Gail Vanstone
Associate Professor
Coordinator, Humanities Program
Coordinator: Culture & Expression Program
Office: Vanier College, 223
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 33957
Email: gailv@yorku.ca
Attached CV
Professor Gail Vanstone is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities. She works at the intersection of feminist film and cultural theory and women’s documentary film production. Her ongoing research frames women and the stories they tell as powerful critical tools for understanding women’s experience in a world where their voices are often muted. She intends to continue to develop this research, applying it to other subjects she is investigating.
Professor Gail Vanstone research agenda grows out of themes explored in her book, D is For Daring, the first-ever feminist historical analysis of Studio D, the women’s film unit (1974 to 1996) in the National Film Board. She works at the intersection of feminist film and cultural theory and women’s documentary film production. Her ongoing research frames women and the stories they tell as powerful critical tools for understanding women’s experience in a world where their voices are often muted. Her aim is to flesh out the work established by her book on this very Canadian, feminist, artistic, cultural venture. Her book argues that the excavation of women’s stories creates an authentic witness, documenting and shedding light on the nature of their struggles and triumphs. Such stories are vital to understanding particular periods of time, since a study of women’s contributions to any field inevitably encourages a reconfiguring of that field.
For the past several years she has taught AP/CLTR 1953 6.0 Canadian Writers in Person and has filmed readings to preserve a scholarly and cultural record and worked with a graduate student to create an interactive data based film and digital archive as an on-going resource. She intend to continue to develop this research, applying it to other subjects she is investigating.
Degrees
PhD in Social and Political Thought, York UniversityMA in Interdisciplinary Studies, York University
BA Combined Honours, York University
Diplôme Supérieur, Université Paul Valéry
Professional Leadership
Chair: LA&PS Committee forTeaching and Learning and Student Success, 2024-on-going.
Revised the Humanities program (in collaboration with the Rethinking Humanities team), using the Culture & Expression program as a foundation and core of the revised major (2018-2021).
Revised and expanded the Culture & Expression program to align it with programs in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (2009-10 to 2021).
Devised and developed the Culture & Expression program passed in Senate, June 2005.
Community Contributions
Panelist (invited) webinar: "Pandemic: Media and Storytelling During the Crisis," Ryerson University Modern Literature and Culture (MLC) Research Centre, 16 April 2020. https://mlc.ryerson.ca/news/webinars/pandemic-webinar-series
Instructor (invited): Summer School Institute (with Brian Winston) “Double Glance, Double Look. The Problematics of Representing Indigenous people” at the Università della Svizzera italiana, Facoltà di scienze della comunicazione/Istituto di media e giornalismo (IMeG), Locarno Switzerland, 16 Aug 2019.
Member: Conference Steering Committee Visible Evidence XXII, York University, August 19-23, 2015.
Co-organizer (with Barbara Evans) VE XXII Opening Screening and Discussion with Indigenous Canadian Women Filmmakers, Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, Aug 19, 2015. Record of Opening Screening and Discussion in “indigiTALKS” CineAction 97 (2016): 4-11. Also Kanata: The Visible Evidence, screening curated by Jason Ryle, imagineNATIVE and presented by Gail Vanstone and Barbara Evans.
Visiting Scholar (invited): Delivered faculty lecture: Refiguring Film Culture in Canada: First Nations Women’s Documentary: School of Film & Media, University of Lincoln January – March, 2015.
Visiting Professor (invited): Delivered lecture series: Women. Feminism. Film: School of Media Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University, May 4-15
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
Junior Faculty Fund (York University)
Standard Research (SSHRC)
Junior Faculty Fund (York University)
Workshop/Conference (SSHRC)
Gail Vanstone is the coordinator of the Culture & Expression program at York University, Toronto, Canada. She is the author of D is for Daring (2007), a history of Studio D the feminist film unit at Canda's National Film Board.
Gail Vanstone is the coordinator of the Culture & Expression program at York University, Toronto, Canada. she is the author of D is for Daring (2007), a history of Studio D the feminist film unit at Canada's National Film Board.
D is for Daring: the Women Behind the Films of Studio D. Toronto: Sumach Press, 2007.
''I Wanted to Say How Beautiful We Are': Cultural Politics in Loretta Todd’s Hands of History.' Reverse Shot: Indigenous Film and Media in an International Context. Ed. Wendy Pearson and Susan Knabe. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2009.
'Studio D of the NFB: Canada’s Official Feminist Eye.' Gendered Intersections: An Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies. Ed. Lesley Biggs and Susan Gringell. 2nd ed. Toronto: Fernwood Press, 2010. Forthcoming.
'Léopold L. Foulem: Transgressor and Provocateur.' Cahiers métiers d’art/ Craft Journal. Forthcoming.
'Auto/reflection.' Autobiographies (Feminisms in Canada and Quebec, 1960-2010 series). Ed. Marguerite Anderson. Ottowa: University of Ottawa, 2010. Forthcoming.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR1953 6.0 | A | Canadian Writers in Person | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR3523 6.0 | A | Feminisms and Film | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR1953 6.0 | A | Canadian Writers in Person | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR3523 6.0 | A | Feminisms and Film | ONLN |
Professor Gail Vanstone is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities. She works at the intersection of feminist film and cultural theory and women’s documentary film production. Her ongoing research frames women and the stories they tell as powerful critical tools for understanding women’s experience in a world where their voices are often muted. She intends to continue to develop this research, applying it to other subjects she is investigating.
