The Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies is delighted to congratulate Dr. Ido Katri, graduate of the Granovsky-Gluskin Collaborative Graduate Program in Jewish Studies, on his Governor General’s Gold Medal. Katri completed his doctorate at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law with collaborative programs at the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies and the Mark Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies this year and will graduate in June 2021.
The Governor General’s Academic Medal, which has been annually awarded since 1873, has become one of Canada’s most prestigious academic awards for students, and recognizes the most outstanding graduate students in the country. The medal is specifically awarded to individuals with the highest academic standing based on their performance in courses, the merits of their thesis, and the originality and significance of the research (https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/awards/governor-generals-gold-medals/).
Katri was chosen for this distinct honour based on his doctoral research project, which traces “what has come to be known as gender self-determination, i.e. laws and policies that allow for the reclassification of sex based on self-identification of gender.” Katri says about his work: “I examine sex reclassification policies on a global scale to show the rise of a right to gender identity. Yet, as an individual right, gender identity fails to address systemic harms and inevitably redraws the public/private divide along the contours of the trans body. Looking at the limits of gender identity as a legal right, I use critical race-, queer-, trans- and post-colonial theories to offer new imaginaries for trans legal engagements.” (Quotes republished from Three former U of T graduate students awarded Governor General’s Gold Medal for academic excellence)
Katri’s experience as a graduate student in the collaborative program at the ATCJS was influential on his research. Katri explains, “As I do comparative research in family law focusing on Canada, UK, EU, US and Israel (where rabbinical law reside over familial relationship) I immediately found a home at the Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies. My work has been impacted by the interdisciplinary research I encountered through the graduate program in Jewish studies.” He expressed gratitude for the faculty and staff at the ATCJS, saying “I am deeply thankful for the people of CJS and especially to Anna Shternshis, Doris L. Bergen, Yigal S. Nizri and Galina Vaisman, for their support and belief in my research.”
The important work that Katri has and is currently doing has already been used in court decisions, been published in law journal and critical theory publications, been featured in the media, and been effectual in policy reforms. Katri currently holds the position of Assistant Professor at Tel Aviv University’s School of Social Work and is a lecturer at TAU’s Faculty of Law.
The ATCJS is proud of the profound impact Dr. Katri’s work has had and we wish him all the best as he continues to create effectual and positive change in the academic, legal, and social realms.