00:00:00.220Hi everybody, this is Ghat Saad. One of the areas of research that I've been involved in is exploring how hormones affect our behaviors.
00:00:10.160And so I've done work looking at how conspicuous consumption affects men's testosterone levels.
00:00:17.320And I've also explored how the menstrual cycle affects women's behaviors.
00:00:24.240So for example, here, I'm just going to go through quickly through my CV.
00:00:27.040I've got a 2018 paper titled Menstrual Cycle Effects on Pro-Social Orientation, Gift-Giving and Charitable Gift-Giving with Eric Stenstrom, who was my former MSc and PhD student, and Hingston.
00:00:44.560This was published in the Journal of Business Research.
00:00:46.340I have another paper with Eric Stenstrom titled Calories, Beauty and Ovulation, the Effects of the Menstrual Cycle on Food and Appearance-Related Consumption in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2012.
00:01:01.080I also have a book chapter with Christina Durante in 2010 titled Strategic Shifts in Women's Social Motives and Behaviors Across the Menstrual Cycle.
00:01:14.960And there's a whole bunch of other works.
00:01:17.300For example, I've had a MSc student do her master's thesis exploring menstrual cycle effects and brand preferences.
00:01:25.540So I've had a long research program exploring the effects of the menstrual cycle, usually coming from an evolutionary perspective.
00:01:39.100And so I was interested to see that my university is now hosting, I think it's in May, a one-day symposium.
00:01:48.360And I'm going to read the entire thing for you, okay?
00:01:52.840This is, there's, I'm reading it verbatim.
00:02:01.720The title of the symposium is Periods on Campus, Sustainable Research, Activism, and Advocacy for Menstrual Equity in Higher Ed.
00:02:13.720May 17th, 2024, all day, Concordia University, Montreal.
00:02:18.360This one-day symposium will bring researchers, student advocates, and diverse voices together in a higher educational setting to discuss the importance of menstrual equity
00:02:31.300and the positive impact it can have when considering and including sustainable approaches.
00:02:38.380We hope to enhance the quality of student life by moving meaningfully towards a culture of menstrual dignity on campus,
00:02:47.640showing that higher ed institutions care beyond the education of students.
00:02:53.160Menstrual equity is about ensuring that menstruators, these are people who menstruate,
00:02:59.840have access to the menstrual products they need without facing financial or social barriers.
00:03:06.180It's about breaking down the barriers that can make menstruation a difficult and even stigmatized experience
00:03:13.560and recognizing that menstrual equity is a basic human right.
00:03:21.120Inaccessibility to menstrual products and lack of supports and services directly impacts the experience of menstruators on campus.