Dear Students, Friends, Alumnae/i, and Colleagues:
My year as acting director of the Women’s Studies Program is coming to a close and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for a great year. The experience of working with you to continue the Program’s mission has been both meaningful and happy. Thank you for your support of WOMS, and me, this year.
I gladly owe special thanks to Lise Schlosser, the Program Secretary, and Rebekah Kohli, the Program Coordinator. They are the rocks which form the foundation of WOMS, the smiling faces which welcome visitors to Reavis 103, the repository of knowledge which makes the continuity of the Program. Their dedication to our mission, their care for our students and faculty, their creativity concerning our events, publications, and fundraising add immeasurably to the quality of what we offer students and faculty. They also kept me on schedule, reminded me of what I forgot, told me of what I didn’t know, and generally made it possible for me to serve the Program as acting director this year with what success I have. Thank you, Lise and Rebekah!
As you will see in this bulletin, 2009-2010 has been a year of accomplishments for WOMS students and faculty. WOMS students are active in campus and community endeavors, especially in raising awareness and support for organizations and issues that improve women’s lives and advocate for women’s rights. WOMS students are also highly accomplished academically, pursuing research, winning awards, and publishing. Similarly, WOMS faculty are lively contributors to the life of NIU and have received recognition of their teaching, publishing, and service. I particularly want to recognize those who are moving on to new stages in their lives. Congratulations to our graduates; we wish you all success and happiness! Congratulations to Faculty Associates Debbie Smith-Shank and Diane Pospisil-Kinney, who both retire from NIU this spring; thank you for your important contributions to WOMS and best wishes for the future. Finally, congratulations to Dr. Mayra Daniel on receiving tenure and promotion to Associate Professor!
You will find below more information about the activities of the Program this year but I want to highlight here the results of our year-long student recruitment campaign. At the beginning of the year, I challenged us to raise the number of undergraduate minors and graduate certificate students by 15%. I am happy to report that we have succeeded thanks to the WOMS staff, teaching assistants, and faculty associates who helped disseminate information, make in-class announcements, and speak with individual students. Twenty-four new undergraduates signed up for the minor and 19 new graduate students signed up for certificate this academic year. The number of WOMS minors rose from 45 in May 2009 (prior to graduation) to 53 in May 2010; the number of WOMS graduate certificate students rose from 32 in May 2009 (prior to graduation) to 39 in May 2010. The diversity of departments that our students come from has also increased. WOMS students now represent twelve departments in Liberal Arts and Sciences, four departments in Education, three departments in Health and Human Sciences, three departments in Visual and Performing Arts, and two departments in Business. We truly are intercollegiate and multidisciplinary!
Finally, please join me in welcoming back Dr. Amy Levin who will return to her post as Director on July 1. She comes back to us after serving the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as Acting Associate Dean during one of the most challenging years the college and the university as a whole have ever faced. Thank you, Amy, for the good work that you did this year.
Diana Swanson
TopWe would like to express our gratitude to Elizabeth Bowman for her excellent work as a Women’s Studies graduate teaching assistant over the past two years. In addition to assisting with our two general education courses, Elizabeth provided invaluable support to the program in the office and at events. We wish her the best in her future endeavors! Thank you also to Cortney Barko and Heather Samariniotis. We appreciate their many contributions to our program and are thrilled that they will be returning as Women’s Studies teaching assistants in the 2010-2011 school year.
We are pleased to announce this year's winners of Women's Studies Program scholarships. Cortney Barko was selected to receive the second annual Austin Sawicki Memorial Scholarship. This award was established to honor the memory of Austin Sawicki and to recognize NIU students who make major contributions to NIU Women's Studies and/or the lives of women at our university. Barko is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English and graduate certificate in Women's Studies. According to one of her recommenders, "Cortney is an unusually fine and outstanding young professional whose performance in all aspects highly commends her" for the award.
Diana Juarez and Amanda Cox are the winners of the Mothers Memorial Scholarship. Amanda is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Family and Individual development with teacher certification, and a minor in Women's Studies. "Amanda is a truly passionate leader who has had a strong influence on others and made a difference in people's lives," said one of her letter writers. Diana Juarez is completing an undergraduate degree in Media Communication with two minors in Women's Studies and Latino and Latin American Studies. "Everyone smiles when Diana's name comes up," said one of her recommenders, "because she is such a positive influence on other students, energizing them to be the best they can be." Lisa Baker, a master's student in Jazz Studies and Guitar Performance, received a Mothers Memorial Scholarship honorable mention.
