Accomplished academic and writer Dr. Sharanpal Ruprai has returned to her alma mater* to be the newest addition to the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies as an assistant professor. She is an interdisciplinary humanities scholar whose research and teaching interests include indigenous and critical race feminism, religious and cultural studies and artistic practice. Students can find her in the classroom this fall teaching the Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies classes.
“I am excited to be teaching in Women’s and Gender Studies,” said Ruprai. “It was an amazing experience being an undergraduate student on this campus many years ago. I have wonderful memories of being in these hallways fresh out of high school (I went to Glenlawn Collegiate in St. Vital!). I hope to motivate and engage students and provide them with an innovative curriculum, connection to communities and a foundational education that I, myself, received at the University of Winnipeg.”
Currently, Ruprai is working on a collection of essays entitled Who You Calling a Kaur/Princess? By juxtaposing novels, plays, poetry collections, and films, the book explores issues such as religion, gender violence, and identity, within the specific context of the Canadian South Asian women’s experience. Ruprai’s début poetry collection, Seva was shortlisted for the Stephen G. Stephensson Award for Poetry by the Alberta Literary Awards in 2015.
Incidentally, Ruprai can be heard on CBC Radio every Monday until the fall. She is currently the Summer Reads Book Curator for CBC Radio Calgary’s afternoon show, the Homestretch. She will also be reading from her poetry book, Seva, at the Thin Air 2015: Winnipeg International Writers Festival on Sunday, September 20, 2015 at 7:00 pm as part of the Voices from Oodena / Voix d’Oodena which will be held at The Forks. This event is free and open to the public
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Ruprai joining Women’s and Gender Studies,” expressed Dr. Angela Failler, Chair and Associate Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies. “She is an accomplished scholar, writer and teacher, and she brings areas of expertise to our department that we are excited to foster. She will be popular with our students and raise the profile of the university itself with her creative work, I have no doubt.”
Women’s and Gender Studies promotes an intersectional approach to understanding social problems and phenomena. It pays special attention to the ways sex, gender, and sexuality are shaped by colonialism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and transphobia, as well as by constructions of difference based on class, (dis)ability, religion, ethnicity, and culture.
*Ruprai obtained a Bachelor of Education then a Bachelor of Arts English Honours at UWinnipeg followed by graduate school. She earned a Master of Arts English at the University of Calgary followed by her Doctorate of Philosophy Humanities from York University. For her full biography please visit Dr. Sharanpal Ruprai.
