|
WGSS MA students Breya Johnson and Shontrice Barnes recently participated in this year's Diversity Summit, under the theme "Be Bold," here at the George Washington University! Breya spoke on a panel with Dr. Jameta Barlow and fellow student Hannah Edwards on the topic, "Decolonizing the GWU Experience: Reflections from Black Undergraduate & Graduate Students, Alumnae(i) and Faculty." Johnson gave a very powerful account of racialized violence that students of color, particularly Black students, often experience and questioned the integrity of diversity management practices of universities such as her own.
Shontrice Barnes presented her research on "Bootylicious: The Reclamation of Black Femininity and Sexuality," which analyzed body politics and the ways in which black feminist theory aids in understanding how Black women's experiences exist within systems of oppression including race, gender, and social class. When asked what motivated her to further understand this topic, Barnes mentioned how an essay about Megan Thee Stallion for a class inspired her to think about how Black women think about their bodies.
|
|
|
|
Pictured: WGSS MA Student in Public Policy, Breya Johnson
|
|
Pictured:
WGSS MA Student in Public Policy, Shontrice Barnes
|
|
Image of the entrance to the "Be Bold" Diversity Summit
|
|
The WGSS Alumni Speaker Series continues this Fall with Susan Markham, partner at Smash Strategies, Trey Johnston, the Associate Director at Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute, and Gina Chirillo, Senior Program Officer for Gender, International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Join us for another engaging dialogue and networking opportunity!
The WGSS Alumni Speaker Series showcases and celebrate the many accomplishments and diverse paths our alumni have taken, through a dialogue on challenges and opportunities in working toward change on issues related to women, gender, and sexuality, here in the United States, and around the world. The event will be held on
Friday, November 22
, at 3:00 - 5:00 PM in the School of Media and Public Affairs Building Room 309. Learn more and RSVP
here
.
|
|
Assistant Professor Dr. Eiko Strader (also Assistant Professor of Public Policy and of Sociology) is currently working on building a database summarizing state-level work-family policies in the U.S., which she eventually hopes to use to examine cross-state differences in the motherhood wage penalty and/or female labor force participation pattern. Additionally, she is completing a cross-country comparison of gender- and sexuality-based harassment and violence against LGBTQ individuals across the E.U., as well as a cross-country comparison of gender- and sexuality-based earning differentials among LGBTQ individuals across the E.U. In terms of her research concerning the military, Professor Strader is analyzing early separations in the U.S. military due to family obligations, finding that not just mothers but men who joined with minor dependents are also departing prematurely from the military due to marriage and fatherhood.
This past summer, Professor Strader presented at the American Sociological Association annual conference on the panel devoted to intersectional research methods, and will present a paper at the Population Association of America annual conference here in D.C. next April.
|
|
Affiliated WGSS faculty Dr. Jameta Barlow (Assistant Professor, UWP), who also recently presented her compelling research at our inaugural Brown Bag seminar, delivered a very insightful and moving presentation titled "Decolonizing the GWU Experience: Reflections from Black Undergraduate and Graduate Students Alumane(i) and Faculty" along with students Breya Johnson and Hannah Edwards at this year's Diversity Summit. Dr. Barlow discussed "the ways in which systems of oppression, namely colonialism and racism have constructed our institutions of higher education." She also shared how ideologies of settler colonialism in our education and health care systems, resulting in a dearth of citations crediting Black womanist and feminist scholars, and disparities in treatment such as the administering of pain medication to Black persons, particularly women and babies.
|
|
Spring 2020 Courses on Gender
|
|
WGSS
3170
: Black Women & Social Change
(3 Credits; CRN 77928)
Professor Cecilia Shelton
In this course, students will study popular representations of Black women and work toward critical and nuanced reflections and commentaries on how their contributions are shaping public discourse around social issues and social movements. Students will consider the work of popular figures from across public spaces such as Megan Thee Stallion, Stacey Abrams, Lena Waithe, Maxine Waters, Cardi B, Brittney Cooper, and others to listen and learn.
|
|
WGSS
3170
: Sociology of Sex & Gender
(3 Credits; CRN 75195)
Professor Cindy Deitch
The course examines the consideration of gender and sex as organizing principles of social relations. Analysis of the dynamics of inequality in such areas as families, the workforce, culture and mass media, politics, sexual relationships, law medicine, religion, and education.
|
|
WGSS
3170
: Introduction to Critical Theory
(3 Credits; CRN 77926)
Professor Alexa Alice Joubin
Among the theories students will examine, this course will consider the following theories that are directly related to WGSS: feminism, ecofeminism, biopolitics,postcolonialism, race and gender: intersections, gender theories, queer
theories, sexuality, and transgender theories.
