WOMEN'S STUDIES
BULLETIN

December 2004

Table of Contents:
ASSOCIATE OF THE MONTH
STUDENT OF THE MONTH
GRADUATING SENIORS
EVER CONSIDERED BEING A WOMEN’S STUDIES MAJOR?
MOTHERS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENTS
NWSA SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNIITES
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS DEPICTING STRONG GIRLS
WEBSITE DEDICATED TO INDEPENDENT FEMINIST BOOKSELLING
WEBSITE OF SONGS RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

ASSOCIATE OF THE MONTH
Elizabeth (Beau) Vallance, is our Women's Studies Associate in the spotlight. Vallance is an Associate Professor of Art Education, who is currently up for tenure. Good luck, Beau! Vallance has a diverse educational and career background. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology, and she was so close to a French double major as an undergraduate that she spent a year teaching conversational English in France after college. After her year in French schools, she realized she was interested in education and went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies from Stanford University. While at Stanford, she worked with Elliot Eisner, a premiere Art Education researcher in her program of study. He brought out her interest in Art Education; her dissertation focused on the method of art criticism as a means of evaluating curriculum materials.

After finishing her degree, Vallance served at two different universities as a curriculum developer, researcher, and administrator. During her second appointment, she won a Kellogg Foundation Fellowship, which allowed her release time to explore the "Hidden Arts Curriculum Of Small Towns." During this opportunity, she was offered her next job as Education Director at The Saint Louis Museum of Art. Vallance spent 15 years at the museum, where she eventually realized that the characteristic of her job that she truly loved was the education emphasis—teaching workshops and leading gallery talks, while the other administrative duties became less appealing. Thus, she joined NIU's Art Education division.

Vallance believes that all of her experiences have added to her current interests in Museum Studies and community art. Vallance is currently researching Main Street shop windows in small towns as a series of still life compositions. She is also interested in visitor responses to museums. Currently, Vallance chairs the committee for a Certificate of Graduate Study in Museum Studies. She also has worked on reconfiguring the Non-Certification Art Education major into a Museum and Community Art Education major that substitutes the semester of student teaching with an internship at a museum.

As a Women’s Studies associate, Vallance has served as a judge for the last two years for our Women's History Month poster contest. She hosted our social this past fall and will host a reception for one of our colloquium speakers this spring. Vallance has also served on the WS executive committee for the past two years. Vallance believes her connection with the Women's Studies Program has been a great networking opportunity, especially for meeting interesting women. As current chair of the Museum Studies Steering Committee, she has also appreciates the model and guidance of Women's Studies as a program.

To learn more about Vallance, stop by her office in Art 203E.

(top)

STUDENT OF THE MONTH
Katie Krusey is our December student in the spotlight. Krusey will graduate in May of 2005 with a double major in Political Science and Women’s Studies, with a minor in Sociology. Krusey is a contract major with Women’s Studies and decided to pursue this opportunity after she completed the courses for the minor and realized she did not want to stop taking Women’s Studies classes. Her double major combines her interests in women and law.

As a student, Krusey has pursued her interests in law outside of the classroom as well. Last summer, she interned with the Public Defender’s Office in Winnebago County. Her duties included performing the initial interview with clients in the local jail. This experience helped her avoid making assumptions about who the clients were. Next semester she will also take an independent study about women in law. Krusey especially enjoys solving current problems and issues that focus on women, citing two classes, Feminist Theory and Biomedicine in the Law, as classes that she really enjoyed because of the applied focus.

Krusey is currently in the process of applying for law school, a longtime goal. She hopes to pursue a specialization that will allow her to focus on women’s issues and/or civil liberties. Ideally, she wants to be a Supreme Court Justice, but she would be satisfied in any judicial position. She really likes the idea of being a more objective third party that tries to uncover what did and should happen rather than focusing on winning a case for personal gain. She also hopes that she can make a difference in our laws, especially as they apply to violence against women.

As Krusey prepares to graduate, her best advice to other students is to ask for advice from members of the Women’s Studies Program, especially for academic advising. She really enjoys the small size of the program and believes that it is easier to get individualized attention than in other departments. She has always seen everyone as helpful and inviting, and she definitely has taken advantage of the welcoming atmosphere.

(top)

GRADUATING SENIORS
Graduating minors need to be sure to bring a copy of their DARS report to us sometime during the semester before they graduate. In other words, if you are graduating in May, please bring in your report before you leave for the holiday.

(top)

EVER CONSIDERED BEING A WOMEN’S STUDIES MAJOR?
In the past, several NIU students have designed contract majors in Women’s Studies. If you wish you could keep taking classes after you are finished with your minor, maybe you should consider being a Women’s Studies major. Schedule a visit with Dr. Amy Levin by calling 815-753-1038.

(top)

MOTHERS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Applications for the scholarship will be coming out early in the spring semester. Students should watch for the application forms.

(top)

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH EVENTS
All Women’s History Month events are in the final stages of scheduling. The schedule will be on the website early in the spring semester. In the meantime, save the dates for our two colloquium speakers. Sherrie Inness, Professor of Composition, Rhetoric, and American Literature, visits campus March 1-2. On March 1, she will lecture on the representation of tough girls in the media at 7:00 p.m. in the Holmes Student Center, Heritage Room. On March 2, she will discuss girls’ culture in the Founders Memorial Library, Staff Lounge, at 10:00 a.m. Her presentations are being co-sponsored by the Department of Teaching and Learning and University Libraries. Inness is a highly successful author, having published 15 books in the last 11 years, and we are fortunate to have her visit our campus this spring.

Our second colloquium speaker is Natalie Guice Adams, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Alabama. Guice Adams will lecture in the Holmes Student Center, Heritage Room, on March 23, at 4:00 p.m., on her recent book Cheerleader!: An American Icon. Her second presentation will also be in the Heritage Room at 11:00 a.m. on March 24. For this presentation, Adams will discuss the different images of girls in athletics.

Please consider adding one or more of these presentations to your spring syllabi.

(top)

NWSA SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNIITES
Applications for scholarships for students in Women’s Studies or related areas are now available. All entries must be postmarked by February 15, 2005. Examples include scholarships for theses and dissertations (www.nwsa.org/ssnwsa.html), Lesbian Studies (www.nwsa.org/sslesbian.html), Jewish Women’s Studies (www.nwsa.org/JWCform.html), and Women of Color Essay Awards (www.nwsa.org/wocscol.html). You may also call 301-403-0524 or email nwsaoffice@nwsa.org.

(top)

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS DEPICTING STRONG GIRLS
The Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association has lists of children books that depict strong, self-actualizing girls and women. The lists are available at www.libr.org/FTF/bloomer.html. Also visit the Bookwomen’s Eighty Books for 21st Century Girls at www.wnba-books.org/anniversaries/80women.html.

(top)

WEBSITE DEDICATED TO INDEPENDENT FEMINIST BOOKSELLING
Check out www.litwomen.org, which has several bibliographies and related links to independent feminist, women’s, and lesbian bookselling and publishing.

(top)

WEBSITE OF SONGS RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT
Creative Folk maintain a web page listing over 200 recorded songs and compilations related to domestic violence and sexual assault. Some songs have lyrics, and most include links for ordering. See www.creativefolk.com/abusesongs.html.

(top)