Pate (" Confessions of a Recovering Lawyer: Why Prisons are the Latest Answer to Poverty, Homelessness and Mental Illness ") and Dr. Joyti Gupta from the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta ("The Life of the Law - A Film on Gender and Alternative Dispute Mediation Practices in West Bengal, India")

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On May 2 and 3, 2005, CFLS co-hosted a workshop with the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law. Eleven feminist scholars presented papers at the workshop, and each paper was followed by comments and discussion. The sessions were held at the Wall Institute and UBC's Faculty of Law. A reception was hosted at the CFLS.

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Several student visitors from Korea , Hye Jim Kim, Hae Jung Park , and Ji Hyun Kim were welcomed at the Centre from Sookmyung Women's University on July 19, 2004. They spoke with CFLS Director Susan Boyd and Student Coordinator, Kerry Lynn Okita about the status of women in Canada both generally within Canadian society and within the legal system. Their main interests were how women are treated within the legal system after divorce and within the family law.

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2005-06

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UBC Faculty of Law Jubilee Session : Celebrating Women in the Law. The CFLS was proud to host a session in celebration of the law school's jubilee festivities. Professor Catherine Dauvergne discussed her Status of Women Canada Project, "Gendering Asylum", and Professor Margot Young talked about her work as a member of the "Social Rights Accountability Project". Audience members were then invited to enjoy refreshments and engage in informal discussions about the Centre and its projects.

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The UVic/UBC Feminist Student Symposium. The first annual event entitled "Women in Law: Studying and Beyond" fostered and encouraged a wider community among women students and faculty between the UVic and UBC Faculties of Law. Held over January 27th and 28th, 2006, this event allowed students to collaborate and identify strategies to overcome the obstacles facing them in law school and in their future legal careers. Turnout for this event exceeded expectations and generated very positive feedback.

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Speakers at the annual lecture series include Madam Justice Marion Allan of the B.C. Supreme Court ( "Should Elder Law Be Considered A Feminist Issue?"), Eileen Skinnider from International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy ("Darfur and Sexual Assault in International Humanitarian Law"), and Doris Buss of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law ( "Finding the Prime Suspect : International Criminal Law, Feminism and Imperialism").

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Second Annual Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice. Centre students and faculty organized this well-attended lecture and a visit to the Faculty by Professor Didi Herman , Professor of Law and Social Change, Kent University, England, "An Unfortunate Coincidence: Jews and Jewishness in English Courts" (Monday October 24th).

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Feminist Workshop for Legal and Socio-Legal Scholars (May 27, 2006). The Centre co-hosted a one-day workshop for feminist legal and socio-legal scholars with Osgoode Hall Law School 's Institute for Feminist Legal Studies.

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Visiting Scholars. The Centre welcomed Professor Yolanda Cano Galan of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain. Yolanda's research looks at fighting harassment against women and Canada's contribution to the debate. The Centre was also privileged to have Margaret Denike as a visiting scholar. Margaret was an Assistant Professor in the Program in Gender Equality & Social Justice at Nipissing University. Her research focuses on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and recent feminist critical analyses to elucidate the implications and effects of the Law test for current and future Charter equality litigation.

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2006-07

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The CFLS and the National Judicial Institute hosted a delegation of judges from the Philippines on the topic of Gender and Judicial Process in Canada during October 2006.

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Catherine Dauvergne received an award from the Australian Research Council: Discovery Grants Program to conduct a study titled " An International Comparative Analysis of Refugee Decision Making" during 2006-2008. Dauvergne was Partner investigator with Jenni Millbank, University of Sydney as Chief Investigator.

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The Faculty of Law saw the addition of Law 309C: Topics in Feminist Legal Studies: Sexual Assaults and Related Issues , taught by Janine Benedet. The goal of this course is to understand and critically evaluate the most recent developments in the criminal law of sexual assault in the context of the historical development of the law of rape in Canada and abroad.

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The CFLS Tenth Anniversary . As part of its Tenth Anniversary celebrations, and with generous funding support from the Vancouver Foundation, the Centre held a one-day Community Consultation on January 19, 2007 at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. Representatives from 15 Vancouver organizations working on women's issues joined feminist law professors to reflect on past collaborations and to discuss future projects. Also, on January 19, 2007 the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies celebrated its 10 th Anniversary at the Centre and launched the publication of the in-depth research-study Gendering Canada 's Refugee Process . The research study, conducted by Catherine Dauvergne , Leonora Angeles , Agnes Huang and the Project Team, provided a gender-based analysis of the refugee application process in Canada. On February 27, 2007 the Centre celebrated its Tenth Anniversary at UBC Robson Square with support from the Vancouver Foundation. The event was well attended by many friends of the Centre including lawyers, judges and community activists.

