2018
July 2018
The British Psychological Society’s The Psychologist covers SHiFT Lab presentations at the 2018 Psychology of Women and Equalities Section (POWES) Conference.
June 2018
SHiFT Lab Member Emily Thomas comments on media attention around her research in the June 2018 Sexualities article, “Mis/representation and the media: A reflection on experiences with media engagement”. She and co-authors Michelle Lafrance and Monika Steltz critically engage with media reporting (and contorting) of their research around women’ negotiations and articulations of consensual but undesired sex, as described at the 2016 BPS POWES Conference and in the 2017 Sexualities article “Faking to finish: Women’s accounts of feigning sexual pleasure to end unwanted sex”.
The June 2018 issue also features responses from Leonore Tiefer, in “Unpacking the popularity of a paper on feigning sexual pleasure: Consider both sexual politics and 21st-century profits”; Hannah Frith, in “Faking, Finishing, and Forgetting”; and Melanie Beres, in “What does faking orgasms have to do with sexual consent?”
April 2018
Check out SHiFT Lab Director, Dr. Maria Gurevich’s, post about the lab’s work on Standpoints, Psychology’s Feminist Voices’ blog!
2016
December 2016
SHiFT Lab Director, Dr. Maria Gurevich, profiled by the Psychology’s Feminist Voices project, a historical archive that preserves and shares the narratives of feminists who have shaped the field of psychology: www.feministvoices.com/maria-gurevich/.
September 2016
Ryerson Today article: Psychology Professor Maria Gurevich named Ryerson Fellow at Massey College
Professor Maria Gurevich from the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Artshas been named the 2016/2017 Ryerson Fellow at Massey College. The Massey Fellowship is the result of a partnership between Ryerson and Massey College at the University of Toronto, which facilitates the appointment of a Ryerson faculty member to the college for a one-year research leave.
Gurevich joined the Department of Psychology at Ryerson in 2001, following a two-year (1999-2001) Clinical/Research Fellowship in Psychosocial Oncology at Princess Margaret Hospital (University Health Network). She is the lab director of the SHiFT Lab (Sexuality Hub: Integrating Feminist Theory) at Ryerson, where a team of researchers comprised of undergraduate and graduate students examine the cultural, medical and political forces that shape sexual messages, mandates and practices. A key focus of their work is the role of rapidly evolving sexual technologies on changing conceptions of sexual and relational health, normalcy and satisfaction. One such current SSHRC-funded project addresses sexual enhancement medication use.
“Maria has undertaken extraordinary research at the SHiFT Lab, and I’m very pleased she has been granted this year’s fellowship,” said Chris Evans, interim provost and vice president academic. “This fellowship provides an opportunity for Maria and our student researchers to collaborate with the Massey College community of scholars to advance their research and find new academic, political and cultural touchpoints for their work.”
As a fellow, Gurevich will be invited to take part in the academic and social events of the college, and will be provided with an office. The SHiFT Lab will remain a priority during the fellowship, where she will pursue interdisciplinary collaborative opportunities with the Massey College community.
“I am honored to be Ryerson’s representative at Massey College,” said Gurevich. “Massey College’s mission of fostering intellectual exchange to serve both academic and societal goals is optimally aligned with the SHiFT lab’s critical focus on how academic knowledge intersects with the public imaginary. As a unique residential community for graduate students, Massey College will act as a model extension hub to support the SHiFT lab’s graduate student research.”
Gurevich is the consulting editor of Psychology of Women Quarterly and is a member of multiple professional associations including the International Society for Theoretical Psychology (ISTP), where she sits as an executive committee member. As part of her ISTP role, she is on the program committee of the 17th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology 2017 in Tokyo, Japan.
Gurevich is the fifth Ryerson professor to be named a fellow at Massey College. Previous appointees include Michael Coutanche from the RTA School of Media, Mehrunnisa Ahmad Ali from the School of Early Childhood Studies, John Shields from the Department of Politics and Public Administration, and Frank Russo from the Department of Psychology.
Lorella Di Cintio, professor, School of Interior Design, and Ling Guan, professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering have also been named visiting scholars at Massey College. They will have their own set of privileges while holding this appointment.
July 2016
Dr. Maria Gurevich has been selected as Ryerson’s 2016-2017 Massey College Fellow (University of Toronto, http://www.masseycollege.ca/)!
The Massey Fellowship, a prestigious honor awarded to one professor across the university each year, provides opportunities for collaboration with a diverse community of scholars and public intellectuals. Massey College’s mission of fostering intellectual exchange to serve both academic and societal goals is optimally aligned with the SHiFT lab’s critical focus on how academic knowledge intersects with the public imaginary.
Massey College, a unique residential community for graduate students modelled after Oxford University, offers myriad events and opportunities, such as the annual Massey Lectures, the Walter Gordon Symposium, Canadian Journalism Fellowships, Junior Fellowships, and a Scholar-at-Risk program. As such, Massey will act as a model extension hub to support the SHiFT lab’s graduate student research.
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SHiFT Lab Member Emily Thomas’ research article, “Faking to Finish: Women’s Accounts of Feigning Sexual Pleasure to End Unwanted Sex”, published in Sexualities Journal.
Read the Ryerson press release to learn more about Emily’s important work.
Here’s just a sampling of the over 70 articles published about Emily’s incredible work in newspapers, magazines, and popular and medical blogs!
The Independent – Women Resort to Faking Orgasms to Put a Stop to Unwanted Sex, Study Finds
Cosmopolitan Magazine UK –Women Are Faking Orgasms to Get Out of Coercive Sex
Teen Vogue – Study on Orgasms and Unwanted Sex Show Rape Culture Is Alive and Well
Cosmopolitan Magazine US – Some Women Fake Orgasms to Bring Unwanted Sex to an End
Women’s Health Magazine – The Disturbing Reason Why Some Women Fake Orgasms
Times of India – Women Fake Sexual Pleasure to End ‘Bad’ Sex
June 2016
Congratulations to lab member Usra Leedham for winning the top three awards at this year’s convocation ceremony!
Usra was awarded the Governor General’s Academic Medal, granted to three students graduating with the highest academic standing in the university; the Ryerson Gold Medal Award for the Faculty of Arts, the university’s highest faculty-wide honour for outstanding academic achievement and contributions to the life of the university, one’s profession, and the larger community; and the Ryerson Board of Governors Leadership Award, granted to one student university-wide, for outstanding leadership qualities, commitment to community, and academic achievement.
Read the Ryerson Today article, A Second Chance at University Leads to Top Honours, to learn more about Usra’s incredible journey.
2015
December 2015
Sarah Brown from Concordia University’s Ampersand Lab interviews Lab Director Maria Gurevich about the lab’s current and future projects, our epistemic lens, and the importance of language.
Read the full interview, here!
June 2015
Congratulations to lab members Alexander Vasilovsky, Usra Leedham, and Stephanie Cosma for winning the International Society for Theoretical Psychology Conference Sidmund Koch Graduate Paper Award!