|
WGSS
3170
: Women Writers in Spain/Latin America
(3 Credits; CRN 77925)
Professor Manuel Cuellar
This course examines works of well-established and more recent women writers in Spain and Latin America discussed in relation to feminist principles of criticism.
|
|
WGSS
3170
W
: Race, Gender, & Shakespeare
(3 Credits; CRN 76861)
Professor Alexa Alice Joubin
This course is a close study of six or seven plays, with emphasis on the texts in history and ideology. Attention is also given to current critical practices (feminist, materialist, psychoanalytic), modern performance practice, and Shakespeare as a cultural institution.
|
WGSS
3170
: Black Women Writers in the 21st Century
(3 Credits; CRN 77122)
Professor Jennifer James
|
|
WGSS 6225: Contemporary Feminist Theory
(3 Credits: CRN
77929
)
Professor Kavita Daiya
This course explores key works of feminist theory in an international context, with attention to race and ethnicity, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It focalizes its exploration of feminist theory through three organizing rubrics: The Classics; Citizenship; and Migration and Nationalism. We discuss key essays by feminists across the disciplines that have been transformative for the analysis of citizenship, nationality, and migration through race, gender, sexuality, indigeneity, and religion.
|
|
WGSS 6270: Gender and Women's Historical Global Perspective
(3 Credits; CRN 77927)
Professor Katrin Schultheiss
This graduate-level class explores recent scholarly trends in the study of gender and women’s history in a wide range of geographical regions and chronological periods. Readings cover theories of gender and intersectionality as applied to history, as well as such topics as the role of gender in empire, war, labor, cultural practice, and reproductive politics. All students will write a substantial research or historiographical paper on a gender-related topic of their own choosing.
|
|
WGSS 6270: Queering Philosophy
(3 Credits: CRN 78085)
Professor Gail Weiss
An examination of how queer theory, which emerged as a field in its own right in the early 1990s, has posed significant challenges to traditional, taken-for-granted understandings of time, space, the body, race, sexuality, normality, culture, violence, and disability.
|
IAFF 6102: Global Gender Policy
(3 credits, CRN 75620)
Professor Shirley Graham
An interdisciplinary and comparative approach to examination of policies targeted at achieving gender equality and of the costs of policies that are not gender-specific. Topics include poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, social justice, global and personal security, and prevention of and responses to extreme calamities and crises. How global gender policies are rationalized, adopted, implemented, and assessed. Focus on “what works” and why it works; gaps that remain in achieving global gender equality.
|
|
IAFF 6502: Feminist Research Methods in Post Conflict Settings
(1 Credit; CRN: 78012)
Professor Jessica Smith
This skills course will focus on research methods that can be applied to post-conflict development and give students insight into how feminist praxis can (and should) inform approaches to post-conflict intervention. Through experience, students will be introduced to practical research tools including Photovoice and Everyday Peace Indicators, which can be incorporated into program design and evaluation.
|
WGSS 6270: Global Islamic Feminisms
(3 Credits; CRN 75200)
Professor Kelly Pemberton
|
|
Upcoming GW Events on Gender
|
|
The Global Women's Institute will be hosting GWI Student Brown Bag Informal, an informational session on their work on violence against women and girls in humanitarian settings, on
November 13th
from 12:00 - 1:00 PM in the GWI Office. Learn about the restructuring of self-identity and socio-cultural norms as depicted in a film screening of Huang Hui-Chen's "Small Talk"(日常對話). Challenging the celluloid ceiling, a record number of Taiwanese women have taken up directorial roles and developed authorial voices through documentary. Using the camera and first-person narration, these women filmmakers have refashioned self-identities and made crucial social interventions. Hui-chen Huang is a prime example. Through the process of making Small Talk, Huang comes to terms with her mother's non-conforming gender and sexual identities, lays bare society's silencing of queer lives, and achieves greater self-acceptance as the offspring of a dysfunctional marriage. Following the film screening, a seminar will be given by Professor Tze-lan Sang of Michigan State University.
Please RSVP to the event
here
.
|
|
The Global Women's Institute will be hosting GWI Student Brown Bag Informal, an informational session on their work on violence against women and girls in humanitarian settings, on
November 13th
from 12:00 - 1:00 PM in the GWI Office.
Have a question about GWI's research in relation to this area of focus or interested in a career in this field? Stop by, bring their lunch and a friend for a more in depth conversation about our work! The session will be hosted by GWI Research Scientist, Alina Potts.
|
|
Join GEIA for a discussion on Sports Diplomacy and Gender with speaker Ms.
Joanna Lohman
(
sports diplomat and LGBT rights advocate)
and Ms. Nora Summerville (PeacePlayers International) on
Wednesday, November 15th.
Ms. Joanna Lohman played with the U.S. National Women’s Soccer Team (2000-2007) and for the Washington Spirit (2015-2019) in the National Women’s Soccer League. Joanna leads programs in less developed nations around the world that promote gender equality, conflict resolution, cultural understanding, and economic development in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State.
Light lunch will be provided. For more information and to RSVP, click
here
.
|
|
Please join the GW Department of Philosophy for our 2019 Sophia Endowed Lecture presented by Professor Robin Dembroff
on November 15th!
Decades of feminist theory have approached the question 'what is gender?' with an eye to gender as the system of patriarchy. Typically, accounts of patriarchy describe it as a static system in which males are dominant and females are subordinated. Professor Dembroff argues that this view fails to capture the dynamic, context-sensitive, and intersectional nature of patriarchy, and develops an alternative approach. On the professor's proposed account, patriarchy is not a system of male dominance, but rather, of "real men" dominance, where "real men" are persons who sufficiently exemplify features believed, in a given context, to be "natural" for men.
|
|
Join the GW WOC's "Women of Color in the Workplace Panel" on
Monday, November 18th fr
om 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM at Gelman B02 (lower level).
Hear from three women of color professionals, across different fields and from varied backgrounds, as they share their unique experiences, challenges, and advice for young women of color who are starting out in a professional setting. Hear their experience with diversity, inclusion, and equity in workplace settings and their advice on how to navigate the professional world and beyond as a woman of color!
|
|
On Tuesday,
November 19th
from 5:00-7:00 PM in Monroe Hall 351 come learn about global sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) policy and action. This student-led initiative will discuss U.S. foreign policy in relation to SRHR issues in the Global South as well as ways to get involved in the fight for comprehensive and accessible sexual and reproductive healthcare for all. Food will be provided.
This teach in is co-sponsored by the International Youth Leadership Council of Advocates for Youth and GWU’s Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program.
|
|
J
oin Representative Lauren Underwood for a discussion on "Maternal Health and Disparities: Legislative Policy and Issues" on
Thursday, December 5th
from 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM at the Milken Institute School of Public Health Room B100A.
Congresswoman Underwood serves Illinois’ 14th Congressional District and is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first millennial to represent her community in Congress. Congresswoman Underwood also serves as co-chair of the Black Maternal Health Caucus. Her discussion will focus on legislative and policy initiatives to address the health disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality.
There will be a light breakfast served before the event.
|
|
Upcoming D.C. Events on Gender
|
|
Join GWI, in partnership with the GW Multicultural Student Services Center, GreenGW and Black Millennials for a Flint invite for a screening of "Flint: The Poisoning of an American City."
The film will be followed by a discussion with the film director, David Barnhart as well as a Flint resident, Rev. Greg Timmons, Flint Recovery Coord.
Don't miss the screening on
Thursday, November 14
, from 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM in the Marvin Center Amphitheater (3rd Floor)!
|
|
On
Thursday, November 14th
from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at Kintsugi Cafe in The Eaton Hotel, Events at AW is celebrating the book launch of
The Feminist Handbook: Practical Tools to Resist Sexism and Dismantle the Patriarchy
by Dr. Joanne Bagshaw, professor of psychology and women’s studies, and writer of the popular feminist blog
The Third Wave
for
Psychology Today
. General admission to the event is free and open to the public (
RSVP is required
).
|
|
Women make up 80% of healthcare workers, while 60% of the industry's key decision makers are men.
At the Women in Health Policy seminar held from
November 14th
to
November 16th
, college women from across the U.S. considering a career in health policy will learn how to make an impact in the legislative and political processes, explore hot-button issues on Capitol Hill, and expand their professional networks in Washington, DC and beyond. Experienced women who have broken the glass ceiling on both sides of the aisle are our faculty, and government, nonprofit, and corporate offices across DC are our classrooms.
|
|
On
November 15th
, join SAIS Women Lead for their first annual conference. The conference brings together a distinguished group of experts and policy specialists in the field of peace and security to examine present challenges of persistent gender gaps and explore future opportunities for international development and global stability - through increasing and leveraging women's leadership. This event is open to the public. You should register for this event whether you plan on attending the full programming of the conference or individual panels and speaker events.
GWI Director Mary Ellsberg will be participating in this event.
For more information and to RSVP, click
here
.
|
|
|
|
In honor of the anniversary of the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women, Women’s Freedom Forum is holding its 9th annual Congressional photo exhibition event to address the implications and consequences of violence against women and girls worldwide, and the history and advancements of the movement to stop violence against women. The event, entitled “Uniting Voices Worldwide” will take place in the House of Representatives, on
Wednesday, November 20
.
It is our sincere hope and we all strive that with united efforts and voices, we can end the violence against women everywhere!
Register for this event
here.
|
|
Call For Essay Submissions
|
|
Your voice, your experiences, and your insights are critical for a special issue of
Women, Gender, and Families of Color
focused on the experiences of graduate students of color learning, working, navigating, and matriculating in higher education. We seek a diversity of perspectives from marginalized and minoritized populations in the academy, including students currently in MA and PhD programs as well as recent graduates across disciplines.
Women, Gender, and Families of Color
is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed publication that centers the study of Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian American women, genders, and families. For this special issue, we are interested in reflective essays that explore graduate students of colors’ lives—their struggles and triumphs. Additionally, we invite essays that center the observations and best practices of students of color and articulate authors’ visions for the future of departments, graduate schools, and campus communities.
In soliciting these essays, the journal aims to provide a space for emerging scholars to contemplate the formal structure and informal customs of graduate school as well as the aforementioned factors’ import and impact for graduate students of color as they make their way in the academy. The special issue is an effort to create a dialogue among graduate students of color for sharing ideas, affirmation, and guidance. It is also an endeavor to build a forum for graduate students of color to provide feedback to the journal’s other readers, which include college and university faculty, administrators, and staff persons.
Due to the sensitive nature of these issues, authors may request that their work be published anonymously. Submissions are due
November 30, 2019
to
wgfc@ku.edu.
|
|
The organizers of Bodies of Knowledge 2020 invite proposals for individual conference papers, panels with 3-5 conference papers, informal roundtable panels, creative presentations (e.g., poetry, spoken word, creative nonfiction, photography exhibits, other art installations), and tabling by community organizations. We welcome participation from undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and community organizers. Proposals may address topics raised by the keynoters—trans community organizing, Black transgender feminism, trans childhoods, trans theorizing about gender-markers on legal documents—or may respond more broadly to the theme of re-envisioning transgender lives, cultures, politics, media visibility, and so on.
Bodies of Knowledge is an LGBTQ-themed event founded in 2008 in memory of Sean
Kennedy, a young man who was killed in Greenville in 2007. This biennial event aims to create a safer, more understanding community for everyone by offering high-quality presentations that change the conversation about LGBTQ experience in the Upstate and beyond, thereby improving the climate of the Upstate for its LGBTQ youth and promoting civil and well-informed discussion around sexuality and nonconforming gender identities.
The event will be held in Spartanburg, South Carolina on
April 9 - 10, 2020
and will feature an exciting lineup of keynote speakers will speak to the politics, culture, and health issues surrounding the transgender community.
|
|
The Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Florida (USF) is hosting the 2020 Southeastern Women’s Studies Association Annual Conference in Tampa Bay, Florida. The theme—Embodying Disobedience, Crafting Affinities—figures embodiment and diverse lived experiences as the lifeblood of resistant politics and the livelihood of building alliances across our many differences.
They invite proposals that envision and examine diverse ways of embodying disobedience and crafting affinities
across a wide range of theories, practices, and contexts. All disciplines, methodologies, and styles of presentation are welcome, and from students and scholars at all levels.
Proposal submission is due by
December 6, 2019
. Click
here
for more information.
|
|
Deadline:
November 19, 2019
The CLS is a fully-funded overseas language and cultural immersion summer program (eight to ten weeks) for American undergraduate and graduate students. The program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Students of diverse disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply. You must be a U.S. citizen to be eligible for this opportunity.
|
D
olores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship
Deadline:
January 10, 2020
This fellowship is looking for three George Washingtongraduate students who have financial need and hold promise for achievement and distinction in their chosen fields of study. The fellowship will cover the cost of tuition for the 2020-21 academic year plus an $18,000 annual stipend to be allocated towards room & board. Students in Law, Medicine or in Ph.D. programs are encouraged to apply.
For more information, click
here.
|
Deadline:
February 3, 2020
The U.S. Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship Program provides academic year fellowships to institutions of higher education. The grant to GWU, written by the Institute for Middle East Studies and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, assists graduate (PhD and Master's candidates) and professional students (JD, MPH, DrPH, MBA and MD) at George Washington University to further language study and area/international studies.
