Dr. Geneviève Rail, Principal of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute

Je suis vraiment heureuse d’enfin prendre le temps de vous souhaiter la plus cordiale des bienvenues à l’Institut Simone de Beauvoir pour l’année 2009-2010. Je ne suis en poste que depuis quelques mois mais déjà, le dynamisme de l’Institut me convainc que l’année académique sera excitante et énergisante pour toutes celles et tous ceux qui gravitent autour de ce joyau de l’Université Concordia.

The above words of welcome mark a tremendously important step for me, as the new Principal of the Simone de Beauvoir Institute (SdeB). Indeed they mean the exhilarating venture out of my office and onto campus, the community and cyberspace to establish or revive connections with all of those who have come or contributed to the SdeB. I believe that the strength of our SdeB is the presence of outstanding students, postdocs, professors, Fellows, Research Associates, a distinguished line-up of former Principals as well as numerous and prominent community leaders who have shown a profound commitment to making the SdeB an exceptional space for support, exchange, learning, contestation, research, and action. My own vision is to build on previous endeavours in order to fortify the SdeB as a place for cutting edge research and teaching and an energizing “home” for feminists within and outside the university.

In 2009-2010, with help from the wonderful women at the SdeB as well as many exceptional supporters, we are renovating and making plans to expand, we are revising our curriculum, we are working to make our Master’s in Women’s Studies as well as our Major in Interdisciplinary Sexuality Studies a reality, we are planning an e-bulletin and regular research seminars, we are helping bring top scholars to Concordia in various speaker series, we are contributing to making the Canadian Women’s Studies Association conference (at Concordia in May 2010) a success, and we are making crucial connections with community partners to organize special events and activities.

In brief, I am delighted to be a part of all of this and hope to be able to count on readers and supporters such as yourself to ensure a fabulous year 2009-2010!

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