GWSS Community Blog

Monday, December 8th from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
in the Feminist Media Center (FMC), 468 Ford Hall
Facilitator: Rachel Raimist - raim0007@umn.edu

Workshop Description:

In this GWSS Tech Talk / Feminist Media Center (FMC) workshop, I will share some theories and practices of feminist teaching, learning, research, and creativity using technology. I will use examples from GWSS courses: Gender, Power and Everyday Life: An Intro to GWSS, Feminist Thought and Theory, Feminist Film Studies, Digital Storytelling In and With Communities of Color, to show how technology can help support and deepen feminist pedagogical practices.

In this session, I will:

+ Demonstrate multiple uses of course blogs // Blogs can be used to create community, continue/deepen course discussions, post creative work (images, sound, video), extend reading responses, track news items, post event info, and easily share content to all members of the classroom community for large and small course enrollments [ see my personal blog on how and why i use blogs for teaching and learning ]

+ Briefly demonstrate key uses of WebVista (formerly WebCT) // WebVista is a course website that can be used as a reading repository for enrolled students, place of accessible web links, announcements, computer-graded quiz tools, message boards, chat rooms, calendar tool, gradebook, and other helpful features. I will forward you the UMN DMC for extended training on WebVista (their workshops are free, many are available online, and they are great!)

+ Illustrate UMN supported multimedia tools // Moodle, Breeze, Wikis, Jabber, and other digital media tools offered through MyU Portal

+ Share UMN tech resources // free and low cost classes, free online tutorials, and new state of the art classrooms available for course use

+ Get you posting to the GWSS community blog - GWSS Tech Talk: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/gwss/blog/
You can advertise courses, events, share calls for papers, funding opportunities, and other information of interest to our community [ and everyone will learn how to post to this blog during this session]

!!! Seating is limited. RSVP is encouraged! Please RSVP to raim0007@umn.edu if you are planning to attend this session.

Best,
Rachel

Posted by Rae at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies and the Feminist
Studies graduate program invite you to join us for the final talk of our
fall 2008 colloquium series.

Ryan Lee Cartwright: American Studies PhD Candidate
"Danger Amid Security": Sex, Class, Race, and Rural Hate Crimes of the 1990s
Monday, December 1, 2008
3:15-5:00pm
Ford Hall 400

Abstract:

Despite the peace and prosperity of the late 1990s, something was amiss in
the wind-swept prairies and piney woods of the U.S. countryside. The 1990s
witnessed three highly-publicized hate crimes in rural Nebraska, Texas, and
Wyoming: the horrific beatings and deaths of Brandon Teena (and his friends
Phillip DeVine and Lisa Lambert), James Byrd, Jr., and Matthew Shepard.
With voyeuristic gazes locked on the homophobia of slow-minded hicks and
the racism of small southern towns, national media discourse and cultural
production about hate crimes from the 1990s announced that but for a few
exceptional instances of intolerance in the hinterland, the U.S. was a
nation accepting of difference. Yet difference - particularly classed and
racialized sexual difference - was central to how such stories were spun.

As this paper examines rural hate crimes discourse, it asks how narratives
about sexuality and family structure were deployed to negotiate social
belonging and normativity. It considers who was imagined as dangerous and
who imagined themselves as secure in "rural America" specifically and the
nation more generally, proposing that rural hate crimes discourse
increasingly separated respectable LGBT identity from "irresponsible" forms
of sexual nonnormativity marked by class and racial difference. In doing
so, the paper addresses the ways such discourses were constructed and
contested by local and regional news coverage, national media and cultural
productions, and LGBT and African American community responses.

For more information, call Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at
612.624.6006.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

Posted by Rae at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Sara at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 20th at 7pm

The Red Queen by Lorena Duarte, Directed by Brian Columbus
An episodic play made up of a collection of stories centered on the experiences of women, expressing the tenderness, the ardor, the life-and-death dance that women - and particularly immigrant women - must do.
Performed by Katrina Hawley, Marie Williams and Katherine Kupiecki

WHERE: The Lowry Lab, 350 St Peter St, St Paul, 55102

TICKETS: ONLY $6 EACH!!! Reservations are the only way to guarantee availability and can be made at: 651-225-8106 or tickets@teatrodelpueblo.org

INFO: www.teatrodelpueblo.org, 651-224-8806 or info@teatrodelpueblo.org

Posted by Kandace Creel Falcon at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Editor: Trystan T. Cotten
Deadline for abstracts: January 15, 2009
Deadline for complete essays: April 1, 2009
Email: Trystan38@hotmail.com

Concepts of “migration” and “travel” abound in the field of Transgender Studies. Many transgender cultural productions explore questions of identity and transition trajectories using metaphors of home, displacement, relocation, etc. To our knowledge there are no full length text(s) or monographs that treat the many possibilities of critical, scholarly investigation of this subject in TG history, identity, and art/cultural production. We are proposing a volume of criticism to fill the void and invite contributions for an interdisciplinary collection on the topic. Broadly conceived Trans/Gender Migrations will explore, trace, and map the myriad meanings and functions of “migration” and “travel” in transgender cultural production, politics, and identity/subjectivity, including related concepts of movement and location like space (and spatiality), place, border(s), bridge(s), home, expatriation, displacement, relocation, etc.

