WGSS Calendar: 2008-2009 Jump to Spring

WGSS Events: September October November February March April

Other events on campus: Pride Center Calendar Multicultural Student Services Diversity Organizations Coalition

City events: http://www.explorelacrosse.com

Events for faculty only: TFD Schedule: Fall 2008 and Spring 2009

WGSS cordially invites you to the following events, open to the campus and the community. Check with your instructor if you are not sure an event satisfies requirements for the course you are taking.

September

September 6: Steppin' Out in Pink

The Organization for Campus Women (OCW) invites all UW-L employees, students, and friends-of-UW-L to be a part of our team for Gundersen Lutheran’s Steppin’ Out in Pink walk for breast cancer research and awareness, taking place Saturday, September 6, from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Our team name is SAVE SECOND BASE_TM(S2B), an organization founded on the belief that although breast cancer is no laughing matter, we can fight it with humor. We encourage you to visit their website at http://www.save2ndbase.com/.

September 16: Byron Hurt: Film/Lecture: Hip-Hop on Violence and Masculinity, Campus Activities Board event. 7 p.m. Valhalla, Cartwright Center. For additional CAB events, see ../Advancement/connectx/2008/summer/july/28/cab.pdf

September 25: Linda Kerber, University of Iowa: "Why Diamonds Really Are a Girl's Best Friend -- Putting the Constitution into Practice" 7 p.m., 332 Cartwright Center (co-sponsored by Women's Studies Student Association and Pride Center)

The Declaration of Independence begins with the assertion that "all men are created equal," and the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, added in 1868, promises "all persons...equal protection of the laws." But over the long course of American history, women have regularly been denied equal protection of the laws -- not only in the right to vote, but also in the right to be tried by an impartial jury [a right not fully established until 1992] ; in the right to petition for the redress of grievances, in the right to marry, in the right to make choices about their own bodily integrity and the right a secure citizenship which they can pass down to their children. Many rights important to women have only been established firmly as a result of the grassroots feminist movement of the last generation. Some are not yet achieved.

Linda K. Kerber is May Brodbeck Professor in Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Iowa. In her writing and teaching Linda Kerber has emphasized the history of citizenship, gender, and authority. In the history department she teaches courses in U.S. history with an emphasis on the history of women and gender; feminist theory, and U.S. legal history.

Dr. Kerber is the author of No Constitutional Right to Be Ladies: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship (1998) for which she was awarded the Littleton-Griswold Prize for the best book in U.S. legal history and the Joan Kelley Prize for the best book in women's history (both awarded by the American Historical Association). Among her other books are Toward an Intellectual History of Women (1997), Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America (1980), and Federalists in Dissent: Imagery and Ideology in Jeffersonian America (1970). She is co-editor of U.S. History As Women's History, and of the widely used anthology, Women's America: Refocusing the Past (6th edition, 2004), which has been translated into Japanese.

October

October 9: Andrea O'Reilly, York University: The Maternal Wall in Academe: Academic Mothers and Strategies of Resistance and Empowerment , 4 p.m. Cleary Alumni Center

Many women today, particularly those that are college educated, middle-class and professional, may not encounter gender discrimination until they become mothers and hit full throttle the maternal wall that blocks and blindsides them in their attempts at advancement. As Ann Crittenden, author of The Price of Motherhood, writes, "Once a woman has a baby, the egalitarian office party is over." Dr. O'Reilly's presentation will explore the various strategies used by academic mothers as they encounter the maternal wall in academe.

Andrea O'Reilly, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the School of Women's Studies at York University. She is co-editor/editor of twelve books on motherhood, including Redefining Motherhood: Changing Identities and Patterns (Second Story Press, 1998), Mothers and Daughters: Connection, Empowerment and Transformation (Rowman and Littlefield, 2000), Maternal Theory: Essential Readings (Demeter Press, 2007) and Feminist Mothering (Forthcoming, SUNY 20008.) Her forthcoming books include From Personal to Political: Toward a New Theory of Maternal Narrative, with Silvia Caporale-Bizzini and Motherhood at the 21st Century: Policy, Experience, Identity, Agency. She is currently completing the 20th anniversary of Sara Ruddick's Maternal Thinking and writing a book on being a mother in the academe.

Dr. O'Reilly is the founder and director of the Association for Research on Mothering, (ARM), the first feminist research association on the topic of mothering-motherhood. Dr. O'Reilly is also founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering. In 2005, she launched Demeter Press, the first feminist press on motherhood. She is founder and director of "Mother Outlaws," a feminist mother group.

