If your degree just isn’t doing it for you anymore, don’t despair. This fall, U of T introduces the fi rst sexual diversity studies graduate program in Canada.
Students who want a Master’s or Ph.D in SDS have to register in one of the 25 Arts and Science departments associated with the program.
“The time is now for a program like this,” said Scott Rayter, Acting Director of the Mark S. Bonham Center for Sexual Diversity. The SDS centre was initially self funded with donations as its primary source of revenue. It’s now funded by University College and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
“The university recognized student demand and innovation in the field by quite a number of faculty and wanted to be leading the way in promoting and advancing the area of Sexual Diversity Studies,” Rayter said.
So far 12 graduate students have signed up, including the renowned Canadian filmmaker John Greyson. They’ll study issues ranging from queer theatre in Canada to contemporary gay identity in China, sexuality and colonialism, and sex education in the school curriculum.
“One of the huge attractions of the program is that it encourages you to range widely across the university,” Greyson said. “Your coursework and the work you do with faculty could include someone in Humanities, someone in English and someone in Drama Studies, as I’m doing, and someone in physics.”
The scholarly support that the program offers is another huge benefit, added Greyson, whose research is usually solitary work. U of T was recently named by MediaCorp as one of Canada’s top 25 diversity employers for 2008.
For Rayter, the creation of the new graduate program in SDS shows that U of T is “putting its money where its mouth is.”
