Championing Awareness, Education and Advocacy
The Nancy Rowell Jackman Chair in Women's Studies (Nancy's Chair) was
established at Mount Saint Vincent University in the mid-1980s. Endowed
by well-known Toronto-based feminist and philanthropist Nancy Ruth, the
Chair raises awareness of women's issues by bringing to campus
distinguished scholars in women's studies and activists who have
contributed to the advancement of women. View past Chairs »
About the Nancy's Chair in Women's Studies
The presence of the Chair adds
substantially to the intellectual strength of women's studies at Mount
Saint Vincent and in the Atlantic region. Duties associated with the
Chair include teaching, research, and public presentations on campus and
around the Atlantic provinces.
Recent Events
The Nancy's Chair in Women's Studies actively participates, engages and facilitates in an array of events related to teaching, research and education. Read more »
Opportunities to get Involved
Students, faculty, staff and members of the broader community are invited to participate in events and get involved with the work of the current Nancy's Chair. For more information on upcoming opportunities, visit us on Facebook »
Welcome El Jones, 15th Nancy's Chair (2017-2019)
A poet, activist, community organizer, scholar, teacher, radio host, and journalist, El is well known in the Halifax community as the Poet Laureate of Halifax from 2013 to 2015 and a popular and compelling speaker at events throughout the city, and through her community work, including as Artistic Co-Director of the Word Iz Bond Spoken Word Artist Collective, co-founder of the Centreline Studios/Uniacke Centre for Community Development, and the host of the weekly Youth Now! Radio show on CKDU. El’s reputation is also national and international: she was National Slam Champion at the Canadian Festival of the Spoken Word in 2007 and 2008 and a Fellow of the prestigious Writing Program at University of Iowa in 2015. She has performed her poetry and led workshops on poetry and social justice throughout Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean. El’s current scholarly project is a collaborative prisoner-centered ethnography, “Notes from Prison,” that uses creative scholarship and poetic expression to explore transformative justice. El is also a gifted teacher who has taught at the Mount, as well as at other universities in the region.