Click here if you would like to contribute to the Austin Sawicki Memorial Scholarship and/or the Mothers Memorial Scholarship, or call 815-753-1038 for more information. (See "Accomplishments" for more on Cortney Barko, Diana Juarez and Amanda Cox.)
Over two thousand people participated in events and activities during this year’s Women’s History Month celebration at NIU. For the sixth year in a row, the month opened with “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” Sticker Day, an annual event that offers a fun way for students, staff, faculty and administrators to engage in dialogue about what it means to be a feminist. This year, we were thrilled to open the event to co-sponsorship for the first time, and with the help of the Women’s Resource Center, Division of Art Education, Departments of Political Science & Foreign Languages & Literature, University Library’s Rare Books & Special Collections, Women’s Rights Alliance, and Women’s & Gender Studies Graduate Student Organization, we were able to distribute over 1000 stickers. We hosted two graduate colloquium speakers, Channy Lyons and Professor Frances Aparicio, whose talks were very well attended. Lyons’s lecture introduced attendees to the Illinois Women Artists Project, an online database that focuses on Illinois women artists from 1840-1940, while her hands-on seminar offered participants an opportunity to engage in online research on historical women artists. Dr. Aparicio’s presentations focused on the gendered nature of salsa dancing in Chicago, as well as representations of U.S. Latinas in the media.
Other items of note from this year's calendar include a panel of presentations by NIU faculty in History, Music, Black Studies and Women’s Studies; a one-woman play about Bessica Medlar Raiche, the first woman in the U.S. to fly an airplane solo; and a talk about women documentarians by visiting assistant professor of Communication Heather McInstosh. Participants enjoyed learning how to knit, embroider and create bead animals at three "Crafty Women" workshops held throughout the month. Women's Studies minor Alex Springer organized a talk by trans-activist Julia Serano. Finally, one of the highlights of the month was our inaugural alumnae panel on March 29th, when three outstanding NIU alums—Stephanie Blanton, Brooke Radford and Monica Avina—shared the impact of their education in Women's Studies on their current lives and careers.
Overall, this year's celebration provided numerous opportunities for people to explore the ways that women's voices and visions have contributed to history and contemporary society. We appreciate everyone who presented and attended events. Thank you also to the many sponsors and co-sponsors who made the month's events possible!
Women’s Studies sponsored and co-sponsored a wide variety of events throughout the 2009-2010 academic year. During the fall semester, there were ten events on our calendar, including a “Welcome Back” open house in August; a presentation by Kate Cady during LGBT History Month in October; a presentation about feminist art and a hands-on art activity led by Rebekah Kohli; and a discussion about femininity led by WOMS minor Alex Springer and acting Women’s Studies director Diana Swanson. We were also one of many co-sponsors of an inspiring talk by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu organized by the Latino/a Resource Center. Finally, we closed out the fall semester with our annual Holiday Arts & Crafts Sale, which raised over $2400 for the Women’s Studies Foundation, Austin Sawicki Memorial Scholarship and Mothers Memorial Scholarship funds. Thank you to the many people who contributed items for us to sell and who shopped the sale!
In addition to Women’s History Month events, there were ten events on the spring calendar, including an open house and two job search workshops. In January, Women’s Studies and History professor Amanda Littauer gave a fascinating talk on teen girls’ same-sex desire in the 1950s. We co-sponsored three performances of the Vagina Monologues organized by the Women’s Rights Alliance student organization, which raised $1000 for Safe Passage in DeKalb and V-Day. We also co-sponsored two talks by LGBT Studies Program colloquium speaker Lamonda Horton-Stallings, author of Mutha’ is Half a Word, during LGBT Awareness Month in April. The last event of the year was our inaugural Women’s Studies Honors Day Ceremony and Reception, during which we celebrated the numerous accomplishments of our students and faculty.
We are currently in the process of planning for next year. If you have ideas for speakers, events and/or activities, please share them with us by emailing womenst@niu.edu or stop in Reavis 103.