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The Third Annual Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice : CFLS student volunteers and faculty organized the well-attended evening lecture on "Rights-based Development" by Professor Lucie White, Louis A. Horwitz Professor of Law at Harvard Law School . The lecture was on October 19, 2007. Professor White's work examines poverty and social inequality, and is focused on how lawyers and students can make a difference in alleviating the problems of poverty.

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Kim Brooks and Susan Boyd organized the workshop : Why and How? Theoretical and Methodological Directions in Law, Feminism, Gender and Sexuality , Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, UBC, August 24-26, 2006. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Centre and the UK Centre on Law, Gender and Sexuality. Other sponsors included the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law and the Faculty of Law. Kim and Susan are co-editing a special issue of the CJWL based on the workshop papers.

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Britt Skinner and Susan Boyd represented the Centre at the University of Victoria Association for Women and the Law Conference : Branching Out: Contemporary Challenges to Feminist Advocacy , Victoria , March 2007.

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In honour of the mother of Professor Claire Young, starting in 2007 the Auriol Gurner Young Memorial Award has been given annually to a second or third year LL.B. student who has made a significant contribution to feminism and the law. The first award winner was: Brenda Belak, LL.B. 2008.

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Speakers in the annual lecture series include Ratna Kapur, Centre for Feminist Legal Research, India ( "Who's the fanatic now? Unveiling the Politics of 'Secular Feminism' in Constitutional Rights Discourse"), Denise Réaume from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law ( "Rewriting Equality: Law v. Canada (Women's Court of Canada)" ), and Shelley Gavigan of Osgoode Hall Law School ( "High Law, Low Law and Discourses of Criminalization: Aboriginal Women and Girls in the NWT Criminal Court, 1876 - 1903").

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Visitors : This year the Centre welcomed visiting scholar Zhao Ming, the section chief of the Department of Protection of Women's Rights and Interests from the All China Women's Federation of Beijing. She visited at the CFLS for one year, supported by the China Scholarship Council. In November 2006, the CFLS welcomed Matthew Weait a Lecturer in Law at Keele University who researches theories of responsibility in criminal law, legal responses to people living with HIV/AIDS and the legal regulation of same-sex relationships. In the spring term of 2007, the CFLS welcomed Elizabeth Bruch, a faculty member of Valparaiso Law School . She gave a lecture on "Culture of Compliance: Considering the Role of Domestic Courts in International Human Rights Litigation" as part of the CFLS speaker series. From January 20, 2007 to February 20, 2007, Shelley Gavigan, an Osgoode law faculty member visited the CFLS. In April 2007, Ruthann Robson visited the CFLS and on April 28, 2007 presented the keynote lecture "Sexual Freedoms in Global Perspective" for the 'Standard Margins: Contemporary Issues in Canadian Law and Sexuality' conference hosted by UBC Outlaws.

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2007-08

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Family Law Reform Project : The Centre began a review of the B.C. Family Relations Act in collaboration with West Coast LEAF. The project, supported by funding from the Law Foundation of British Columbia, created a dialogue with community advocates, frontline workers and lawyers, to ensure that its law reform strategies are grounded in the realities and challenges being faced by women on a daily basis. The role of the CFLS is to conduct research on areas of law that are being reformed, such as custody and access law, and to locate research that has been conducted in Canada and other countries on the impact of legislative reform.

• .

WAVAW Talk: Susan Boyd and research assistants Aditi Master, Cristina Cabulea and Peggy Lee visited WAVAW to discuss violence against women and child custody law reform.

• .

Fourth Annual Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice : CFLS student volunteers and faculty organized the well-attended evening lecture on "Memory, Law and Family Secrets" by Professor Carol Smart , Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life at Manchester, U.K. The lecture was on November 1, 2007.

• .

The Centre celebrated the publication of two books this year. On October 24, 2007 the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies was proud to launch the book Poverty: Rights, Social Citizenship and Legal Activism . The book was edited by Professors Margot Young and Susan Boyd of UBC Faculty of Law, together with Gwen Brodsky and Shelagh Day , co-directors of the Poverty and Human Rights Centre. The Centre also celebrated the launch of Reaction and Resistance: Feminism, Law and Social Change on January 24, 2008. The book was edited by Dorothy Chunn , Professor of Criminology and Co-Director of the Feminist Institute for Studies on Law and Society at Simon Fraser University , Susan Boyd , and Hester Lessard, Professor at University of Victoria Faculty of Law. The book is an important collection that examines the current state of feminism's most lauded successes and the current policy debates surrounding these various issues.

