Past Women's Studies Colloquia and Brown Bags

Brown Bags Lecture Series for Fall 2007 Semester

September 5th, 2007, Stacy Panitch, Theatre Scholar and Women's Resource Center staff member.
"Southern Women in teh Theatre: Are we a Stereotype of Ourselves?"

October 3rd, 2007, Kimberly Ann Bart, Director of the Domestic Violence Law Clinic at The University of Alabama. "Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Harassment in West Alabama: Laws, Legal Resources and Suggestions for Legislative Change"

Kimberly Ann Bart, Director of the Domestic Violence Law Clinic at The University of Alabama, will be speaking about the work the clinic does with DV clients in West Alabama. She will present some advocacy issues of concern with regard to Alabama law and policy on domestic violence, along with suggestions for advocacy/activism in legislative reform to improve the services available to, and the rights of, victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment.

Kimberly Ann Bart is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Legal Instruction at The University of Alabama. Her academic subject areas include gender and the law, domestic violence law and poverty law and policy.  She came to UA to direct the newly formed Domestic Violence Law Clinic at the Law School in the fall of 2006.  She serves as a member of the Alabama Attorney General’s Task Force on Domestic Violence.  Her degrees include: a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Syracuse University (1998), an M.P.A. from Syracuse University, with a concentration in Social Welfare Policy, (1999), a J.D. from Duke University School of Law (2002) and an LL.M. in Advocacy from the Georgetown University Law Center (2004). While at Georgetown, Kimberly taught in the Federal Legislation Clinic, where she worked on behalf of Catholic Charities USA to develop and lobby their legislative agenda, with a focus on social policies affecting the lives of women, children and families. She also practiced law at Crowell & Moring, LLP in Washington, D.C.

November 7th, 2007, Dr. Bronwen Lichtenstein, Assistant Professor from the Department fo Criminal Justice
"Starting Over: Dating Risks among Midlife & Older Women after Relationship Dissolution."

December 5th, 2007, Dr. Tricia McElroy, Assistant Professor from teh Department of English
"The Popular Campaign Against Mary Queen of Scots"

Brown Bags Lecture Series for Spring 2007 Semester

January 24th, 2007 - Prof. Aaron Greer assistant professor of telecommunication and film in the UA College of Communication and Information Sciences will explore one of Spike Lee’s films when he discusses, "She Hate Me: Identifying Sexism and Homophobia in Film."

Greer’s areas of interest are documentary film, experimental and short narrative production, editing, sound design and international film. He is also the author and director of the nationally acclaimed independent film, “Getting’ Grown,” a thought-provoking story about a family's struggle to raise a child in the inner city, where some get lost and some get ‘grown.’

February 21st, 2007 - Film Screening Women's Resource Center will screen "Women Don't Have the Blues" from California Newsreel.

Click here to view the description of the film.

March 21st , 2007 - Kate Bernheimer Assistant Professor in the English Department "Girls without Hands, Flies without Wings: Feminism and The Cruelty and Punishment in Fairy Tales"

Kate Bernheimer will discuss questions of feminism, power, and transformation in literary fairy tales. Works discussed will include Hans Christian Andersen's "The Girl Who Trod on The Loaf" and The Grimms' "The Girl without Hands," along with contemporary adaptations of fairy tales, including her recent novel The Complete Tales of Merry Gold. Copies of most of the fairy tales discussed will be distributed at the discussion.

Kate Bernheimer is the author of a novel based on German, Russian and Yiddish fairy tales, The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold (FC2, 2001) and editor of a collection of essays, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Women Writers Explore Their Favorite Fairy Tales (Anchor/Doubleday 1998, exp. 2nd ed. Anchor/Vintage 2002). She earned her BA from Wesleyan University and her MFA from the University of Arizona in Tucson. Her forthcoming books include The Complete Tales of Merry Gold (FC2, 2006), Brothers and Beasts: An Anthology of Men on Fairy Tales (Wayne State University Press, 2006), and The Girl in the Castle inside the Museum, a children's book (Random House, 2008). She is also editor of the new literary journal Fairy Tale Review.

