Oral History Interview with Dr. Joan Simalchik, February 2020 Dr. Joan Simalchik is Dr. Joan Simalchik is director of the interdisciplinary Women and Gender Studies Program at UTM and teaches courses on women, social change and experiential learning, history, memory and human rights, and transnational perspectives on gender and cultural difference. She was the Co-Chair of UTM's Positive Space Committee in 2013-15, the Chair for a year after, and then a member of the committee until 2018. She describes the committee's decision to shift to an ongoing campaign and committee, rather than a once-per-year Gala. They wrote a mandate for the Committee's work. She reflects on the campus' chilly climate for LGBTQ2+ people during this period. Describes a series of posters they had designed to raise visibility on campus to raise awareness; they were up for about 1.5 years. Describes creating a faculty roundtable on inclusivity and a gala of about 300 people, with Prof. Mariana Valverde as speaker. Priorities: raise awareness and make change. At the time, OUT@UTM was not an official group; describes homophobia against the group by SAC and others. Were successful in getting recognized as a student group. Discusses students walking out of her intro classes when LGBTQ2+ issues were part of the class; now it's very different. Describes how the athletic centre was an especially homophobic place.
