Professor/ChairBA (Toronto), MA (Sussex), PhD (Dalhousie)
Phone: 457-6472
Office: IWGSJ #7
msvu.ca
Dr. Ralston is a member of the Department of Women’s Studies and is cross-appointed with the Department of Political Studies. Also a documentary filmmaker since 1995, Dr. Ralston’s latest documentary, Hope in Heaven, examines the lucrative and demeaning sex tourism industry in the Philippines. Kiefer Sutherland narrates the film. Dr. Ralston has been involved in a development project in the Philippines since 1999 and is also involved in the recent Gambia Tier 2 project led by Dr. Stephen Perrott of the Psychology department.
Her academic interests include: - Prostitution and sex tourism in the Philippines and Canada
- Feminist epistemology
- Women in politics
- Women's rights as human rights
Selected Publications:
Reluctant Bedfellows: Feminism, Activism and Prostitution in the Philippines with Edna Keeble, published by Kumarian Press, 2008 Buy from Amazon
"David Braybrooke’s Philosophy of Social Science" in Engaged Philosophy, eds. Susan Sherwin and Peter Schotch, 2007
"Discourses and Dollars: Sex Trade in the Philippines" with Edna Keeble, in Canadian Foreign Policy, eds. Deborah Stienstra et al, 2003
"Upstream in the Mainstream: Strategies for Women Organizing," in Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme, Vol. 20. No. 3, Fall 2000.
Nobody Wants to Hear our Truth: Homeless Women and Theories of the Welfare State, published by Greenwood Press, 1996
"Homeless Women and the New Right" in Francois-Pierre Gingras’ Gender and Politics in Contemporary Canada, published by Oxford University Press, 1995
Film History:
Selling Sex in Heaven (2010)
Currently in pre-production, this film will look at the prostitution industry globally, concentrating on trafficking of women from Nepal to Indian, female sex tourists in the Gambia, streetwalkers in Halifax, and brothel and fetish workers in Los Angeles.
Hope in Heaven (2006)
This film follows two years in the life of a Filipino bar girl and deals with the issues of sex tourism in the Philippines. Mila works at a bar called Heaven and lives in hope that a foreigner will rescue her. Writer-director-producer. 45 min. Trailer
Winner, Beyond Borders national media award, 2007
Winner, Best documentary, Big Bear Lake Film Festival, 2005
Broadcast license with CBC Newsworld. Broadcast premiere 16 January 2007 as Selling Sex in Heaven. Reviewed by Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and Toronto Sun
Wendy Lill: Playwright in Parliament (1999)
A look at award-winning playwright Wendy Lill’s rookie year as a Member of Parliament. Co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada and Ralston Productions Ltd. 50 min.
Why Women Run (1999)
Chronicles the fierce 1997 federal election contest between Alexa McDonough and Mary Clancy and examines the barriers to women in politics. Produced by Kent Martin, National Film Board of Canada. 46 min.
Making the Links: The Road to Beijing (1996)
Filmed for the United Nation’s Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. Part I documents the Nova Scotia/Beijing Women’s Action Group preparing for the conference. Part II follows two members of the group to Beijing. 50 min.
Upstream in the Mainstream (1995)
Documents the experiences of Nova Scotian women from varied backgrounds. African Canadian, aboriginal, disabled, lesbian, and immigrant women come together to discuss the issues that face their communities. 24 min.