Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Celeste E. Orr

Nathan Kalman-Lamb

@nkalamb.bsky.social

The Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Research is launching a US-style attack on EDI in Tri-Council funding.

As part of this attack, they are demanding disclosure of confidential demographic info + reviewer comments of all Canadian researchers who have applied b/w 2000-2025.

Maxime Blanchette-Joncas:
I'm tabling the following motion:
That the committee request the three funding councils, namely the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), as part of the study on the impact of federal funding allocation criteria on research excellence in Canada, to provide it with the disaggregated data of all submitted applications, whether funded or not, for all student and faculty funding programs from the master's level onwards for applications made between 2020 and 2025. That this data include (1) demographic data of applicants and collaborators, including applicants' responses to the equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) questionnaire, (2) the institutions and departments of applicants, including the institutions of collaboration, (3) the language of the application, (4) all data regarding the type of application and project content (application year, grant program, discipline, title, summary, amount requested by the applicant), as well as (5) the identity of the evaluation committee, comments, opinions, scores assigned to applications for each criterion, and (6) the outcome of the application and the amount awarded. That the three funding councils submit all this data to the committee within 15 days following the adoption of this motion, in an Excel spreadsheet format.

October 31, 2025 at 2:33 PM

Reposted by Celeste E. Orr

Nathan Kalman-Lamb

@nkalamb.bsky.social

“Given the ongoing genocide in Gaza…we call on Sport Canada and Tennis Canada to forbid Canadian athletes to compete against Israeli athletes at the Davis Cup and all other international events.”

- 413 🇨🇦 academics, athletes + sports journalists, inc 3 former UN special rapporteurs + an Olympic 🥈ist

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (FREDERICTON, August 18th, 2025) A group of 413 Canadian and Canadian-based scholars, athletes, sports journalists, and sports officials have signed a public letter calling on Tennis Canada to cancel the Davis Cup tournament with Israel this September in Halifax. Signatories include three United Nations Special Rapporteurs, four-time Olympian distance runner Mohammed Ahmed, two members of the Palestinian women’s soccer team who compete for York University, a former Canadian Olympic beach volleyball coach, sports journalists Shireen Ahmed and Ian Kennedy, public intellectuals and activists Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis and some of Canada’s most distinguished and internationally-recognized scholars. The letter is signed by prominent individuals from 46 different academic institutions in Canada, as well as by Canadians at prominent global institutions. One hundred and six of the signatories are based in Atlantic Canada, where the event is slated to occur. The call to cancel the Davis Cup event comes amidst rising condemnation of Israeli conduct in Gaza and the West Bank, which leading legal scholars, activists and human rights groups have described as a genocide. Given the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the letter says that allowing the competition to go ahead is “unconscionable” and calls on the Canadian government to prevent Canadian athletes from competing against Israeli athletes in all international sporting competitions. Despite Tennis Canada’s claims that the event isn’t political and is just about playing tennis, the letter states in part that Canada should follow the lead of other nations who “refuse to legitimize Israel’s crimes” by withdrawing from international sporting competition. “This includes Jordanian tennis player Abdellah Shelbayh, who recently withdrew from a tennis competition in Greece after being slated to play an Israeli athlete,” the letter says. The letter points to the use of sporting sanctions in South Africa as a meaningful …

August 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM

Celeste E. Orr

@celesteeorr.bsky.social

Are you interested in intersex joy? What might intersex joy look like at a time of increased fascism? Would you like to think about intersex joy by making art?
If you are interested or if you have questions, please contact Bukholder (casey.burkholder@concordia.ca) and/or Orr
(celeste.orr@unb.ca)

June 24, 2025 at 12:32 PM

Reposted by Celeste E. Orr

Women’s, Gender and Social Justice

@wgsj.bsky.social

Indigenous Studies Faculty Response to York's Suspension of their Program. This statement was originally published February 20,2025 by the Indigenous Studies Faculty at York University.

The full statement is also available on our website:
wgsj.ca/2025/02/21/i...

Indigenous Studies Faculty Response to York’s Suspension of their Program

Originally published February 20, 2025 by the Indigenous Studies Faculty at York University York University’s Indigenous Studies (INDG) program was abruptly suspended via email on Friday evening; I…

wgsj.ca

February 21, 2025 at 6:44 PM

Reposted by Celeste E. Orr

interACT Advocates

@interact.bsky.social

Trump's Executive Order defines “female” as someone who produces eggs & “male” as someone who produces sperm. "My intersex body, like the bodies of many intersex people, does not produce either gametes, arguably leaving us in legal limbo." @xoxykz.bsky.social
www.washingtonblade.com/2025/02/04/m...

My existence as an intersex American was finally acknowledged, then erased four days later

Federal government now defines sex as 'male' and 'female.'

www.washingtonblade.com

February 10, 2025 at 10:20 PM

Reposted by Celeste E. Orr

The End of Sport

@endofsportpod.bsky.social

Ep. 160: Boxing Debacle in Paris 2024

We present this panel discussion from UNB on the challenges to Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting's claims to womanhood, featuring talks by @kristiallain.bsky.social, @celesteeorr.bsky.social, and @nkalamb.bsky.social

t.co/vBKnzbVxcn

December 9, 2024 at 6:59 PM

Reposted by Celeste E. Orr

Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

@federationhss.ca

[1/2] The Federation is proud to announce this year’s five #CanadaPrizes recipients, representing the most inspiring, impactful, and transformative scholarly books in the #HSS recently funded by the Scholarly Book Awards.

@cottonlizotte.bsky.social @celesteeorr.bsky.social @priendeau.bsky.social

December 9, 2024 at 5:11 PM

Celeste E. Orr

@celesteeorr.bsky.social

Thanks to the Federation for the Humanities & Social Sciences @federationhss.ca for awarding my book Cripping Intersex (@ubcpress.bsky.social) a Canada Prize! www.federationhss.ca/en/programs-...

Canada Prizes | FHSS

www.federationhss.ca

December 9, 2024 at 5:42 PM

Celeste E. Orr

@celesteeorr.bsky.social

'Intersex, Variations of Sex Characteristics, DSD: Critical Approaches' authored by Surya Monro, Adeline Berry, Morgan Carpenter@morgancarpenter.com, Daniela Crocetti, and Sean Saifa Wall is out this month! Go get this brilliant book!