• .

Speakers in this year's annual lecture series include: Cherlyn McKay & Manijeh Ghaffari of WAVAW ( "Navigating the Criminal Justice System: Potential Barriers for Women Survivors of Violence" ), Ning Alcuitas-Imperial from the Phillipine Women's Centre ("Philippine Women's Resistance Against Political Killings and State-Sponsored Terrorism"), and Asifa Quraishi of the University of Wisconsin Law School ("Western Advocacy for Muslim Women: It's Not Just the Thought that Counts").

• .

The Centre welcomed visiting scholar Miyoung Gu, a Ph. D. candidate from the Seoul National University in South Korea. Miyoung visited at the Centre for six months, reviewing Canadian employment discrimination law in the light of substantive equality and comparing U.S., U.K., and South Korean law, as well as exploring the potential of employment discrimination law to combat the feminisation of poverty in an era of neo-liberalism.

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2008-09

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Equity Week : The CFLS sponsored, helped organize, and hosted several events for UBC's Equity Week including: Pooja Parmar's lecture, "Rewriting Rights: 'Learning to Learn from Below'". The Centre also hosted an Intersectionality Coffeehouse on February 25, 2009. This open forum and dialogue with students was facilitated by faculty, and CFLS Steering Committee members, Fiona Kelly and Margot Young . The discussion focused on examining how socially and culturally constructed categories inter-relate to create systems of oppression in the law school environment, how the law informs feminist perspectives, and how the law can be used as a tool to further social justice. Annabel Webb, co-founder of Justice for Girls and the Social Justice Visitor for spring term 2009, was in attendance to offer her insights on these issues.

• .

Fifth Annual Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice : CFLS students and faculty organized the well-attended October 16, 2008 evening lecture on "Racializing Disability" by Camille Nelson , Professor of Law at the St. Louis University School of Law. In addition to the public lecture, Professor Nelson hosted a roundtable discussion on interracial relationships and met with a number of law students and faculty members.

• .

The Centre welcomed a number of visiting scholars this year:

.  Neil Cobb , Lecturer, Durham Law School , Durham University . While visiting Neil furthered his research on the 2008 decision of the UK Employment Appeals Tribunal in Ladele v. Islington Borough Council , and the wider impact of this decision for gay rights in the U.K.

.  Margaret Davies , Professor, School of Law , Flinders University . While visiting she furthered her work on the intersections amongst feminisms, secularism, religious perspectives, and legal systems.

.  Erika Rackley , Senior Lecturer, Durham Law School , Durham University . While visiting she furthered her research on Brenda Hale, and the wider impact of women, judging, and the judiciary in the U.K. for diversity issues.

.  Jackie Jones , Senior Lecturer in Law, Bristol Law School , UWE. Each visitor presented in the CFLS Lecture Series. While visiting she furthered her research on feminism and the issue of devolution in Wales

• .

The Centre co-sponsored the following:

.  The Social Justice Visiting Scholars Programme 2008-09. The Social Justice Community Scholar in fall 2008 was Susan Henry, community advocate at First United Church . The Social Justice Community Scholar in spring 2009 was Annabel Webb, co-founder of Justice for Girls . CFLS Steering Committee member, Margot Young , was the administrator of the SJCSP in 2008-09.

.  A visit to UBC Law by Beverly Jacobs , President of the Native Women's Association of Canada, Beverly Jacob's lecture, "Reclaiming Our Way of Being," addressed Aboriginal women's legal issues, specifically with regard to Bill C-31.

.  A visit of the Women's Court of Canada to UBC Faculty of Law in March 2009. CFLS Steering Committee member, Margot Young , was the Organizer and Facilitator of the event.

.  Beyond Critique, a series of panels at the Law and Society Conference. The Centre supported a reception ($116.62) for delegates participating in this series of panels in Montreal , June 29, 2008. Participants included colleagues from the CFLS and the UK Centre on Law, Gender and Sexuality.

.  Commemorating a Century of South Asian Presence in Canada, November 17-23, 2008 . The Centre supported a panel at this conference organized by Professor Sunera Thobani (WMST).