Languages:
Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Turkish
For incoming and current graduate students. More information about eligibility, awards, and access to an application can be found
here
.
For current undergraduates and graduate students.
Click
here
for more details.
|
|
Deadline:
February 7, 2020
The Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (MURAP) invites applications for a 10-week summer research fellowship for undergraduate students (rising juniors or seniors) in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. The program will be held from May 20th to July 24th, 2020 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
To apply, students must complete an online application, which will be available starting November 4, 2019. The application deadline is February 7, 2020. For more details about the program, please see the attached announcement and flyer. For more information, click
here
or contact
murap@unc.edu
.
|
|
Job and Internship Opportunities
|
|
|
Various Internships, Vital Voices
Vital Voices is an international women’s leadership non-profit that empowers and champions women leaders changing their communities around the world.
Their interns conduct research, draft proposals and social media content, support office management and budget development, help execute internationally renowned programs and much more. Internships at Vital Voices require a commitment ranging between 20-40 hours per week and are unpaid, but provide academic credit. Learn more
here
.
|
Research Intern, A Wider Circle
In this internship you will develop and hone research skills by collecting and analyzing investigative qualitative and quantitative data, which will inform research team members, staff, volunteers and contributors about issues that relate to poverty. These issues may include federal, state, and local programs and policies that relate to poverty, as well as the state of economic opportunity for low-income Americans.
|
Political Intern, NARAL Pro-Choice America
The Political Intern will support NARAL Pro-Choice America’s Political Department by conducting targeted research including: federal, gubernatorial, statewide, and local candidates and campaigns for the 2018 election cycles.
As the nation’s leading pro-choice advocacy group, NARAL Pro-Choice America is dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans, including abortion access.
Learn more about this opportunity
here
.
|
Outreach and Prevention Intern, FAIR Girls
Join the FAIR Girls team and make a difference in the lives of survivors of human trafficking. As a Outreach and Prevention Intern you will be responsible for spreading the word about human trafficking to professionals, community members, and at-risk youth in Washington, DC.
Learn more about the position
here
.
|
|
|
Equality for Women and Girls Program Associate, The Summit Foundation
The Summit Foundation is a private family foundation founded with a mission to create a work where people can thrive and nature can flourish by making grants in three main program areas: Equality for Women and Girls, Sustainable Cities, and the Mesoamerican Reef.
The Program Associate supports the Program Director in working to meet goals advanced through grant-making activity and through the foundation's direct engagement in appropriate initiatives. Learn more about the position
here
.
|
|
|
Gender Equality Fellowship
|
The Asia Foundation is seeking a dynamic student currently enrolled in a master’s degree program focused on international development or equivalent for an unpaid semester-long fellowship from September to December 2019. The Gender Fellow will support The Asia Foundation’s gender equality and women’s empowerment programmatic areas (women’s political participation, economic empowerment, and rights and security); provide support on gender integration activities across the Foundation’s programs; provide editorial and conceptual feedback on project proposals; and assist with logistics and events.
|
|
|
Join Our LinkedIn Network!
Our brand new WGSS Alumni page is here! Follow this page to receive the latest updates on alumni news, opportunities, and WGSS events! Connect with our alumni, faculty, and current students. Add us to your network today!
|
WGSS "Envisioning Change" Alumni Speakers (Left to Right): Kate Black, Andrea Pagano-Reyes, and Layla Moughari
|
|
Contribute to the WGSS News Digest
|
|
Would you like your event, announcement, or news to be featured in our news digest? There is a process! Please fill out the below form by
Thursdays at 4:00 PM
to have your event featured in our upcoming digests.
Find the form
here
. We look forward to hearing from you!
|
|
The Climate Justice Edition
|
|
Pictured (left to right): Former Irish President Mary Robinson and Author Roxanne Gay
Photo Credit: Getty Images
|
|
Did you know that when women fight for climate justice, they are also fighting for their lives? Less than 20% of the world's land is owned by women yet 80% of climate refugees are women.
"Studies show that when women’s rights are upheld, everyone benefits. For long-lasting climate justice, it is imperative to recognize and change the paradigms of colonization, capitalism and patriarchy that lie at the root of gender inequality and environmental destruction."
Read Teen Vogue's conversation with two prominent feminists — renowned writer Roxanne Gay, author of the best-selling books
Bad Feminist
and
Ayiti
, and Ireland’s first female president, Mary Robinson — on the
intersections between feminism and climate justic
e
here
.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|