Sheila Mason Bursary
The Sheila Mason Bursary is a new initiative created jointly by SoPhiA and the Inclusivity Project. It honours the work of Dr. Sheila Mason and her extensive contributions to the Department of Philosophy as Professor and Department Advisor from 1969 to 2015. For over 40 years, Dr. Mason has helped make the voices of women and minorities heard, as both a professor and through her academic work on feminist theory and on care and feminist ethics. The Sheila Mason Bursary is designed to provide financial aid to students, specifically women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and people with disabilities.
It is the Inclusivity Project's hope that these will be students who are able to provide both theoretical support to their ideas and examples of how these can be applied to society. Their thought and work aim to establish cooperative philosophical practices and spaces. They generate transformative discussions on oppressive academic and philosophical traditions, or on societal structures. They prioritize the exploration of queer, postcolonial, intersectional, feminist, or race theory (inside or outside of class settings) to mobilize action towards a paradigmatic shift of philosophical perspectives. Moreover, it is essential that they also concretely participate in social justice or community-based initiatives to promote inclusive thought and action, whether within Concordia’s Philosophy Department or outside it.
Applications will also be considered based on financial need, given the way that class intersects with other forms of marginalization. For more information, e-mail the Inclusivity Project.
Applications for the 2020-21 Sheila Mason Bursary are due April 14th, 2021.