October 13: Panel with Cheri Niedzwiecki, UW-L, Communication Studies and WGSS, Carol Bekerjeck, UW-L Foundation, and Luanne Sorenson: "Living in Pink: Coping with Breast Cancer" (4 p.m., Cartwright Center 259)

October 14: Film: "The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo," a film by Lisa Jackson. 7 p.m. 307 Graff Mail Hall, sponsored by Women's Studies Student Association

October 15: Devon Browning, UW-L Student, "Thai Women Artists, Noon, CWH 432

This presentation focuses on Thai artists and the contemporary art scene in Bangkok. The presentation will compare some male Thai art with female Thai art, and will address what is considered acceptable subject matter for women to portray and for Thai art to portray in general.

October 20: Multicultural Women's Film Series: "Running in High Heels," 7 p.m., CWH 102. Post-film discussion moderated by Ceciilia Manrique, Political Science and WGSS

A film about the difference between what women say and do in politics, Running in High Heels follows the campaign of a woman running for State Senate in New York City as women around her from the left and right of the spectrum try to explain how women can be the majority of the population at 52% but run nothing. Written by Elm Films, Inc.

November

November 6: Sharon Jessee, UW-L, English and WGSS: "Women doing Wordwork: Research and Identity," 4 p.m., 432 CWH

In this presentation Dr. Jessee will discuss the personal as well the professional parameters of the process of writing a critical book on the novels of Toni Morrison. Her research journeys involved learning about musical aesthetics, travelling to Oklahoma, and working on her own confidence in making a valuable contribution to Morrison’s scholarship.

November 10: Multicultural Women's Film Series: " A Massacre Foretold, " 7 p.m. CWH 102. Co-sponsored by WGSS and the Institute for Latina/o and Latin American Studies, and the Women's Studies Student Association

This film the WACC/SIGNIS Prize for "Best Human Rights Documentary" and was winner of the 2007 International Festival de Cine de Morelia. It focuses on "Las Abejeas," a group of pacifist women who supported the Zapista Uprising in Mexico, and were massacred while at church on December 22, 1997, in Acteal, Ciapas, Mexico. 59 minutes, Maya, Spanish, and English with English subtitles.

November 13: Christine Hippert, UW-L, Sociology/Archaeology: "Gender Mainstreaming and Development Priorities: Popular Participation and Gendered Work in Rural Bolivia" 4 p.m., Cartwright Center 257

Dr. Hippert’s presentation examines community development and popular participation in rural Bolivia as a gendered process. In 1994, Bolivia passed a law requiring an increase in women’s participation in local government and community development. Around the world, human rights advocates and activists promote this type of gender equity as part and parcel of the goals of social development and cultural progress. The results of Dr. Hippert’s two-year ethnographic research in rural Bolivia found that women are extremely visible in development and political contexts, and on the surface it seems as if Bolivia’s goal of increasing women’s political participation is being met. However, her presentation will show that men and women often challenge and accommodate outsider’s perceptions of gender equity and gender roles in their development work. In order to foster inclusion, collaboration, and engagement in local popular participation, women attempt to both maintain conventional social relations at the same time that they struggle to transform them. Dr. Hippert’s presentation shows that without understanding cultural constructions of gender, gender equity, as envisioned by NGOs in the West, can over-burden women and misconstrue the power that men – particularly poor, indigenous men – have as stakeholders in rural communities.

Spring 2009

February March April

Other events on campus: Pride Center Calendar Multicultural Student Services Diversity Organizations Coalition

City events: http://www.explorelacrosse.com

Events for faculty only: TFD Schedule: Fall 2008 and Spring 2009

WGSS cordially invites you to the following events, open to the campus and the community. Check with your instructor if you are not sure an event satisfies requirements for the course you are taking.

February

Feb. 2 AUDITIONS for the Vagina Monologues! 6:30 to 9:00 PM, Wimberly 306 (The Women's Resource Center)

Feb. 3 AUDITIONS for the Vagina Monologues! 5:00 to 9:00 PM, Wimberly 306 (The Women's Resource Center)

Feb. 11 LunchBox/SoapBox! Noon - 1 pm, 259 CC. Ingrid Peterson (Violence Intervention Program) and Matt Vogel (Wellness Resource Center), “Alcohol and Sexual Assault: What’s the Connection?”