April 18th, 2007 - Ashley Cox and Christina Janvier second year graduate students in the Department of Women’s Studies will be presenting their thesis research: Ashley Cox, "Games, Joysticks, and Video Chicks: The Portrayal of Women in Today's Video Games" and Christina Janvier, "Gender Equity or Bust: The Effect of Girl Power on Alabama Textbooks"

Ashley Cox is currently working towards an M.A. degree in women's studies at UA. Her major interest areas are women in video gaming culture, women in sex work, and women in extremist groups. Cox currently works as a GTA in the women's studies dept. and as a women's studies tutor at UA's Center for Athletic Student Services. Cox has a B.A. in Women's Studies from Western Illinois University. Her Brown Bag will discuss portrayals of women in relation to violence, race, and sexuality that appear in recently released video games. Discussion will be based on results from Cox's content analysis of recently released video games from the game genres of action/adventure, fighter, shooter, and sport.

Christina Janvier is a second year graduate student in the Women's Studies department and will be graduating in May 2007. She teaches Introduction to Women's Studies and will also be teaching a class in the summer called "Scandalous Women". She graduated from Winthrop University with a B.A. in History. My interest areas are: women's history, especially the regulation of women's sexuality, and Girls' Studies, especially the damage done to girls growing up in a contradictory culture where they are constantly sent mixed messages. In her Brown Bag she will talk about the contradictory messages that are being sent out to girls in our culture. Girls hear that there is no longer a problem with gender equity because they can be whatever they want and do whatever they want, yet the textbook they read in school is still male-centered and male-dominated.

Queer Film Series Spring 2007

Dr. Jennifer Purvis, Ethan Brooks-Livingston of the Department of Women's Studies and Josh Burford, are hosting a Queer Movie Series this spring 2007 semester. Interested members of the broader Women’s Studies and Queer community are welcome to attend these free screenings.

*The Children’s Hour, But I’m a Cheerleader and Transamerica will be screened in Room 205 Gorgas Library at 7:00 p.m.

All other films will be screened in Room 125 ten Hoor at 7:00 p.m.

Please join us, and bring a friend!

The schedule is as follows:

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Spring 2007 Events

Colloquium Events - Spring 2006

February 2nd, 2006, Dr. Margret Grebowicz
"On Sex, Poetry, and the Violability of Children: June Jordan and Political Philosophy"

This lecture will present the work of African-American, feminist poet June Jordan in the context of some recent debates in contemporary European philosophy, particularly around theories of justice and the formation of political subjectivity. Grebowicz will also situate Jordan's writings on sexual politics in her work on Black English and literacy education.

Margret Grebowicz, Ph. D., is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Houston-Downtown.  She has published several articles on Derrida, Levinas, Lyotard, Feyerabend, and Haraway, and is the "science" writer for The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory.  Her most recent work is in feminist philosophy of science, in connection to contemporary French thought.  She has edited two collections: one on Lyotard and feminist theory, and another (co-edited) on the political writings and resistance poetry of June Jordan.  Her most recent research concerns Lyotard's relevance for feminist debates about democratic education.

This event is being co-sponsored by African-American Studies Program, the Department of English, The Department of American Studies and New College

April 6th, 2006, Ashley Oates
"An Investigation: Contemporary Art and the Female Body"

What constitutes “Feminist Art”? Why are some feminist artists criticized for reinforcing negative stereotypes while others are praised for their clever take on traditional female roles? Does art even possess the power to change deeply held gender biases? This discussion will include a brief overview of women in the arts with an emphasis on contemporary artists – male and female – who continue to explore the female body as their primary source of imagery. Artists will include Hannah Wilke, Cindy Sherman, Carolee Schneemann, Jenny Saville, Lisa Yuskavage, John Currin and more.