We welcome essays from all academic disciplines and scholarly fields and provide some suggestions. Essays might examine these concepts and metaphors in transgender identities (and subjectivities), politics, and cultural productions like literature, film, dance and other performance arts, photography, music, body-art, etc. Or, how TG Studies is itself an interdisciplinary field of methodologies, theories, concepts, and knowledges that are imported from other disciplinary and artistic sites. When and where do western definitions of transgender (and transsexuality) fail to translate across cultural and geographical borders? Other possible topics include exploring the multiple crossings of gender/sex transitions: how the crossing of borders of sex/gender entails other shifts in identity and subjectivity like social class, race and ethnicity, national and religious identity, etc. What additional borders are crossed in sex/gender transitions? Essays might also examine the surgical re-mapping and re-routing of bodily tissues, nerves, organs, and chemicals on TG/TS bodies. Other topics for exploration might include how sex/gender transitions effect migrations to new sexual and political communities; how the politics of race, class, gender, (trans)sexuality intersect with or manifest in immigration policies of the state; and what politics of sex, gender, (trans)sexuality are operative in the forced displacement and relocation of peoples.

Please send a 500 word abstract, working title, and brief biographical statement (MS Word or PDF) to Trystan Cotten by January 15, 2009 at: Trystan38@hotmail.com. Please send a brief biographical statement along with your abstract. Completed essays (formatted in Chicago guidelines) are due by April 1, 2009.

Posted by Rae at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello Equilibrium Supporters,
thank you all for making EQ's Fall season so spectacular!

Please come and help us celebrate our first ever CD release, ¿Nation of Immigrants? - a compilation of spoken word and performance poetry by Minnesotan Indigenous, immigrant, adoptee, refugee, and people of color - that seeks to explore, challenge, and explode the blanket-term "nation of immigrants". We gave preference to Minnesota artists that do not have their own CD out yet. It is really a spectacular collection, educational, thought-provoking, and inspiring, and it's just in time for the gift-giving season!

And did we mention there will be free food? The CD will be on sale for $10 and there will be some short performances by some of the featured artists.

Help us celebrate Minnesota poets and political art! And spread the word...

Continue reading "¿Nation of Immigrants? Minnesota spoken word artists and poets question the world" »

Posted by Charlotte Albrecht at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Anyone interested in starting an informal feminist pedagogy group? I am currently teaching Feminist Pedagogies (Feminist Pedagogies syllabus) and am really enjoying talking and learning more about feminist teaching theories and strategies. I would love to continue the conversation with GWSS grad students and/or other faculty members. We could share strategies, get advice, exchange syllabi, critically reflect on pedagogical theories (and anything else related to teaching).

Let me know if you are interested. You can post a comment to the blog, email me at puot0002@umn.edu, or stop by my office (Ford 429).

Spread the word...

-Sara Puotinen

Posted by Sara at 01:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wanted to let you all know about the graduate seminar I will be teaching in the spring. I am really looking forward to it!

Here is the information:

GWSS 8190: Feminist and Queer Explorations in Troublemaking, Wednesdays 2-4:30
What are the political and ethical possibilities for making trouble? How have selves or communities made trouble in effective ways? What would it mean to think about troublemaking as a virtue? What are the limits of troublemaking? What are the links between troublemaking and feminist theoretical activism? Radical democracy? Queer theory and practice? Humor? Critical thinking and philosophy?

In this graduate seminar, we will explore all of these questions (and more) as we closely examine the nature and practice of troublemaking. We will begin by examining the specific ways that troublemaking as a practice and a troublemaker as a label have been used to dismiss and deem improper or deviant the theories, experiences, and activities of individuals and communities who challenge the status quo and/or work for social justice. We will closely examine how troublemaking and the troublemaker are represented and performed within specific social contexts and how race, class, gender, sexuality and ethnicity shape our understandings (and evaluations) of them. Then, we will critically explore the ethical and political potential of troublemaking, both as a practice and as an attitude/quality of character. In particular, we will look at how making trouble functions in a wide range of feminist and queer theoretical, political and ethical projects of transgression and transformation. While this course will draw upon a wide range of disciplines and methodologies, we will give particular attention to troublemaking in philosophical and ethical contexts. Some of the authors we will be reading include: Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Kate Bornstein, bell hooks, Cornel West, Chantal Mouffe, Luce Irigaray, Dorothy Allison, María Lugones, Chelá Sandoval, Audre Lorde, Cynthia Willett and Lisa Tessman.

Posted by Sara at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Esha Momeni, a student and women's rights defender, was arrested by Iranian security officials on 15 October 2008. She is being held in Section 209 of Evin Prison in Tehran, which is run by the Ministry of Intelligence. She has not been charged with any offence, and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/155/2008/en

SeeMORE INFO HERE!

SIGN the PETITION here

Posted by Rae at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click HERE for flyer

Posted by Rae at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click HERE For pdf of flyer

Posted by Rae at 07:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: Valda Lewis - nwsaweb@nwsa.org

I'd like to encourage and remind folks on this list that the NWSA website hosts free listings of CFP's for conferences and publications.

Just fill out the online forms at http://www.nwsa.org/cfps/.

Looking for employment?
Have a position open?

We also host employment listings at http://www.nwsa.org/employ/

46 positions are currently listed.

NWSA Member institutions may post related women's studies/gender studies positions at no charge. For non-member institutions, or to list jobs in other fields the cost
is $250.

Pages may be browsed free of charge by all.

These pages are some of the most visited on our site.

Stay informed! Join our e-news list

Do you buy stuff from Amazon? If you get to them via the National
Women's Studies Association web site, you can pay the same price and assure a
contribution to NWSA! www.nwsa.org

Posted by Rae at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please find the following Call for Papers; Lesbian Lives XVI
‘Representations of the Lesbian in Art, Culture and the Media’

Friday 13 – Saturday 14 February 2009, University College Dublin (UCD),
Ireland

This 2-Day, International, Interdisciplinary Conference to be held at the
Women's Studies, School of Social Justice, University College Dublin, Ireland.
This year the theme will be ‘Representations of the Lesbian in Art, Culture
and the Media’. We welcome proposals from academics, scholars, students,
activists, documentary and film makers, writers and artists.

The conference organisers welcome proposals for (A) individual papers, (B)
sessions, (C) round table discussions, (D) workshops, and (E) visual
presentations.

A. Individual Papers: Individual papers should last 20 minutes (c. 2,400
words). Individuals should submit: (1) paper title, (2) abstract (c. 100
words), (3) biography (c. 100-150 words), (4) institutional affiliation and
address, (5) audio-visual requirements.

B. Sessions: Panels of academic papers should include 3 speakers and 1
moderator. Each paper should last for 20 minutes (c. 2,400 words), with a
further 30 minutes for questions and discussion. Proposers should submit (1)
session title, (2) paper titles, (3) abstracts for each paper (c. 100 words),
(3) biography for each participant (c. 100-150 words), (4) institutional
affiliation and address for each participant, (5) audio-visual requirements.

C. Round Table Discussions: Round table discussions should include 6 speakers
and 1 moderator. Each paper should last for 10 minutes (c. 1,200 words), with a
further 30 minutes for questions and discussion. Proposers should submit (1)
round table title, (2) rationale for round table (c. 100 words), (3) biography
for each participant (c. 100-150 words), (4) institutional affiliation and
address for each participant, (5) audio-visual requirements.

D. Workshops: Workshops last 90 minutes. Proposers should submit (1) workshop
title, (2) rationale for workshop (c. 100 words), (3) biography (c. 100-150
words), (4) institutional affiliation and address (if relevant)

E. Visual presentations; documentary, video, art or media presentations by
individuals or groups are welcomed.

E-mail proposals to lesbian.lives@ucd.ie or post them to:

Lesbian Lives XVI:
‘Representations of the Lesbian in Art, Culture and the Media’

Women’s Studies,
Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington Building
University College Dublin, Dublin 4 Ireland

The closing date for the submission of proposals is Friday 27th November 2008

Visit http://www.ucd.ie/werrc/lesbianlives2009.html for conference updates.

Posted by Rae at 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 7th Annual Women's Studies Student Conference presents as this year's
theme:

"RACE MATTERS TO FEMINISM"

… or does it? Given this year's political climate, is this question still
relevant? Have we made any significant breakthroughs on this subject?

We invite students (both graduate and undergraduate from all disciplines
and colleges) as well as community activists to submit proposals for
papers, film, music, art, live performance, and other creative and
critical works.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Race and gender politics in the presidential elections.
• Historical exploration of race relations impacting on feminism and/or
vice versa.
• Explorations of the discourse on “postracial society.”
• Personal accounts of race and gendered experiences.

Please submit 200-word abstracts briefly describing your work to
wstudent@albany.edu no later than Friday, October 31, 2008.

Abstracts describing film and live performances should indicate the
project's running time (image or digital files of media projects may also
be submitted as e-mail attachments or through a URL if presented on the
web). You may use the same e-mail address to send us any inquiries.

For more information, please visit our website:
http://www.albany.edu/wstudent_conference/

This event is sponsored by the Department of Women’s Studies and organized
by students in the Graduate Orientation in Women’s Studies seminar (WSS
510).

Conference Date: December 4-5, 2008 at the University at Albany

Please spread the word.

Posted by Rae at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Fouzi Slisli, curator
Kathryn Haddad, executive director
Mizna
2205 California Street NE #109A
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55418
www.Mizna.org
Mizna@Mizna.org
612-532-0747
612-788-6920

Mizna Presents:
The Twin Cities 5th Arab Film Festival
October 16-19, 2008
The Heights Theatre
3951 Central Avenue Northeast, Minneapolis
Cost: $5 student/low income $8 general admission
Festival Passes available $40 advanced (online) $55 at door
http://www.mizna.org/arabfilmfest08/index.html

Continue reading "Mizna's Fifth Arab Film Festival" »

Posted by Charlotte Albrecht at 02:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)