• .

Speakers in this year's annual lecture series include : Mosope Fagbongbe , Ph.D. Candidate, UBC Faculty of Law ( "Women's Rights and Proposed African Court of Justice and Human Rights: Challenges and Prospects"), Harsha Walia, Community organizer, Legal Researcher, DTES and Migrant Justice Advocate, Co-sponsored with Law Students of Colour United ("How Effective Is the Law as a Tool for Social Change?"), and Erika Rackley , Lecturer, Durham Law School, Durham University ("From Difference to Diversity: A UK Perspective on Women, Judging and the Judiciary").

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2009-10

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This year the CFLS Annual Celebration , held January 30, 2010, included a celebration of the publication of Justice Bertha Wilson: One Woman's Difference , Kim Brooks (ed) UBC Press, 2009. The book contains essays by UBC Professors Janine Benedet , Susan Boyd , Isabel Grant and Janis Sarra . We also celebrated the 50 th anniversary of the second wave of the Canadian women's movement .

Sixth Annual Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice : CFLS student volunteers and faculty organized the March 25 th 2010 evening lecture at the UBC First Nations House of Learning on " DE(CON)STRUCTION: Canadian Law and Indigenous Women " by Dr. Tracey Lindberg . Dr. Lindberg is of Cree and Metis Citizenship. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan , Harvard University , and University of Ottawa Law Schools, she is a Governor General Gold Medalist and award winning author for her work on Critical Indigenous Legal Theory. Her first book is a jointly authored work on the doctrine of discovery and is being published by Oxford University Press in 2010. In 2011, she and Elder Maria Campbell and Priscilla Campeau are publishing a book on violence against Indigenous women with Purich Publishing. In addition to her legal writing, Dr. Lindberg has a novel being published by Harper Collins in 2010.

Speakers in this year's annual lecture series include : Val Napoleon, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Alberta ("Thinking about Indigenous Legal Feminist Theory"), Naomi Minwalla , Barrister & Solicitor , Naomi Minwalla Law Corporation with Successful Refugee Claimant & Mariam Moussavian, Interpreter ("Challenges & Triumphs for Female Refugee Claimants in Canada"), Katrina Pacey , Barrister & Solicitor, PIVOT Legal Society and PIVOT Legal LLP (" A Case Study of the Challenges of Social Justice Lawyering: Litigating Sex Workers' Rights"), and Annalee Lepp, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Women Studies, UVic, Director, Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) Canada ( "Human Trafficking and the 2010 Olympics: A Retrospective on Campaigns and Controversies").

This year the Centre welcomed visiting scholar, Belinda Smith , Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney , Sydney Law School , who visited the Centre during fall term 2009. She furthered her work on inequality, primarily in respect of gender and paid work, and the use of law to address inequality. She presented her work in the CFLS Lecture series.

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2010-2011

The Centre co-sponsored the Public Forum on Specialized Domestic Violence Courts at the Vancouver Public Library on October 6th, 2010, with Pivot Legal Society and Battered Women's Support Services. The main purpose of the forum was to spark a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of specialized domestic violence courts, while keeping victims' best interests in mind. Five distinguished panellists added their voices to the discussion: Professor Jennifer Koshan from the University of Calgary, Wanda Wiegers from the University of Saskatchewan, Inspector Richard Konarski from the RCMP Langley Detachment, Angela Marie MacDougall, the Executive Director of Battered Women's Support Services, and Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, the Representative for Children and Youth in BC.

The Centre co-hosted a symposium entitled "Colonialism, Marginalization and Gendered Violence: Dialogues for Change," engaged in critical reflections on conditions that perpetuate systemic practices of gendered violence, particularly against Aboriginal women in Canada, issues of representation, and organizing to create change. Sessions included Colonialism and Missing Women (Andrea Smith, Maria Campbell, Tracey Lindberg and Priscilla Campeau), Criminalizing Women: Poverty, Sexuality and Marginalization (Melissa Farley and Rauna Kuokkanen) and Indigenous Women Organizing for Change (Mavis Erickson, Sharon McIvor and Laura Holland).

The CFLS Annual Celebration, held May 24, 2011, included the launch of the book Transforming Law's Family: The Legal Recognition of Planned Lesbian Motherhood by UBC Professor Fiona Kelly.

The Seventh Annual Marlee Kline Lecture in Social Justice took place on March 3rd 2011. This year's speaker, Professor Ruthann Robson gave an inspiring lecture titled "UnSettled".