Thank you to everyone who completed our recent communication survey. We have the results, and it looks like many of you are pleased with the new ways in which we have been communicating information. A large majority of respondents like the weekly emails providing information about program activities and events. Many of you have taken advantage of our Electronic Bulletin Board (eBB), which lists information about on and off-campus events, conferences, calls for papers, as well as internship and volunteer opportunities. We hope those of you have not checked out the eBB will visit http://www.womsebb.blogspot.com/ and follow our board. Our Facebook page now has over 100 friends/fans with more being added each week. Finally, while some people would prefer that we publish our program bulletin monthly, the majority of respondents prefer to receive it less often, with over one-third of respondents preferring to receive the bulletin once per semester. If you did not complete the survey and/or have further thoughts about how we communicate with you, please let us know. You can email womenst@niu.edu, call 753-1038, or stop in Reavis 103 to share your thoughts.
We could not let Alexandria (Alex) Springer leave NIU without turning our spotlight on her. Alex came to NIU in Fall 2007 from Joliet Junior College, where she earned an Associate of Arts degree. In May, she graduated from NIU with a B.A. in Sociology, minors in Women’s Studies and International Studies, and an LGBT Studies certificate. After graduation, she plans to “take a few years off to gain relevant experience from a non-profit or U.S. service program, like Americorps” before pursuing a Master’s degree in Gender Studies.
Since joining NIU, Alex has been an extremely active and engaged student. During the 2009-2010 academic year, she was the undergraduate student representative on the Women’s Studies Program’s Executive Committee as well as a UNIV Peer Instructor for NIU First Year Experience and Orientation. In spring 2009, she completed training to be a LGBT Ally. She has also volunteered for a variety of campus and community organizations, including Safe Passage, Hope Haven of DeKalb County, and the NIU Women’s Resource Center. After volunteering for three months, she was hired by the Women’s Resource Center, where she helped develop and organize a range of educational outreach programs. Her programming topics ranged from women and tattoos, faith and feminism, and feminist art to reproductive rights and medicalized childbirth. In spring 2010, she organized a well-attended talk by biologist and trans-activist Julia Serano. In addition to her volunteer and paid activities, Alex also completed a campus organizer internship with Planned Parenthood in 2009. Then, based on her internship experience, she established Advocates for Choice, a student organization dedicated to fighting for women’s rights to accurate sex education and reproductive health access.
Alex’s interest in Women’s Studies began when she took a Sociology class entitled “Sex, Gender and Power” at Joliet Junior College and her interest has continued to grow since joining NIU. Women’s Studies is valuable, says Alex, because “few other areas of study are inclusive enough to equally consider the intersecting roles of sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, ableism and ageism.” She believes “everyone should take advantage of Women’s Studies courses and activities, because they present opportunities that meaningfully challenge and change the way you think about and interact with the world.”
Upon leaving NIU, Alex offers this excellent advice for other students: “Pursue that which invokes passion and routinely presents new challenges. Take classes that disrupt what you think you know about people and the world. Join or start a student organization. Become an active member of the NIU community,” and last but certainly not least, “remember to have fun along the way!” We hope Alex has fun as she embarks on a new chapter in her life!
Debbie Smith-Shank joined NIU as a professor of Art Education in 1994 and has been the head of the Art Education division since 2004. She became a Women's Studies faculty associate the same year she joined NIU, and, since 2007, she has also been a faculty associate of the LGBT Studies Program. She received her Ph.D. in Art Education/Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in semiotics (1992); her Master's in Art Education (1976); and her Bachelor's degree in Art Education (1972)—all from the Indiana University-Bloomington.
Professor Smith-Shank has taught a wide variety of courses at NIU, including numerous courses related to Women’s Studies and LGBT Studies. At the graduate level, she has taught such courses as a seminar on women artists and feminist criticism; LGBT Issues in Art; Art for Special Needs Populations; and African American Women Artists from Slavery to the Present. At the undergraduate level, courses she has taught have included Women Across Cultures and Centuries (WOMS 235); Feminist Aesthetics and Feminist Art Criticism; Introduction to Art Education; and Applications of Aesthetics, Art History, and Criticism in Art Education.
Smith-Shank first became interested in Women’s Studies when she was about 19 years old, after hearing Gloria Steinem talk, and she has been “totally immersed in women’s issues since that time.” She believes that Women’s Studies provides students with opportunities to think about “ways patriarchy privileges one way of thinking and being.” She is particularly interested in advocacy for women and feminist visual culture, including issues related to “how culture influences not only our desires, but our behavior and identity.”
