For over three years, I have been working in the field of disarmament and nuclear security as an activist with organizations such as International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 1989) and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 2017). At Â鶹Çø, I am majoring in Political Science and minoring in History and Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies. My studies at Â鶹Çø have proved essential to the work I do outside of my education especially at my internship with Canadian Voice of Women for Peace.
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) has been an organization I have wanted to work with for years and pursuing an internship with them allowed me to fulfill that dream. VOW connects two of my areas of study — politics and feminism — and thus makes it an organization whose work enhances my future university career. VOW has been active for sixty years, creating cultures of peace across the nation through education, advocacy, and by amplifying women's voices. Being a part of VOW means being a part of an incredible team of women focused on achieving a common goal for peace and gender equality.
As an intern with VOW, I’ve been able to pursue what I was most interested in within the peace movement. I worked with a team digitally to actively contribute to national Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day memorials. We held regular meetings within the VOW network to contribute to VOW’s initiatives during this historic time and reached out to various other organizations to help plan memorials across the country. My team and I helped assist the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day Coalition based out of Toronto transition and promote their event online. Collaboration with notable speakers such as Phyllis Creighton and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Setsuko Thurlow was an incredible opportunity. Hearing Thurlow’s thoughts on the current state of disarmament was insightful and valuable, being a part of VOW’s team to address efforts for disarmament in Canada. The elements of networking and coalition work associated with my internship was an experience that will continue to add to and inform my future work.
Additionally, I was able to connect with the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Canada and World Beyond War to help organize a webinar in memorial of Hiroshima Day where I was welcomed on as a speaker. Planning for an online event comes with various new responsibilities as an organizer; however, speaking, I found, was very different. As a speaker, I needed to reliably navigate technology and connect with my audience through a screen while staying on topic with my talk. The skills I have gained navigating the newly online realm of civil society and work within NGOs will be extremely valuable not only in my future career but also in my career as a student at Â鶹Çø.
Working with VOW for the past few months has given me great insight into the inner workings of civil society within Canada, a sector I wish to pursue after my university career. Canada’s rich history supporting and working with NGOs and Civil Society shows true in how well-established organizations here are. Looking forward to my future endeavors as a student before entering a career field, I’m looking to stay on with VOW as a part-time volunteer and work with many other similar organizations throughout my degree.
For the duration of this internship, I did not pursue academic credit through Â鶹Çø. However, the lessons I learned during this internship with VOW will contribute greatly to my future classes: specifically, in Fall 2020, I intend to take POLI 345: International Organizations as well as POLI 248: Women in Canadian Politics. Each of these classes in politics I hope to enrich by bringing my experiences with VOW concerning civil society and women’s organizations in Canada into discussions during the semester. Future classes I take at Â鶹Çø will enhance my experience with VOW for the rest of my degree and I hope the interplay between these opportunities continues to aid my future career.
Thanks to the generous funding from the Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund that I received, I was able to pursue my internship with VOW to its fullest without worrying about expenses, in addition to providing security through this unprecedented time. I will remember my experience with VOW for the coming years with fondness and gratitude for the Â鶹Çø Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund and the constant work of my team and VOW family over the summer!