Feb. 25 TeaTime/SoapBox! 4-5 pm, 432 Wimberly Hall. Sue Kelly, Department of Mathematics, ” Winifred Edgerton Merrill: She opened the door."

Come learn about the first American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics. She was a native of Wisconsin!

March

Mar. 1 "Little Women Then and Now: UW-L hosts a discussion of a classic and its modern re-tellings" -- a collaboration between WGSS and the Department of Theatre Arts. Refreshments will be served! Sunday, March 1, 2009, immediately following the matinee performance (approximately 4:00 p.m.) of "Little Women: A Musical" by A. Knee, J. Howland & M. Dickstein, in 141 Center for the Arts.

The UW-L Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS), in conjunction with the Department of Theatre Arts, will present an in-depth look at Louisa May Alcott’s classic story, Little Women. All are invited to see the play, Little Women: The Musical and read the 2006 novel March by Geraldine Brooks. Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, March chronicles the events of the Civil War as seen by the “little women’s” absent father, Mr. March.

A discussion of the two stories, facilitated by Elise Denlinger of the WGSS program and Sharon Jessee of the English Department, will follow the matinee performance on Sunday, March 1, 2009 beginning at approximately 4:00 p.m. Discussion will be in room 141 Center for the Arts, across from the Art Gallery. Refreshments will be provided. Book club groups are especially welcome to participate.

Click on the link above for details about the discussion. Click here for a description of the play. Tickets for Little Women: The Musical go on sale Monday, February 23 at 1:00 p.m. and are $14 for the general public, $12 for seniors and non UW-L students, and $5 for UW-L students. Tickets can be purchased at the box office in the lobby of the Center for the Arts, or by phone. Please call (608) 785-8522 for reservations beginning February 23. BOX OFFICE HOURS: Box office opens Monday, February 23 at 1:00 p.m. Open Monday through Friday: 1:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. One hour before show times. UW-L Theatre Box Office is located in the Center for the Arts Lobby on the corner of 16th and Vine Streets

Mar. 4 Mar. 4, 7-9 PM, 260 Cartwright Center An International Women's Day Celebration! "A Powerful Noise" Executive produced by Sheila C. Johnson, “A Powerful Noise” takes you inside the lives of three women from different countries to witness their daily efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, champion girls’ education and unite ethnically divided communities. Learn more about the film here: http://www.apowerfulnoise.org/about.html.

"CARE is a leading humanitarian organization that fights global poverty by empowering marginalized women and girls to bring lasting change to their communities. CARE addresses root causes of poverty through programs that advance girls’ education and leadership, improve maternal health and increase economic opportunity for women around the world, among others." Learn more about CARE here: http://www.care.org/

Mar. 8th 1:00 to 4:00 pm in Port O Call. A WSSA Special Event for Women's History Month! An Open House Celebration of the Life of Kathryn Frederick Clarenback

Sparta students with their project These three AWESOME Sparta High Point School students (Chloe Miller Hansen, Emily Culver, and Alison Toetz) will present the life of Kathryn Frederick Clarenbach, the woman who co-founded NOW (the National Organization for Women). Clarenbach was born in Sparta, WI. Their documentary will show at 2 PM, along with four photo essays, and a timeline of national and local events in the Women's Rights Movement. We'll post their website AFTER the event!

Join us for refreshments and good conversation!

International Women's Day is March 8th! What will YOU do to help? What will you do to celebrate?

Mar. 11 TT/SB 4-5 pm, 432 Wimberly Hall. Vincent Her, Institute for Race and Ethnicity, "Gender and Hmong Funeral Practices."

Dr. Her is an anthropologist who studies Hmong spiritual practices.

Mar. 25 TT/SB 4-5 pm, 432 Wimberly Hall. Karen Stuart, Dept. of English , "From Naive Victim to Improvising Trickster: Red Riding Hood as a Paradigm for Female Empowerment."

Focuses on a specific tale that feminists and others have recast to counter patriarchal, middle-class discourses on female passivity and sexuality.

Mar. 27th Vagina Monologues. Auditorium, Graff Main Hall, 7 PM
Mar. 28th Vagina Monologues. Auditorium, Graff Main Hall, 7 PM
Mar. 29th Vagina Monologues. Auditorium, Graff Main Hall, 2 PM

WSSA Benefit for the Violence Intervention Program, directed by Carrie Bero.

April

Apr. 8 LB/SB Noon-1 pm, 432 Wimberly Hall. Keely Rees, Dept. of Health Education and Health Promotion, "Contemplative Practices in Everyday Life, Academia, and Research."