Smith-Shank’s research and art are “informed by semiotics,” the study of signs and symbols in culture, along with her own curiosity. According to Smith-Shank, “Anything can be a sign…but signs are not stagnant and the meanings we attribute to them change over time as contexts and our own understandings change.” Her research has considered both “sophisticated and commodified images, such as Grateful Dead art(ifacts); visual memories/worlds of old women and gifted children; the internet; yard art; community celebrations; prehistoric and outsider artists; as well as (her)own feminist aesthetics and artwork juxtaposed with a patriarchal modernist education.” Her investigations have resulted in many publications, including “"What's Your Sign? Searching for the Semiotic Self,” in Semiotics and Visual Culture: Sights, Signs, and Significance (NAEA, 2004), a book which she also edited; “Semiotic pedagogy and visual culture curriculum” in Semiotics, Education, Experience (Sense Publishers, forthcoming); and “Visual culture and issues-based curricula” in Australian Art Education 31.1. Smith-Shank is also founder and co-editor of the Visual Culture & Gender peer-reviewed international multi-media online journal (www.emitto.net/visualculturegender).
Smith-Shank is an extremely accomplished and respected scholar who has received a variety of awards and accolades, including grants from the National Art Education Association and the NIU Graduate School, a Distinguished Service in the Profession of Art Education award from the Illinois Art Education Association, a Women’s Caucus award from the National Art Education Association, and a Road Scholar award from the Illinois Humanities Council. This year, she was named Fellow of the National Art Education Association and she was also elected Vice President of the International Society for Education through Art (a UNESCO organization). Finally, she is an elected member of the Council for Policy Studies in Art Education.
In August, Smith-Shank will retire from NIU, and she has accepted a position at Ohio State University beginning fall 2010. “NIU has my heart,” she says, “but I am ready for a new challenge rather than the pasture.” We are grateful to Debbie for her countless contributions to and support of the Women’s Studies Program over the years. We will miss her, and we wish her the very best in all her future endeavors!
We are pleased to recognize the following "Wonders of Women's Studies" for all their achievements this year!
The following students held leadership roles in an organization this year:
• Cortney Barko (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): co-founder of the Women’s & Gender Studies Graduate Student Association
• Gabrielle Brown (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Psychology): secretary of the Night Crawlers Community Student Organization.
• Jessica Cordero (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Family & Child Studies/ English minor): president of the Alpha Sigma Omega Latina Sorority.
• Kimiko Dunbar (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Family, Consumer & Nutrition Sciences): president of the NIU Women’s Lacrosse Club.
• Adrienne Holloway (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in Political Science): chair of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
• Diana Juarez (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Communication/Latino & Latin American Studies minor): president of the Women’s Rights Alliance.
• Jocelyn Lombardozzi (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Accountancy): vice president of Programming for the Student Accountancy Society.
• Lettie Morgan (Women’s Studies minor/ undergraduate major in Political Science): vice president of Advocates for Choice.
• Justeen Pelt (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in English): secretary of the Northern Black Choir.
• Lisa Roth (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Communication): president of NIU Forensics Student Organization.
• Heather Samariniotis (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in Sport Management): co-founded and is co-president of the Grad Sport Society.
• Alex Springer (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Sociology): founding president of Advocates for Choice.
• Kathleen Turner (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): co-founded the Women’s & Gender Studies Graduate Student Association. The following students were active members in an organization:
• Megan Armstrong (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in FCNS): completed training and is now a speaker for the Straight Talk Speakers Bureau with the LGBT Resource Center; is a member of PRISM.
• Chris Blankenship (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): member of the Responsible Conduct of Scholarship Committee.
• Mack Lewis (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Sociology): completed training and is now a speaker for the Straight Talk Speakers Bureau with the LGBT Resource Center; was a member of PRISM.
• Lettie Morgan (Women’s Studies minor/ undergraduate major in Political Science): appointed to the national student advisory board for the American Association of University Women.
• Katie Seelinger (Women’s Studies minor/ undergraduate major in Biology): member of the NIU Women’s Rights Alliance.
• Alex Springer (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Sociology): member of the NIU Women’s Rights Alliance.
