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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

WOMEN'S STUDIES
BULLETIN

February/March 2006

Table of Contents:
Events
Women's History Month Update
Faculty Associates Event
Women in Sports Day
People
Associate in the Spotlight
Alumna in the Spotlight
Student in the Spotlight
Accomplishments
Opportunities & Announcements

EVENTS
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH UPDATE

In keeping with our theme for Women’s History Month, “Celebrating 25 Years of Women’s Studies at NIU: Re-Imagining Sisterhood,” the events we have planned will examine sisterhood from a variety of perspectives.

Wednesday, March 1
Join us for our second annual “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” Sticker Day. Stop by Reavis 103 to pick up a sticker and wear it with pride! Stickers are available after February 14, 2006.

Barbara Cole Peters, private collector of women’s 20th century fashions, will display a selection of red and black garments from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the President’s Residence in DeKalb. Peters will speak at the event, titled “Lady in Red & Black: Ode to Northern Illinois University,” and Nancy Jacobs will discuss how the lives of women in DeKalb have changed over seven decades. Reservations required; call (815) 753-1038.

An opening reception for the Women’s History Month Annual Art Exhibit will be held from 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center, 1021 State Street, DeKalb. Call (815) 758-1351 for gallery hours. The show runs through March 29.

Tuesday, March 7
Dr. Valentine Moghadam, Chief of the Gender Equality and Development section of UNESCO will give an informal seminar titled, “Middle Eastern Feminism: The Challenges of Islamism, Imperialism, and Authoritarian States,” at 7:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room in the Holmes Student Center.

Wednesday, March 8
Dr. Moghadam will present a lecture titled, “Sisterhood and Strange Bedfellows: Feminisms in an Age of Empire,” at 10:00 a.m. in the Heritage Room in the Holmes Student Center. Moghadam will examine the challenges facing feminists today.

The International Women’s Day Luncheon will be held in Adams Hall, Chandelier Room, at 11:30. Dr. Moghadam, the keynote speaker, will discuss feminism, legal reform, and empowering Middle Eastern women.

Tuesday, March 21
Professor Kelli Lyon Johnson of Miami University Ohio-Hamilton will lecture on “Mapping Collective Memory in Chicana Literature: The Politics of Belonging,” at 4:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room of Holmes Student Center. Johnson will discuss the way in which Latina authors recover a sense of belonging and sisterhood in their literature through collective memory.

Wednesday, March 22
Professor Johnson will give an informal seminar titled, “Finding the Way Home: The Map in Native American Women’s Writing,” at 10:00 a.m. in Reavis Hall, Room 211. Johnson will address issues of belonging, particularly in regard to geography and the environment, in Native American women’s literature.

Thursday, March 30
A reading of Chicago author Sara Keely McGuire’s play, “Triple Goddess,” will be staged at 6:00 p.m. in Diversions Lounge, Holmes Student Center. Following the performance, McGuire will lead a discussion.

For a complete list of activities, call 753-1038 or go to our Women's History Month website .
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FACULTY ASSOCIATE EVENT
A panel discussion, “Commander in Chief: Is the U.S. Ready for a Woman President?” will take place on Wednesday, February 22, 2006, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. in Reavis Hall 211. Come discuss such questions as: “What are the political implications and prospects of a woman becoming president in the U.S.?” and “What are the implications of the representation of the female president on Commander in Chief?” Panelists include Barbara Burrell, Associate Professor of Political Science; Lynn Kamenitsa, Associate Professor of Political Science and Women’s Studies; and Lois Self, retired, former chair of Communication and director of Women’s Studies.
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WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY
February 11, 2006--NIU women’s basketball team will play Kent State at 2:05 p.m. in the Convocation Center. In honor of “Women in Sports Day,” girls wearing a uniform will not be charged an admission fee.
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ASSOCIATE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
In honor of the 25th anniversary of Women’s Studies, we turn the spotlight on our Director, Amy Levin. Levin, who is a Professor in English in addition to the Women’s Studies Director, came to NIU in 1995. She received her Ph.D. in English from City University of New York in 1989. She also holds degrees in English from the University of Colorado at Boulder (M.A.) and Harvard University (B.A.). Prior to joining NIU, Levin was a member of the English Department and coordinator of Women’s Studies at Central Missouri State University.