Contemplative practices can assist college faculty, educators, trainers, and administrators in how to incorporate personal practices that will have big impacts on the populations we advocate for every day. Educators, or really any helping professional, critically need an armor of self-protection. They need a way to fill their own “buckets”; replenish their minds and bodies and be able to transition more peacefully from their work sites and responsibilities back to their homes and families. Come join us for a discussion of contemplative practices you can use in your classes and personal lives.

Apr. 8 TT/SB 4-5 PM, 337 Cartwright Center. "A Sense of Wonder: Rachel Carson's love for the natural world, and her fight to defend it" -- a new documentary film!

When pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, the backlash from her critics thrust her into the center of a political maelstrom. Despite her love of privacy, Carson's convictions and her foresight regarding the risks posed by chemical pesticides forced her into a very public and controversial role.

Using many of Miss Carson's own words, Kaiulani Lee embodies this extraordinary woman in a documentary style film, which depicts Carson in the final year of her life. Struggling with cancer, Carson recounts with both humor and anger the attacks by the chemical industry, the government, and the press as she focuses her limited energy to get her message to Congress and the American people.

The film is an intimate and poignant reflection of Carson's life as she emerges as America's most successful advocate for the natural world. A Sense of Wonder was shot in HD by Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler at Carson's cottage on the coast of Maine. See the trailer here: http://www.asenseofwonderfilm.com/

Apr. 22 LB/SB Noon - 1, 337 Cartwright Center. Film: "Rape Is . . ." Discussion after facilitated by Ingrid Peterson, Violence Prevention Office.

A WSSA theme event on "Women around the world," in preparation for The Balkan Women play (see below)! "Rape Is . . .", a half-hour documentary video, explores the meaning and consequences of rape. This documentary looks at rape from a global and historical perspective, but focuses mainly on the domestic cultural conditions that make this human rights violation the most underreported crime in America. Many types of sexual assault are not considered a serious crime by the legal system and our society "Rape is..." expands the narrow ways we think of sexual violence, and demonstrates that it is not a sporadic and rare occurrence, but a cultural and criminal outrage that affects millions of women, children and men all over the world refuses to see the true cost of this brutal denial of basic rights. Ingrid Peterson, Violence Prevention Office, will facilitate discussion after the film.

Apr. 28 7 PM, Graff Main Hall Auditorium. Multicultural Women's Film Series: "The Betrayal" Sponsored by the Women's Studies Student Association!

The Betrayal The Betrayal is an epic story of a family odyssey from war-torn Laos to the mean streets of New York. Shot over the course of 23 years, Thavisouk narrates his own story as a child surviving the Vietnam war and then as a young man struggling to overcome the hardships of immigrant life, an experience shared with his mother in war. Breathtaking and compelling, renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras’s film is a poetic, deeply personal film, a powerfully eloquent tribute of what it means to be in exile, of the far-reaching consequences of war, and of the resilient bonds of family. Thavisouk’s unforgettable journey reminds us of the strength necessary to survive and of the human spirit’s inspiring capacity to adapt, rebuild, and forgive. Ellen Kuras is an unprecedented three-time winner of the Best Dramatic Cinematography award at Sundance for Swoon, Angela, and Personal Velocity. Kuras first met Thavisouk Phrasavath in 1985, when she was looking for someone who could teach her Laotian. The two became friends, and after hearing his personal history, she knew she wanted to tell his tale. More info here: http://www.thebetrayalmovie.com/

Apr. 30 Post-show discussion, "The Balkan Women," Toland Theatre, by Jules Tasca. Join us for a discussion after the show about sexual assault in our community, with:
-- Tim Gruenke, La Crosse County District Attorney
-- Maureen Funk, Social Worker and Coordinator of the Gundersen Lutheran Domestic Abuse/Sexual Assault Program
-- Justine Johnson, Sexual Assault Victim Advocate, New Horizons (Buffalo County Office)
-- Ingrid Peterson, Violence Prevention Specialist, UW-L

Click here to read the play (PDF file)!

Performance Dates
April 24-25 & April 30-May 2 at 7:30 p.m.
April 26 & May 3 at 2:00 p.m.
Toland Theatre, Center for the Arts
Click here for more information about the play. Click here for more information about purchasing tickets to the play.

To request disability accommodations, please contact Deb Hoskins, Dept. of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, 423 Wimberly Hall, UW-L, 785-8734.