Fonds 1688 - David Rayside fonds

Identity area

Reference code

UTA 1688

Title

David Rayside fonds

Date(s)

  • 1967-2017 (Creation)

Level of description

Fonds

Extent and medium

11.7 m of textual records (66 boxes)
3346 digital files (9 GB)
484 sound recordings
12 photographs

Context area

Name of creator

(1947-)

Biographical history

David Rayside (1947 - ) is a Political Science professor and former Vice-Principal of University College, University of Toronto. Professor Rayside is best known for his contributions to scholarship on race, ethnicity, gender, class and sexuality.

A native of Montreal, Prof. Rayside obtained his B.A. Honours in Political Science from Carleton University in 1969. He pursued graduate studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, receiving his A.M. in 1971 and his Ph.D. in 1976. While completing his doctorate, Prof. Rayside was appointed Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto in 1974. He then became Associate Professor in 1979 and full Professor in 1993. In this capacity, Prof. Rayside has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on Canadian politics, Western European politics, gender politics, as well as politics and religion. He was instrumental in developing a course on sexual diversity . In 1980, he spent a year at Harvard University as a Research Associate at the Centre for European Studies. He held positions on many thesis committees both internal and external to the University of Toronto.

Throughout his career, Prof. Rayside has held numerous administrative positions at the University of Toronto. These include Chair of the European Studies Committee, Centre for International Studies 1976-79 and 1980-81 as well as Coordinator of the Canadian Studies Program 1982-86. Between 1993 and 1997, he was the Vice-Principal of University College. In this position, he was responsible for various University College programmes such as Canadian Studies, Drama and Peace and Conflict Studies. During his tenure, he was instrumental in coordinating the Sexual Studies Caucus set up in 1993 to address curricular focus on gay and lesbian issues. Since 1998 he has been been active in various capacities on the Advisory Committee for the Sexual Diversity Studies Program. More recently he has been Graduate Director and Associate Chair of the Department of Political Science and Director of the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.

In addition to the above noted academic appointments, Prof. Rayside has served on various committees especially for the Department of Political Science and University College. Many of his roles have been as an advocate for sexual diversity and equity rights. Below is a list of only a few committees in which he took a leadership role: Ad Hoc Committee on the Status of Women (1985-87); Sexual Harassment Hearing Panel (1988-92); Men’s Forum (1989-94); Committee on Homophobia (1989-94); Teach In-Committee (1990), Ad Hoc Committee on Campus Violence (1991); Co-chair of the Positive Space Campaign (1995-2000). In addition, he was a key organizer to both the Bent on Change Conference (2000) and the Sexual Diversities Studies Conference (2003).

Prof. Rayside has also been involved in off-campus social activism at the federal, provincial and municipal levels. He was a collective member and defender of the gay magazine, The Body Politic. He also served on The Right to Privacy Committee, the Citizens Independent Review of Police Activities, and the Bill 7 Coalition. Further, 1991-1994, Prof. Rayside was party to Rayside v. Disero, a legal challenge to the election of Toronto City Councillor, Betty Disero, on the grounds that she violated election spending limits.

Prof. Rayside has published countless papers, articles and reports on topics ranging from federalism and party politics early in his career to race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality in the latter part of his career. Most notably, he is the author of four books:

  • Alexandria,: A Small Town in Modern Times (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1991)
  • On the Fringe: Gays and Lesbians in Politics (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998)
  • Queer Inclusions, Continental Divisions: Public Recognition of Sexual Diversity in Canada and the United States (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, March 2008)
  • Equity, Diversity and Canadian Labour, edited by Gerald Hunt and David Rayside (University of Toronto Press, 2007).

Rayside is unique among academics in the use of oral history to support and research his topics. A great extent of his research are interviews, many of which are preserved in this fonds.

Prof. Rayside has won many awards throughout his career. His most recent award in 2009, the Terry Buckland Award for Diversity and Equity in Education from the University of Toronto, recognized his contribution to the study of diversity and equity issues. His research has been supported by substantive grants from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council, the Wellesley Health Foundation and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Prof. Rayside continues to teach in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Records in this fonds document most aspects of Prof. Rayside’s career as an administrator, activist and academic. Series 1 (Biographical) and 2 (Correspondence) give a good overview of his career and the professional correspondence in Series 2 relate to or complete most other series in the fonds. Correspondence can also be found in all other series.

His role as an adept administrator is documented not only in Series 3 (University of Toronto Administration) but also in the records found in Series 4 (Advocacy) and Series 5 (Professional Associations) where his leadership and involvement on committees is evident. Prof. Rayside’s academic interests coincided with his political activism and this is well documented in Series 4 (Advocacy) seen in reference to records in Series 7 (Books) and Series 8 (Articles, Papers and Talks) that extensively document his research and writing. Finally his roles as a teacher and mentor are well documented in Series 6 (Letters of Recommendations and Evaluations) and in Series 9 (Teaching).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Restricted.
-All interviews, transcripts and related notes found in Series 7, 8 and 10 are restricted for 50 years from the date of the interview.
-Specific files/boxes in Series 2, 3 and 4 are restricted. See series descriptions for further details.
-All records in Series 6, Letters of Recommendation and Evaluations, are closed for 30 years from the latest date of file activity.
-All records in Series 12, Student Files, are restricted and subject to review under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Physical characteristics and technical requirements

    Born-digital content is found in most Series as part of accessions B2008-0023 and B2017-0024. Please contact the Digital Records Archivist to inquire about access.

    Finding aids

    Uploaded finding aid

    Allied materials area

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Related units of description

    Related descriptions

    Notes area

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Accession

    B1998-0029

    Accession

    B2008-0023

    Accession

    B2013-0015

    Accession

    B2017-0024

    Access points

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Description control area

    Description identifier

    Institution identifier

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    -Original findings aids by Loryl MacDonald, 1998, Marnee Gamble 2009, and Sid Kesik, 2016.
    -Entered to AtoM by Daniela Ansovini, June 2017
    -Revised and updated by E. Sommers and Marnee Gamble, October 2018

    Language(s)

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Accession area