Professor Gail Vanstone research agenda grows out of themes explored in her book, D is For Daring, the first-ever feminist historical analysis of Studio D, the women’s film unit (1974 to 1996) in the National Film Board. She works at the intersection of feminist film and cultural theory and women’s documentary film production. Her ongoing research frames women and the stories they tell as powerful critical tools for understanding women’s experience in a world where their voices are often muted. Her aim is to flesh out the work established by her book on this very Canadian, feminist, artistic, cultural venture. Her book argues that the excavation of women’s stories creates an authentic witness, documenting and shedding light on the nature of their struggles and triumphs. Such stories are vital to understanding particular periods of time, since a study of women’s contributions to any field inevitably encourages a reconfiguring of that field.
For the past several years she has taught AP/CLTR 1953 6.0 Canadian Writers in Person and has filmed readings to preserve a scholarly and cultural record and worked with a graduate student to create an interactive data based film and digital archive as an on-going resource. She intend to continue to develop this research, applying it to other subjects she is investigating.
Degrees
PhD in Social and Political Thought, York UniversityMA in Interdisciplinary Studies, York University
BA Combined Honours, York University
Diplôme Supérieur, Université Paul Valéry
Professional Leadership
Chair: LA&PS Committee forTeaching and Learning and Student Success, 2024-on-going.
Revised the Humanities program (in collaboration with the Rethinking Humanities team), using the Culture & Expression program as a foundation and core of the revised major (2018-2021).
Revised and expanded the Culture & Expression program to align it with programs in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (2009-10 to 2021).
Devised and developed the Culture & Expression program passed in Senate, June 2005.
Community Contributions
Panelist (invited) webinar: "Pandemic: Media and Storytelling During the Crisis," Ryerson University Modern Literature and Culture (MLC) Research Centre, 16 April 2020. https://mlc.ryerson.ca/news/webinars/pandemic-webinar-series
Instructor (invited): Summer School Institute (with Brian Winston) “Double Glance, Double Look. The Problematics of Representing Indigenous people” at the Università della Svizzera italiana, Facoltà di scienze della comunicazione/Istituto di media e giornalismo (IMeG), Locarno Switzerland, 16 Aug 2019.
Member: Conference Steering Committee Visible Evidence XXII, York University, August 19-23, 2015.
Co-organizer (with Barbara Evans) VE XXII Opening Screening and Discussion with Indigenous Canadian Women Filmmakers, Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, Aug 19, 2015. Record of Opening Screening and Discussion in “indigiTALKS” CineAction 97 (2016): 4-11. Also Kanata: The Visible Evidence, screening curated by Jason Ryle, imagineNATIVE and presented by Gail Vanstone and Barbara Evans.
Visiting Scholar (invited): Delivered faculty lecture: Refiguring Film Culture in Canada: First Nations Women’s Documentary: School of Film & Media, University of Lincoln January – March, 2015.
Visiting Professor (invited): Delivered lecture series: Women. Feminism. Film: School of Media Arts and Communication, Beijing Normal University, May 4-15
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Project Type:
Funded
Funders:
Junior Faculty Fund (York University)
-
Project Type:
Funded
Funders:
Standard Research (SSHRC)
-
Project Type:
Funded
Funders:
Junior Faculty Fund (York University)
-
Project Type:
Funded
Funders:
Workshop/Conference (SSHRC)
All Publications
''I Wanted to Say How Beautiful We Are': Cultural Politics in Loretta Todd’s Hands of History.' Reverse Shot: Indigenous Film and Media in an International Context. Ed. Wendy Pearson and Susan Knabe. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2009.
Gail Vanstone is the coordinator of the Culture & Expression program at York University, Toronto, Canada. She is the author of D is for Daring (2007), a history of Studio D the feminist film unit at Canda's National Film Board.
Gail Vanstone is the coordinator of the Culture & Expression program at York University, Toronto, Canada. she is the author of D is for Daring (2007), a history of Studio D the feminist film unit at Canada's National Film Board.
D is for Daring: the Women Behind the Films of Studio D. Toronto: Sumach Press, 2007.
'Studio D of the NFB: Canada’s Official Feminist Eye.' Gendered Intersections: An Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies. Ed. Lesley Biggs and Susan Gringell. 2nd ed. Toronto: Fernwood Press, 2010. Forthcoming.
'Léopold L. Foulem: Transgressor and Provocateur.' Cahiers métiers d’art/ Craft Journal. Forthcoming.
'Auto/reflection.' Autobiographies (Feminisms in Canada and Quebec, 1960-2010 series). Ed. Marguerite Anderson. Ottowa: University of Ottawa, 2010. Forthcoming.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR1953 6.0 | A | Canadian Writers in Person | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR3523 6.0 | A | Feminisms and Film | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR1953 6.0 | A | Canadian Writers in Person | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/CLTR3523 6.0 | A | Feminisms and Film | ONLN |
