2019–2020 BMO Postdoctoral Fellow

julieravary [at] hotmail.com (Email)

Julie Ravary-Pilon recently completed a SSHRC-funded postdoctoral research project on feminist videographers’ artistic practices on the web at the Center for Interuniversity Research on Quebec Culture and Literature (CRILCQ) and in partnership with the Research Institute and Feminist Studies at UQAM (IREF). She holds a Ph.D. in Film studies from the Université de Montréal. Her thesis, which examines the representation of women in the history of Quebec cinema, was published by the University of Montreal Press in the fall 2018 under the title . She has recently organized the conference "" at the Cinémathèque québécoise and has published numerous articles on cinema, television, literature, the web and the history of women in Quebec.

Dr. Julie Ravary-Pilon’s postdoctoral research project at the CRIEM-BMO, under the supervision of Professor Marion Froger, tackles the issue of women’s underrepresentation in Montreal’s toponymy, with a focus on the metro space.

In 2016, women accounted for 6% of Montreal’s toponymic panorama in contrast to 50% for men, while the remaining 44% does not refer to historical figures. The Montreal metro particularly stands out because 28 of its 68 stations bear names that onlyhonor men of European descent.

In her action-research project, For Inclusive Montreal Stories: Feminist Research-Action on the Montreal Metro, Dr. Julie Ravary-Pilon proposes to revisit the map of Montreal’s underground train. To that end, she develops an intersectional feminist toponymy stemming from narratives that highlight women’s contribution to Montreal’s history. At CRIEM, Dr. Ravary-Pilon will collaborate with social actors in order to produce a revisited map of the metro, which will culminate in an exhibition set in the urban space. Such a feminist study of historical narratives, to be displayed in the metropolitan public transit system, adds to the multiple theoretical engagements with the various modes of representation of pluralist identities and forms of belongings existing in the public space. Ultimately, this feminist project also aims to turn Montreal’s public transit system into a more inclusive and egalitarian space shared by all its citizens.