Levin’s father was an Associated Press journalist, so she traveled a lot as a child. Born in New Delhi, India, she moved to Rome, Italy, with her family when she was a few months old. When she was nine, her family moved to Japan. After 1 ½ years in Japan, Levin moved to London, England, where she lived until she graduated from high school.

Levin became a feminist at a young age, when she realized that she was treated differently from her brothers. For instance, there were fewer restrictions on how much and when her brothers ate. Although there were no Women’s Studies courses when Levin was in college, her dissertation was related to feminist issues and resulted in her first book, The Suppressed Sister: A Relationship in Novels by Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century British Women, in 1992. Her second book, Africanism and Authenticity in African-American Women’s Novels, was published in 2003.

As director of Women’s Studies, Levin is able to offer insights into the challenges and accomplishments of the program over the past decade. Among the accomplishments that Levin lists are: the creation of the Mother’s Memorial Scholarship, thanks in large part to Lois Self and Carol Minor; the increased involvement of the Women’s Studies program in math and science; and, the growth in the number of students in Women’s Studies. Many of the challenges that the program faces are a result of the growth the program has experienced. For instance, Levin says that as enrollment in Women’s Studies courses increases, the need for additional faculty and designated classroom space becomes more critical.

In the future, Levin would like to see the program establish a Women’s Studies major. Despite the challenges the program faces, Levin looks forward to what the future holds for Women’s Studies at NIU.
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ALUMNA IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Kathryn Ranieri was one of the first students to complete the Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies in 1992, when she also received her M.A. in Communication. In 2002, she completed her Ed.D. in Instructional Technology at NIU. Currently, Ranieri is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Communication at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In addition to teaching, she has also done freelance consulting in Performance Management and Instructional Design for such companies as Sears, United Airlines and Eli Lily.

Ranieri is currently involved in implementing a media literacy program in what is known as the "Weed & Seed" neighborhood in Allentown, PA, named after a local grant program by the same name. The program introduces participating students to “documentary photography and digital imaging technologies and techniques.” For the past year, the students have taken photographs of their neighborhood, which they have altered with Adobe Photoshop. According to Ranieri, the goal of the project is “to engage [the participants] in the collaborative and interactive process of imagining solutions to the problems facing their community, and by rendering those solutions visually, to see themselves as agents of community change.” The photographs and their digital counterparts will be in a calendar and exhibited in “In Our Own Eyes” at the Allentown Art Museum in 2006.

Since receiving her Women’s Studies Graduate Certificate, Ranieri has maintained an interest in women’s issues. Her current research focuses on women’s health and “the disparities within [the] medical community for people of color or for people without health insurance.” She also volunteers to escort women from their cars to the door of a women’s clinic. Ranieri believes that “the value of a concentration in Women’s Studies comes from one’s expanded awareness of privilege, of media representations of cultural standards, or policies in government and organizations that are blind to equality and justice.” She recommends that all students take at least one Women’s Studies course to expand their horizons.
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STUDENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Katie Breitenbach is our student in the spotlight. Katie is a sophomore English major and Women’s Studies minor. She also works for Women’s Studies and the LGBT Resource Center. Katie plans to pursue a Ph.D. in English and wants to teach college-level English.

Katie discovered her interest in Women’s Studies during her freshman year. She needed an additional course and “Women in Contemporary Society” (WOMS 230) was open, so she registered for it. After taking the course, Katie “was hooked” on Women’s Studies. Since then, she has taken “Women Across Cultures & Centuries” (WOMS 235), and she is currently taking “Growing up Female” (WOMS 332). She is looking forward to future courses on women and literature. She is particularly interested in historical fiction from the Elizabethan period, because she believes Queen Elizabeth was “one of the first symbols of feminine independence.”