• Megan Woiwode (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Political Science): student member of the NIU Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
These students organized campus and/or community events:
• Cortney Barko (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/Graduate major in English): co-organized the “Tips for the Academic Job Search” panel in February 2010.
• Megan Armstrong (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in FCNS): helped organize "Talk to Me" at the Women's Resource Center in February 2010.
• Diana Juarez (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Communication/Latino & Latin American Studies minor): organized the Take Back the Night March in October 2009, the Vagina Seminars in March 2010, and the Vagina Monologues in April 2010.
• Heather Samariniotis (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/Graduate major in Sport Management): co-organized the “5K the Night Away” race in April 2010.
• Alex Springer (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Sociology): organized the “Repro Rights Movie Night” in September 2009 at the Women’s Resource Center (WRC); “The Personal is Political: Feminist Disruptions in Art” presentation for the WRC in October 2009; the “Taking it Back: an Attempt to Revalue Femininity” discussion for the WRC in November 2009; and Julia Serano's "Rethinking Sexualization" talk in March 2010.
• Kathleen Turner (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): organized the “Crafty Women” Workshops in March 2010; co-organized the “Tips for the Academic Job Search” panel in February 2010.
These students presented at and/or participated in campus and/or community events:
• Megan Armstrong (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in FCNS): presented "Talk Dirty to Me" at the Women's Resource Center in February 2010; she was also a presenter at the Vagina Seminars in March 2010.
• Chris Blankenship (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Ph.D. major in English): presented "Creativity: Student Writing Showcase" at NIU’s 3rd Annual Assessment Expo in March 2010.
• Amanda Cox (Women’s Studies minor/ Undergraduate Major in Family, Consumer & Nutrition Sciences): participated in the Intergenerational Conversation at Oak Crest Retirement Community in November 2009.
• Sarah Girdzius (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in photography): participated in the Women’s Intergenerational Conversation at Oak Crest Retirement Community in November 2009.
• Diana Juarez (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Communication/Latino & Latin American Studies minor): presented at the Vagina Seminars in March 2010.
• Jennifer LeBaron (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate student in Political Science): stage manager for the Vagina Monologues performed in April 2010.
• Katie Seelinger (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Biology): participated in the Vagina Monologues.
• Alex Springer (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Sociology): presented at the Vagina Seminars in March 2010.
• Megan Woiwode (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Political Science): cast member of the Vagina Monologues.
• Alicia Wozny (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Art History): participated in the Women’s Intergenerational Conversation at Oak Crest Retirement Community in November 2009.
The following students presented at professional conferences/presentations:
• Chris Blankenship (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): co-organized the 2010 MCLLM Conference in April 2010
• Heather Brown (Women’s Studies Graduate Certificate/ Graduate major in Adult & Higher Education): presented "Won't Someone Think of the Children?: Politicized Frameworks in Research on Fat Children's Academic Achievement," was accepted to the Fat Studies area for the Popular/American Culture Association's National Conference in St. Louis, Spring 2010.
• Kyle Christensen (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): presented "'Sextext': A Kinky Controversy" at the 2010 MCLLM Conference.
• Bonnie Miller (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): co-organized the 2010 MCLLM Conference in April 2010.
• Katarzyna Przychodzen (Women’s Studies graduate major in communication/Graduate major in Communication): presented "Love and the Struggle: How an Early Feminist Negotiated the Rhetoric of Romantic Love During the Suffrage Movement" and "The Cleaning Lady and the Construction Worker: Self-Reported Identity Formation of One Polish-American Immigrant Living in Chicago" at the 2010 MCLLM Conference.
• Amber Rzepka (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): presented "Genre Determination: Novel or Short Story Cycle" at the 2010 MCLLM Conference.
