Sheila Finestone Award
Named after the late Honourable Sheila Finestone, a former senator, an estimated $1,000 award is given to an outstanding undergraduate student studying in the field of Women’s Studies (preference to graduating students) who are involved in community activities and who work for the recognition of women’s rights as human rights.
Note: Both graduating students and students entering their final year of study in the following academic year are eligible to apply.
Deadline for applications: April 11th, 2024
To apply, please send a digital copy of the following materials to Andrew Folco at the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies:
- A curriculum vitae
- A one-page description of your community activities for the recognition of women’s rights as human rights
- The name and contact information of a person in the community with whom you have worked
- A completed Community Organization Sponsorship Form:
Community Organization Sponsorship Form
For further information, please contact the Administrative and Student Affairs Coordinator of IGSF, at 514-398-3911 ext.1 or by e-mail at si.yu.li [at] mcgill.ca.
Past recipients
2023
Kira Brunner - BA
Major Concentration Philosophy
Major Concentration Psychology
Minor Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
2022
Alexandra Beck - BA
Major Concentration Art History
Major Concentration International Development Studies
Minor Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
2021
Meera Raman - BA Honours
Honours Component Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration Political Science
Minor Concentration English Literature
2020
Yasmina Male - BA
Major Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Major Concentration Political Science
2019
Victoria Ford - BA
Major Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration History
Minor Concentration Social Studies of Medicine
2018
Laura Macintyre - BA
Major Concentration International Development Studies
Minor Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration Music
2017
Juliette Mueller - BA
Major Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration Russian Culture
2016
Jax Lastinger - BA
"Thank you to the IGSF for honoring me with the Sheila Finestone award! I want to thank all the folks at the IGSF and the Union for Gender Empowerment who have supported me and made my time at McGill so rewarding."
Jax Lastinger is a U3 Anthropology and Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies student, completing an honors thesis regarding Mormon polygamy in Canada and the U.S. Their research focuses on the intersections of religiosity and sexuality, exploring the ways non-normative sexualities are negotiated within spiritual frameworks. Beyond this, Jax is particularly interested in trans issues and social justice education. In their free time, they have also developed a passion for sewing, embroidery, and quilting.
2015
Sara Gold - BA
Honours International Development
Minor Concentration Women's Studies
Julia Hensley - BA
Major Concentration Women's Studies
Minor Concentration Anthropology/World Religions
2014
Shaina Agbayani - BA
Major Concentration Equity & Inequal St Ad Hoc
Minor Concentration Political Science
2013
Molly Swain - BA
Honours Women's Studies
Minor Concentration World Religions
2012
Ayla Lefkowitz - BA
Joint Honours Component Philosophy
Joint Honours Component Women's Studies
2011
Lynsey Grosfield - BA
Honours Anthropology
Minor Concentration Sexual Diversity Studies
Minor Concentration Social Studies of Medicine
2010
Elizabeth Plank - BA
Major Concentration International Development Studies
Major Concentration Women's Studies
2009
Eszter Zipos - BA
Honours Component Political Science
Minor Concentration Women's Studies
Minor Concentration Anthropology
2008
Joan Katrina Christianson - BA
Honours Component International Development Studies
Minor Concentration Women's Studies
Peta Tancred Award
This prize was named by friends and colleagues to honour Professor Peta Tancred when she completed her term as director of the MCRTW in 1996.
It is awarded each year to the student graduating with the highest CGPA in the Major Concentration, Honours or Joint Honours Program in Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies (formerly Women's Studies).
Estimated Value: $350.
No application necessary.
Past recipients
2023
Catherine Plawutsky - BA Honours
Honours Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration Philosophy
2022
Kari Kuo - BA Honours
Joint-Honours Component Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Joint-Honours Component History
Minor Concentration Social Studies of Medicine
2021
Jacqueline Tam - BA Honours
Major Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration Economics
Minor Concentration Environment
2020
Mohammed Odusanya - BA
Joint-Honours Component Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Joint-Honours Component Art History
2019
Dominique Grégoire - BA Honours
Honours Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration, Indigenous Studies
2018
Lydia Reynolds-Royer - BA
Major Concentration Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies
Minor Concentration Science for Arts Students
2017
Jax Lastinger - BA Honours
Joint-Honours Component Women's Studies
Joint-Honours Component Anthropology
2016
Cadence O'Neal - BA
"I am very thankful to have received the Peta Tancred award this year! During my time at McGill I learned so much from the feminists around me, both in and out of the classroom. I'm flattered to receive an award from the IGSF, and grateful to everyone I've learned from over the past 4 years. "
Cadence O'Neal recently graduated with an Honours degree in Women's Studies. Her honours thesis, "Feminist Forces, Colonial Collusions: A Discourse Analysis of Settler Feminism and the Canadian Forces" focuses on ongoing settler feminist complicity in militarism and settler colonialism through the examination of contemporary military recruitment advertisements. Outside of the classroom, Cadence is actively involved in campaigns against university-military collaboration, and much of her academic work is informed by her desire to “demilitarize McGill,” and the lessons she has learned through that campaign. Her other academic interests include queer theoretical interventions into consent discourse, and the history of opposition to weapons research at McGill University.
2015
Angela Yu - BA
Major Concentration Biology
Major Concentration Women's Studies
2014
Emmanual Glidden - BA
Major Concentration Women's Studies
Minor Concentration Sociology
2013
Charlie O'Dwyer - BA
Honours Women's Studies
Minor Concentration Communication Studies
2012
Michelle Olding - BA
Major Concentration Anthropology
Major Concentration Women's Studies
2011
Jessica Blair - BA
Major Concentration Women's Studies
Minor Concentration Sociology
2010
Laura Torontow - BA
Major Concentration Women's Studies
Minor Concentration Anthropology
2009
Natalie Marshik - BA
Major Concentration Women's Studies
Minor Concentration English - Cultural Studies
Minor Concentration Geography (Urban Systems)
The Gregg Blachford and David McGillivray Internship Award
The Gregg Blachford and David McGillivray Internship Award, established in 2014 by Gregg Blachford (former director of the McGill Career Planning Service - CaPS) and husband, David McGillivray (former Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician/Associate Professor at the Montreal Children's Hospital), is designed to lend financial support to Arts students who wish to pursue an internship in a local, national or international organization that promotes social justice/human rights in the areas of gender and sexuality. Administered through the Dean's Office in conjunction with the Faculty of Arts Internship Office and in consultation with the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, this award is meant to provide partial funding to assist students with travel and other expenses related to their internship.
Deadline for applications: TBA
Preference will be given to:
Student of minority gender identities or sexual orientations
Students who have demonstrated interest in the areas of social justice/human rights
Students who are in a program that is coordinated by the Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies