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MEN'S
STUDIES PROGRAM
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Northern Illinois University
WOMEN'S STUDIES
BULLETIN
August/September 2007
Table of Contents:
Message from the Director
Events
NIU 2007 Conference
for Young Women
Crafty Women Holiday Sale Preview
Women's History Month Preview
Women's Studies News
You Can Help! Donate to Women's Studies
Wanted: Original Recipes
Women's Studies Library
NWSA Update
Position Announcements
People
Remembering An Amazing Woman: Dr.
Wilma D. Stricklin
Welcome W.S. Teaching Assistants
Alumni News
Meet Three New Faculty Associates
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Greetings! I hope that all our readers had restful and happy summers. I was on sabbatical, shuttling between here and my family’s cottage in Canada, conducting research on the field of Women’s Studies for the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA). I am now completing a report on student learning in our field, along with materials for other women’s and gender studies administrators who need to conduct assessments or academic program reviews. I now have a much better sense of common features of Women’s Studies programs, best practices elsewhere (some of which I hope to implement here), and strategies for finding out more about what and how students learn in Women’s Studies. Many thanks to Diana Swanson for serving as acting director in my absence.
In June, I was thrilled to see NIU so well represented at this year’s National Women’s Studies Association national conference in St. Charles, Illinois. By my count, almost twenty NIU employees and students presented or gave poster sessions at the event!
Students should be aware that several curriculum changes were passed late last year. We added a pre-requisite for WOMS 332, “Growing Up Female,” and made permanent two special topics classes, WOMS 436, “Current Debates: Women and Gender,” and WOMS 525/ART 525, “Museums: Gender, Race, & Class.” We also added a lower level undergraduate special topics number, WOMS 240, to increase offerings for first and second year students. For additional information, please check with our office
Last spring, we also welcomed Jill Dunlap, the new director of our sister unit, the Women’s Resource Center, and Tamara Johnson, her assistant director. We look forward to continuing our long-standing collaborations with the center.
Exciting plans for this year are well under way. Our theme for Women’s History Month will be “Enterprising Women” (more on that below), and the conference for high school girls will be on October 22. In terms of curriculum, we will continue discussing the possibility of a major in Women’s Studies. Last, but not least, I will be implementing some of the assessment strategies I researched this summer so we can find out more about the experiences of our students and continue to improve our program. Student or faculty volunteers for any or all of these activities are welcome.
I look forward to seeing you in the coming weeks, and I hope you have a successful school year.
NIU 2007 CONFERENCE FOR YOUNG WOMEN
The twelfth annual NIU Conference for Young Women will be held Monday,
October 22, from 8:15 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. Sponsored by the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Women’s Studies Program, this
conference introduces young women in their sophomore through senior years
of high school to a variety of career areas, including professions where
women have been historically underrepresented. The conference will include
a panel discussion on career opportunities for women, presentations by
faculty on topics related to women’s collegiate experiences and
career options, and tours of the NIU campus and campus facilities. This
year’s speakers will focus on career opportunities in fields ranging
from marketing and forensic science to athletics and communication. Please
encourage high school women to register for this exciting opportunity.
To register, call 1-800-345-9472. For additional information, call (815)
753-1038, or visit http://www.clas.niu.edu/wstudies/. The registration
fee is $38 before October 15, with a $5 additional late charge after that
date. Limited scholarships are available. If you wish to contribute to
a scholarship, send a check to the Women's Studies Program made out to
NIU.
CRAFTY WOMEN HOLIDAY SALE PREVIEW
In November, the Women’s Studies Program will host our third annual
CRAFTY WOMEN holiday gift sale. All proceeds will benefit the Mothers
Memorial Scholarship and Women’s Studies Foundation funds. Please
consider donating small craft items for us to sell. If you wish to contribute
to the sale, drop donations off in the Women's Studies office, Reavis
103. Last year’s sale raised nearly $1000, and we hope to raise
even more this year. Watch for updates in our future bulletins.
WOMEN’S STUDIES LIBRARY
The Women's Studies Program maintains a collection of resources, which
may be of interest not only to Women's Studies students and faculty but
also to faculty and students in other disciplines. The library is located
in the Women's Studies office, in Reavis Hall, Room 103. To view our library
policies and see what resources we have available, please visit our
website.