• Lise Schlosser (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): will present “Reflections on the wor(l)d(s) of Blogging” Computers and Writing 2010: ‘Virtual Worlds’” at Purdue University in May 2010. She also presented the following papers: “‘The first that ever wrote this way’: Margaret Cavendish and her Female Predecessors” at the Midwest Conference on Language, Literature and Media (MCLLM) in April; “And still take care of the baby: Composing women online” at the 2010 Graduate Student Research Association Conference on Human Development, Education, and Learning in March 2010; “‘Natures House’: Margaret Cavendish and the Country House Poem Tradition” at the New College Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Studies in Sarasota, FL in March 2010; “Nature as Patron in Margaret Cavendish’s Poems and Fancies” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Conference in Language and Literature (MADLIT) in March 2010; “Margaret Cavendish gives Mother Nature a House of her Own” at the Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies 28th Annual Graduate Student Conference in January 2010; “Food for Thought: Margaret Cavendish Cooks the Books” at the 51st Annual Convention of the Midwest Modern Language Association in November 2009; and “‘We would, and we would not’: Teaching Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure in the Composition Classroom” at the Shakespeare Connects: A Conference for Teachers, Scholars, and Performers of Shakespeare, at Grand Valley State University in October 2009.
• Alisa Smith-Riel (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/Graduate major in English): presented "Italian-Americans: More Than Gangsters or the Corleone's Quest for Legitimacy" at the 2010 MCLLM Conference
• Alisa Von Hagel (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in Political Science): presented the following conference presentations: “Gender Difference and Group Dynamics: The Impact of Women’s Social Networks in the United States Congress” and “Norm Breakers in Congress: Who They Are and What Difference They Make,” coauthored with Scot Schraufnagel and Lawrence Dodd, presented at the Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago, IL on April 22-25, 2010; “A Reexamination of St. Teresa’s Interior Castle: An Alternative to the Traditional Religious Discourse,” presented at the Women and Gender Conference in River Forest, IL on March 20, 2010; “Do Gender Quotas Work? An Exploratory Study of Gender Quotas and Political Efficacy in Sub-Saharan Africa,” coauthored with Andrea Mathie, presented at the National Women’s Studies Association Conference in Atlanta, GA on November 12-15, 2009; “International Family Planning Funding: Legislative Influence and Executive Constraints in the U.S. Policy Process,” presented at the Illinois Political Science Association Conference in Chicago, IL on November 7, 2009. Finally, she also presented an invited lecture, “Gender Quotas and Political Efficacy: Revisiting Symbolic Representation in sub-Saharan Africa,” at Concordia University in River Forest, IL on February 15, 2010.
The students below had the following publications this year:
• Nicole Arteaga, “A Cisgender Woman’s Reflections on Privilege," NIU Women's Studies Program Newsletter, 2009 Sep.-Oct. (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in History)
• Elizabeth Bowman, "Gender Memory in the Adaptation History of The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy: Webster, Theobald, Figgis," Conference Proceedings for the Athens Institute for Education and Research, forthcoming. (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English)
• Lettie Morgan has published a series of blogs on the American Association of University Women’s blog (http://blog-aauw.org).
• Candis Nikolic, "Viva Evita! Cry the Peronistas…,” NIU Women’s Studies Program Newsletter, 2009 Nov.-Dec. (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Family, Consumer & Nutrition Sciences)
The following students completed study abroad and/or internship programs:
• Nicole Arteaga (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in History): year-long study abroad program in England.
• Megan Woiwode (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Political Science): one of the inaugural group of interns to be selected for a Planned Parenthood statewide political internship, which helped a candidate with primary season campaign duties.
Congratulations to the following students who received honors and/or awards this year:
• Elizabeth Bowman (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): Honorable Mention in the Arnold Fox Essay Contest for her essay titled "The Politics of Translation: Montagu and Pope Approach the Turkish Love Lyric." Passed her doctoral candidacy exams in British Literature from 1500-1600 and British Literature from 1600-1660 with distinction.
• Rosanna D'Orazio (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in English): Outstanding Women Students Award from NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
• Diana Juarez (Women’s Studies minor/ Undergraduate major in Communication/ Latino & Latin American Studies minor): LGBT Ally Award for her support of the LGBT community; Diversity & Equity Award for her work on the Vagina Seminars in March.
• Bonnie Miller (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in English): First place in the Arnold Fox Essay Contest for her essay titled "Toxic Ideologies: Displaced Agency and Exploitative Control in Wise Blood."
• Lettie Morgan (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Political Science): Junior Leadership award from Student Involvement & Leadership Development.
• Lisa Roth (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Communication): Outstanding Women Students Award from NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
• Alex Springer (Women’s Studies minor/ Undergraduate major in Sociology): Applauding Excellence Award from the Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Office; Outstanding Women Students Award from NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
• Alisa Von Hagel (Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in Political Science): 2010 Lawrence Finkelstein Graduate Teacher of the Year Award from the Department of Political Science.
• Amanda Walde (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Journalism): Outstanding Women Students Award from NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
Congratulations to the following Women's Studies students who graduated this year:
• Rosanna D’Orazio (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in English): May 2010.
• Cindy Danzell (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in English): December 2009.
• Cortney Gonsowski (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in English): May 2010.
• Nicole Hoxsey (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Textiles, Apparel and Merchandising): December 2009.
• Alexandra Jilka (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Sociology): May 2010. She has been accepted to NIU’s graduate program in Sociology.
• Hillary Kowalski (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Communication): December 2009.
• Kelly Krupa (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Studio Art-Design): May 2010.
• Christine Kuhn (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Psychology): May 2010.
• Jen LeBaron (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Political Science): May 2010. She has been hired by Safe Passage, DeKalb’s domestic violence agency.
• Rhiannon Luft (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Speech-Language Pathology-Audiology): May 2010.
• Rachel McDowell (Women’s Studies minor; English minor/Undergraduate major in Psychology): May 2010.
• Amanda Naydenoff (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in History): May 2010. She has been accepted to NIU’s graduate program in History and will be a Women’s Studies Graduate Teaching Assistant in 2010-2011.
• Sarah Schleser (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Health Education): December 2009.
• Alex Springer (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in Sociology): May 2010.
• Lauren Stawarz (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in English): December 2009.
• Laura Wayman (Women’s Studies minor/Undergraduate major in English): December 2009.
The following Women's Studies Faculty Associates and Affiliates presented at and/or participated in campus and/or community events:
• Barbara Burrell (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Professor of Political Science): panelist on the “Tips for the Academic Job Search” panel in February 2010.
• Kate Cady (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Assistant Professor of Communication): presented “‘Ann and Myself’: Rhetoric, Sexuality, and Silences at Lowell” in October 2009.
• Reva Freedman (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Associate Professor of Computer Science): panelist on the “Tips for the Academic Job Search” panel in February 2010.
• Val Garver (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Assistant Professor of History): presented on the “Women’s Voices, Women’s Visions in History” panel in March 2010.
• Laverne Gyant (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Director of the Center for Black Studies): presented on the "Women's Voices, Women's Visions in History" during Women's History Month in March 2010.
• Beatrix Hoffman (Women’s Studies Faculty Affiliate/Chair of the Department of History): panelist on the “Tips for the Academic Job Search” panel in February 2010.
• Rebekah Kohli (Women’s Studies alum/Women’s Studies Program Coordinator): presented “The Personal is Political: Feminist Disruptions in Art” in October 2009.
• Amanda Littauer (Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and History): presented "She Prefers Girls: Making Sense of Teen Girls’ Same-Sex Desire in the 1950s" as part of the Women's Studies Faculty Associates Lecture Series in January 2010; panelist on the “Tips for the Academic Job Search” panel in February 2010.
• Diana Swanson (Acting Director of Women’s Studies/Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and English): presenter at the “Femiphobia? How Our Culture Fears Femininity” event in November 2009; panelist on the “Tips for the Academic Job Search” panel in February 2010.
The following Women's Studies Faculty Associates and Affiliates presented at professional conferences and/or gave professional presentations:
• Gulsat Aygen (Women’s Studies Faculty Affiliate/Associate Professor of English): presented on the "Professionalizing Panel: Interdisciplinary Publishing" at the 2010 MCLLM Conference.
• Sinclair Bell (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Assistant Professor of Art History): presented "Fans and Fame in the Roman Circus" at Monmouth College in April 2010.
• Louise Ciallella (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Associate Professor of Foreign Languages & Literature): presented "Screen princesses: projection of desires for change in gender roles in fin-d-siecle Spain" at the Mid-America Conference on Hispanic Literature, University of Kansas in August 2009.
• Laverne Gyant (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Director of the Center for Black Studies): presented on the "Professionalizing Panel: Interdisciplinary Publishing" at the 2010 MCLLM Conference.
• Debbie Smith-Shank (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Professor of Art Education): participated in the world summit of the International Society for Education Through Art (a UNESCO organization) in Fall 2009 in Newcastle, UK
• Diana Swanson (Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and English/ Acting Director of Women’s Studies): Will present "Woolf and Ecofeminism," the concluding keynote of the International Conference on Virginia Woolf in June.