In addition to taking classes and working, Katie is involved in extracurricular activities. She is an active member of PRISM, a group dedicated to educating the NIU community about LGBT issues. She is also a member of the Residence Hall Association and is on the executive board of the Hall Council for Stevenson North. Katie also sings in a choir and plays hand bells at the First Lutheran Church of DeKalb.
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Alexandra Bennett’s article, “‘Now Let My Language Speak’: The Authorship, Rewriting, and Audience(s) of Jane Cavendish and Elizabeth Brackley,” was published in Early Modern Literary Studies, September 2005.

Barbara Burrell contributed to Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics, edited by Susan Carroll and Richard Fox, published by Cambridge University Press in December 2005.

Louise Ciallella has two publications forthcoming: “The Estranging of Franco’s Text and Mourning in El cuarto de atrás,” in H.Rosi Song and Eloy Merino, eds., Traces of Contamination: Unearthing the Francoist Legacy in Contemporary Spanish Discourse from Bucknell University Press; and “Making Emotion Visible: Felipe Trigo and La sed de amar (educación social)” in Decimonóica, Winter 2006.

Karen Hand was given the “Exceptional Contributions” award for KNPE instructors in May 2005.

Jennifer Lackey co-edited and contributed to The Epistemology of Testimony, to be released by Oxford University Press in July 2006. Lackey’s article, “Testimony and the Infant: Child Objection,” also appeared in Philosophical Studies in November 2005.

Doris Macdonald was awarded a Fulbright grant to travel to Lithuania and lecture at Vilnius University.

Kei Nomaguchi co-authored “Time Strains and Psychological Well-Being: Do Dual-Earner Mothers and Fathers Differ?” in Journal of Family Issues, 2005.

Forthcoming from Kathleen Renk: “Jane Eyre as Hunger Artist,” to be published in a special issue of Women’s Writing (U.K.) on the Brontës, edited by Janet Todd; “Magic that Battles Death: Pauline Melville’s Marvelous Realism,” will be in Beyond the Islands: Extending the Meaning of the Caribbean, to be published by Louisiana State University Press; “Debating Darwin: The Alchemy of A.S. Byatt and Pauline Melville” will appear in Literature and Science, edited by Cedric Barfoot.

Austin Sawicki passed the third of his four Philosophy comprehensive exams. Congratulations, Austin!

Lise Schlosser’s poem, “The Only Thing Open on Christmas,” will appear in the Winter 2005-2006 edition of Fine Lines Literary Magazine.

Kryssi Staikidis and Elizabeth Vallance have work in the Biennial Exhibition of Work by NIU School of Art Faculty at the NIU Chicago Gallery through February 25, 2006.
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The National Women's Studies Association seeks submissions for the NWSA Graduate Scholarship, the NWSA Graduate Scholarship in Lesbian Studies, and the Scholarship in Jewish Women's Studies. All deadlines are February 15, 2006. For further details, visit the NWSA website.

Outskirts: Feminisms Along the Edge, a refereed, online feminist cultural journal is accepting submissions. For additional information, visit their website, or email Dr. Alison Bartlett.

RHIZOMES, an online journal, is accepting submissions for an upcoming special issue, “Feminism’s Others.” Abstracts are due by March 15, 2006. For additional information, visit the RHIZOMES website.

The University of Chicago's Center for Gender Studies is holding a day-long symposium, "Trans/Forming Knowledge: The Implications of Transgender Studies for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies," on Friday, February 17, 2006. Visit the symposium website for more information.

The University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center is accepting applications for fall 2006 enrollment in the Program on Domestic Violence, a unique new master’s program. For further information, call Barbara Pardiso, Director of the Center on Domestic Violence, at 303-315-2736, or visit the center's 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 rkohli@niu.edu with subject heading “Bulletin.” You may also call 753-1044.

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