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH PREVIEW
For this year’s Women’s History Month, we are planning programs
and activities that will consider the many ways in which enterprising
women get things done, break new ground, and make changes. We are currently
seeking ideas for topics and speakers for this yearly event. Also, we
encourage faculty to discuss the theme of enterprising women in spring
courses and to develop relevant assignment options. We look forward to
receiving your ideas for events and programs. Please contact Rebekah Kohli
at 753-1044 or rkohli@niu.edu to share any ideas that you might have;
or, you may visit http://www.clas.niu.edu/wstudies/whm2008.htm to fill
out an activity proposal form.
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YOU CAN HELP! DONATE TO WOMEN’S STUDIES
Every year, funds from the Women's Studies Program's NIU Foundation account
help to send students, program faculty, and faculty associates to conferences.
Foundation funds also pay for speakers and special events. We are particularly
reliant on our Foundation account this year due to our limited regular
budget. Therefore, please consider giving generously. It is a great way
to help other women! If you want to contribute, donations should be sent
to the NIU Foundation, indicating that they are for the Women's Studies
Program.
WANTED: ORIGINAL RECIPES
Last year, thanks to the contributions of many Women’s Studies faculty,
staff and friends, we produced a "This is What a Feminist Cooks Like"
cookbook CD-ROM in order to raise money for the Mothers Memorial Scholarship
fund. You may have seen recipes from the cookbook featured in recent editions
of the Daily Chronicle (April 18 & July 11). Due to successful sales
of the first cookbook, we are planning to create a second volume. From
appetizers and drinks, to entrees and desserts--we are looking for all
types of recipes. So, if you have an original recipe that you would like
to share, please email it to rkohli@niu.edu, or bring it by the Women's
Studies office in Reavis 103 by Friday, October 26.
NWSA UPDATE
NIU was one of many co-sponsors of this year’s National Women’s
Studies Association annual conference. View a
list of the nearly twenty NIU participants. NWSA’s next Annual
Conference will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 19-22, 2008. The theme
for the 2008 conference will be Resisting Hegemonies: Race and Sexual
Politics in Nation, Region, Empire, and Patricia Hill Collins is slated
to be the key-note speaker. We hope to have a group representing our program.
The call for proposals for the 2008 conference will be available in early
September. Visit NWSA's site for
more details.
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS
We now maintain a folder that contains Women’s Studies related position
announcements from other institutions. If you are interested in viewing
these announcements, stop by Reavis 103.
PEOPLE
REMEMBERING AN AMAZING WOMAN: DR. WILMA
D. STRICKLIN
“By the time I became active on women’s issues at NIU in the
early 1980s,” says Lois Self, “Wilma Stricklin was already
a legendary presence on campus as a strong and effective leader.”
Stricklin began her NIU career in 1976, where she worked until she retired
in 1989. Before coming to NIU, she served in the U.S. Navy during the
Korean War. Between 1967-76, she taught management at Northern Arizona
University, where a scholarship was established in her name. During her
tenure at NIU, she served as professor and chair of the Department of
Management; Associate Provost; Acting Vice President and Provost; Associate
Dean of the College of Business; and, finally, first chair of the Presidential
Commission on the Status of Women.
According to Self, Stricklin was “particularly known for encouraging and supporting women to raise their aspirations and achievements, and many followed her lead.” In her work, she especially championed women athletes; returning women students; and women who pursued education and careers in non-traditional areas. Stricklin was also instrumental in the establishment of the Office of University Resources for Women (now, the Women’s Resource Center). In 1996, an award was established in Stricklin’s name to recognize individuals whose work significantly contributes to enhancing the climate for women on campus.
In light of her many contributions, it is not surprising that so many
call Stricklin an inspiration and role model. Dr. Wilma D. Stricklin passed
away Tuesday, August 7, 2007. Read more information on her contributions
to NIU.
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WELCOME WS TEACHING ASSISTANTS
We welcome our three new full-time TAs. Ashley Berman and Margaret (Maggie)
Betscher are both second-year Law students, and Alisa Von Hagel is a Ph.D.
student in Political Science. We’re looking forward to a great year
working with them
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ALUMNI NEWS
Sandi Caldrone graduated from NIU with her M.A. in Anthropology
and Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies in Fall 2006. She is
currently working for Girls in the Game, a nonprofit organization in Chicago,
which focuses on health education, sports programming, and leadership
development for girls in Chicago. She is also volunteering for a queer
youth group, Youth Pride Center, where she is teaching adolescents how
to conduct needs assessment research on their group.
Siew Sim Chin (Sim) received her Ed.D. in Adult and Continuing Education and Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from NIU in 2006. Since January 2007, she has been a Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at Beloit College. This fall she is teaching “Introduction to Feminisms” and “Women, Religion, and Global Citizenship.” In June 2007, she was selected to participate in the prestigious Women of Color Leadership Project of the NWSA.
Shanon (Fender) Dickers graduated from NIU in 2002 with a M.A. in Sociology, and in 2003 with a second M.A. in Spanish and a Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies. In the Spring of 2004, she served as Interim International Education Director at Illinois College (IC) in Jacksonville, where she was also a full-time Spanish instructor until the Fall of 2006. While at Illinois College, Shanon served as faculty advisor to Iota Iota Iota, a Gender and Women's Studies Honor Society, for which she co-authored the constitution, initiated the development of the IC chapter, and inducted the first members. In December of 2006, she accepted the position of Coordinator of International Programs at Heartland Community College. She also co-authored an article with John F. Stolte, "Framing Social Values: An Experimental Study of Culture and Cognition," which was published in Social Psychology Quarterly (2007).
MEET THREE NEW FACULTY ASSOCIATES
Kate Cady is an assistant professor in the Department
of Communication. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication/Rhetorical
Studies from the University of Iowa. She received her bachelor’s
degree in Speech Communication with a minor in Women’s Studies from
Wichita State University. Her research analyzes public representations
of working women, postindustrial economics, and feminism in the U.S. during
the late 20th century. This fall, she is teaching “Communication
and Gender” (COMM 410), and “Criticism of Public Rhetoric”
(COMM 503), a graduate level class that will focus on intersections among
abolitionist, suffrage, civil rights, and women’s liberation rhetoric.
Her article, “From drill sergeants to maternal negotiators: Mass-mediated
business strategies in the 1980s,” was published in Critical Studies
in Media Communication in 2006. She has also presented papers related
to gender and rhetoric at recent conferences.
Jill Dunlap became the new director of the Women’s Resource Center on May 1, 2007. She received her BA in Journalism and Spanish, with a minor in Women’s Studies from Simpson College in Iowa. She received her Masters in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Sociology from Baker University, in Kansas. Her research interests focus on women and media literacy, social aggression among girls, and women’s leadership. Dunlap came to NIU from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), where she served as the Assistant Director of the Women’s Center. While at UMKC, she wrote and was awarded a grant from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women. The $200,000 grant was designed to reduce violence against women on campus. She served as the Project Director for the grant until she left for NIU.
Patricia Rickett is an instructor in the Department of English. She received her M.A. in English Literature from Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, OH. In 2006, she completed a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies at Northern Illinois University. Her research interests include Hispanic girls and their retention rates in the U.S. educational system, as well as representations of women from the Arabian Peninsula in modern fiction by Khaled Hosseini and Marjane Sartrapi. In January 2007, she chaired a session and presented “Understanding the Nonmechanistic, Hierarchical and Spiritual Identity of the Latina: Group Identity, Female Peer Groups, and Retention Rates in U.S. Classrooms” at the 5th Hawaiian International Conference on Art and Humanities. This fall, she will be teaching a section of English 105, which will include gender studies and multicultural readings.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Louise Ciallella had a paper accepted, titled "Reconciliation
of Mother and Performer in Martínez Sierra’s El agua
dormida," for the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the AILCFH
(Asociación Internacional de Literatura y Cultura Femenina Hispa'nica),
to be held in Seville, Spain October 24-26, 2007.
Mayra Daniel was awarded the first Jerry Johns Promising Researcher Award by the College Reading Association for her research in literacy education.
Kerry Ferris’s article, “The Sociology of Celebrity,” was published in the inaugural edition of the online journal Sociology Compass (Aug. 13).
Aaron Fogleman’s book, Jesus is Female: Moravians and Radical Religion in Early America, was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press (April 2007).
Congratulations to Maryline Lukacher, who was promoted to full-professor of French! Her book, Autobiofictions: George Sand et le Conflit de l'écriture, will be released this August, published by New Orleans Presses Universitaires du Nouveau Monde.
Lesley Rigg, along with co-PI with David Goldblum, was awarded a National Science Foundation grant in the amount of $260,000, over a period of 3 ½ years. Rigg was featured in a recent article on women in science in the MidWeek (August 8, 2007).
Brian Sandberg, Assistant Professor of History, joined the NIU faculty in August 2006 and is looking forward to working with the Women's Studies program. He is interested in issues of gender, violence, and religion in early modern Europe. This year he wrote a chapter entitled, “‘The Tender Affections of a Good Mother and…the True Duties of a Loyal Subject’: Positioning and Identification in Maria de’ Medici’s Correspondence, (1610-1632),” to be published in Le donne Medici nel sistema europeo delle Corti (XVI-XVIII secolo). He also presented a paper at a conference on "Gender Matters: Re-Reading Violence, Death, and Gender in Early Modern Literature and Culture," at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in March 2007.
Lise Schlosser presented her ongoing research on Virginia Woolf and Margaret Cavendish at the 16th Annual Virginia Woolf Conference in June. Later that month, the project was presented to the Margaret Cavendish Society Conference (by proxy). Lise's paper was chosen along with two others to represent the Cavendish conference in a forthcoming publication. Schlosser received a Diversity & Equity Award for her organizing and presentation of Eleemosynary during Women’s History Month 2007.
Bob Self’s book, Robert Altman's “McCabe & Mrs. Miller”: Reframing the American West, is scheduled to be released in September 2007 (Univ. Press of Kansas).
Lucy Townsend, along with Susan Laird from the University of Oklahoma and Susan Franzosa from Fairfield University, Connecticut, received a grant from the International Society for Educational Biography for their “Educating Women Project.”
The student organization Women’s Alliance received
a Diversity & Equity Award for all the work they have done to promote
inclusiveness on our campus.
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OPPORTUNITIES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
The NIU Study Abroad Office has information on Women’s and Gender Studies-related study abroad programs. For information, stop by their office in Williston Hall, Room 417.
E.B.O.N.Y. Women and S.I.S.T.E.R.S. are co-sponsoring two upcoming events: a lecture, “Who’s to blame? Is it the Hip Hop Game?,” on Wednesday, September 19, and a panel discussion on Hip Hop on Thursday, September 20. Both of these events will take place from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in Grant Hall, Lower Lounge.
The 14th Berkshire Conference for the History of Women is accepting papers for seminars or workshops. Papers must be submitted by April 15, 2008. The conference will be held June 12-15, 2008, at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. For more information, visit the conference website.
The 9th Annual Illinois Women’s Health Conference will be held November 14-15, 2007, at the Doubletree Hotel-Chicago in Oakbrook, IL. To learn more, visit the conference website.
The RACE, SEX, POWER: New Movements in Black & Latina/o Sexualities conference will be held April 11-12, 2008, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Abstracts for individual papers, panels/roundtables, poster presentations, or visual presentations are being accepted until September 15. You may download more information in PDF format.
The Women & Politics Institute at American University is accepting papers for the “Women & Political Leadership Research Conference,” which will be held April 11-12, 2008. Paper abstracts should be sent to nicole.spirgen@american.edu by September 10, 2007. Visit the institute website for more information.
Women For Hire Career Expo will be held October 16, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the Lakeview Terrace on Navy Pier. Between 8:30-10:00 a.m. there will be an seminar featuring Women For Hire CEO and regular “Good Morning, America” contributor Tory Johnson. The cost of the seminar is $15. For additional information on the seminar or expo, visit the Women for Hire website.
We invite submissions for future WS bulletins. If you know of any information that we should include in future bulletins, please email Rebekah Kohli at with subject heading “Bulletin.” You may also call 753-1044.