• Corrine M. Wickens (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Assistant Professor of Literacy Education): presented "Medial vowels, Freudian slips, and Coded language: Disrupting Normative Assumptions about Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary LGBT Young Adult Literature" at the 2010 MCLLM Conference.
The Faculty Associates and Faculty Affiliates below had the following publications this year:
• Sinclair Bell (and Teresa Ramsby), eds., Free At Last! The Impact of Freed Slaves on the Roman Empire, forthcoming from Duckworth Press. (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Assistant Professor of Art History)
• Georgia Brown (and Reva Freedman), "Toward Female-Friendly Gen Ed Computer Science," Academic Exchange Quarterly, 2009. (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Instructor of Computer Science)
• Cassandra Crawford, "The inarticulacy/indescribability of pain: A rejoinder to Mowat," in Social Science Medicine (69.5), Sep. 2009. (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Assistant Professor of Sociology)
• Mayra Daniel, Spanish reading inventory, Kendall Hunt, 2010. (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Associate Professor of Literacy Education)
• Kerry Ferris (and Scott Harris), Stargazing: Celebrity, Fame and Social Interaction, Routledge, forthcoming in 2010. (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Assistant Professor of Sociology)
• Reva Freedman (and Georgia Brown), "Toward Female-Friendly Gen Ed Computer Science," Academic Exchange Quarterly, 2009. (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Associate Professor of Computer Science)
• Val Garver, Women and Aristocratic Culture in the Carolingian World, Cornell University Press, Nov. 2009; "Weaving Words in Silk: Women and Inscribed Bands in the Carolingian World," in Medieval Clothing and Textiles, April 2010. (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Assistant Professor of History)
• Amy Levin (and Phoebe Stein Davis), “‘Good Readers Make Good Doctors’: Community Readings and the Health of the Community,” in PMLA (125.2), March 2010. (Professor of Women’s Studies & English/ Acting Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences)
• Andrea Radasanu, ed., The Pious Sex: Women and Religion in the History of Political Thought, Lexington Books, March 2010; "Flaubert: Eros and Politics after Rousseau,” in The Pious Sex: Women and Religion in the History of Political Thought. (Women’s Studies Faculty Affiliate/Assistant Professor of History)
• Diana Swanson, "Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism: Leonard Woolf, M.W. Swanson, and the Role of Civil Bureaucracy," in Virginia Woolf: Art, Education, Internationalism--Selected Papers from the 17th Annual Conference on Virginia Woolf, edited by Diana Royer and Madelyn Detloff, Fall 2009. (Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and English/Acting Director of Women’s Studies)
Congratulations to Faculty Associates and Faculty Affiliates who received the following honors and/or awards this year:
• Jill Dunlap (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Director of the Women’s Resource Center/ Women’s Studies graduate certificate/ Graduate major in Political Science): Outstanding Mentor Award from NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.
• Rebecca Hannagan (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Assistant Professor of Political Science): Had two students recognized: Stella Fuentes received the 2010 Capstone Excellence Award from the Honors Program for her capstone project, "The Tone of Media Coverage and How It Affects the Voters' Assessments on Political Candidates, directed by Rebecca Hannagan; Megan Geyer received a USOAR Grant for her project, "Reactions to Politicians' Involuntary Signals of Contempt," directed by Hannagan.
• Amy Levin (Professor of Women’s Studies & English/ Acting Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences): Cynthia Peterson Article of the Year Award from the Journal of College Reading and Learning for "Women in calculus: The effects of a supportive setting," which she coauthored with Diana Steele, Richard Blecksmith, & Jill Shahverdian.
Finally, congratulations to the following Faculty Associates and Faculty Affiliates who received promotions and/or are retiring:
• Mayra Daniel (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Associate Professor of Literacy Education): Received tenure, August 2009.
• Debbie Smith-Shank (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/ Professor of Art Education): Retires at the end of the Spring 2010 semester.
• Diane Pospisil-Kinney (Women’s Studies Faculty Associate/Counselor with Counseling & Student Development): Retires at the end of the Spring 2010 semester.
We invite submissions for future bulletins. If you have information, please email womenst@niu.edu with subject heading “Bulletin.” You may also call 753-1044.