Ashley Oates graduated with Honors from Hollins University with a degree in Political Science, which led her to DC where she worked for Democratic Senator Jim Sasser of Tennessee (and later for The Wilderness Society). In 1993, she decided to follow her interest in the arts by attending the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore as well as the Memphis College of Art. She received her BFA in Printmaking, Papermaking and Book Arts from the Memphis College of Art (MCA) in 1997. Ashley went on to complete her MFA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. In 2003, her work dealing with domestic violence was included in a group exhibition in Amsterdam that dealt with violence in American society, and she continues to show in solo and group exhibitions across the Southeast. Rory Golden of The Center for Book Arts in NY also included her steel book in a group book arts show at The New York Public Library (2002). Since completing her graduate work, she’s taught art appreciation, 2-D design, photography and photographic theory. She currently teaches in the Department of Art as well as the Blount Undergraduate Initiative at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Brown Bags Lecture Series - Spring 2006 Semester

February 22 th, 2006 - Dr. Heather Pleasants Assistant Professor in the College of Education
"Identity Negotiations in Writing and Relationship: Digital Storytelling with African American Adolescent Girls in an Urban Community Center "

March 8th, 2006 - Ethan Livingston Graduate Student in the Department of Women's Studies
" Trans-gressing Difference: Changes in Feminist Scholarship on Race, Class, and Gender in Transgender Lives "

April 19th, 2006 - Shara Crookston & Beth Robinson second year graduate students in the Department of Women’s Studies will be presenting their thesis research: Shara Crookston, " How to be a Woman: Seventeen Magazine's Prescription for Femininity " and Beth Robinson, " 'Which Side Are You On?' Solidarity between Southern Textile Women"

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Colloquium Events - 2005 Fall

November 3rd, Dr. Melissa Conroy,
"The Desiring Eve: The Case of Alice in Eyes Wide Shut"

This research explores issues of vision in Eyes Wide Shut, demonstrating how the film offers ways of seeing that acknowledge both seer and seen in male and female roles. Conroy explores how the film rewrites traditional religious beliefs about the nature of women.

This event is being co-sponsored by the department of Religious Studies.

Melissa Conroy is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio, Dr. Conroy teaches about Religion and Popular Culture, Visual Arts, and Women; Psychology of Religion, Critical Theory, Feminist and Queer Theory, Buddhism, and World Religions. Her research interests include Film as Religious Ritual, Historical Uses of Religious Vision, Gender and Performative Issues in Ritual Studies, Feminist and Queer Theory, and Feminist Psychoanalytic Studies. Her recent publications include, "An Army of One: Lacan and Popular Culture," "Seeing Medea," and "The Invisible Body of God." She is currently working on a manuscript, entitled, The Eyes of God: Embodied Vision in Contemporary Cinema

Brown Bags Lecture Series for Fall 2005 Semester

September 20 th, 2005
A Roundtable Discussion of Hurricane Katrina

Angered by global warming and its effects? Concerned by the disproportionate impact of resultant weather on the poor, elderly, and disabled? Disappointed by government or media responses to Hurricane Katrina, in particular? Do you want to provide help on a local level? Or perhaps you seek more widespread or lasting change? Will your efforts make a difference; or will conditions persist, or worsen, given our habits of consumption and the lack of attention to global climate changes? Katrina has effectively raised the nation’s consciousness about its treatment of the poor and other marginalized populations. What is to be done? What are some feminist responses to the problems at hand?

The Department of Women's Studies announces its first brownbag event of the fall 2005 semester: In conjunction with the faculty and graduate student Race and Gender Pedagogy Group, Women's Studies students, faculty, and community members will convene for roundtable discussion on issues surrounding Hurricane Katrina.

Samantha Briggs of the Department of Women's Studies will begin the discussion by summarizing some of the issues raised in her Social Inequalities course. We will then collectively analyze and strategize on both the local and systemic level, with an emphasis on issues of race, class, gender, age, and ability. Please join our discussion and help plan for a better future.

This roundtable discussion will take place on Tuesday, September 20th at 12:30 in Ferg Forum
All interested students, faculty, and staff welcome!

October 25 , 2005 - Dr. Josephine Nhongo-Simbanegavi
Assistant Professor in the Department of History

"Gender and International Migration in Southern Africa"

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Brown Bags Lecture Series - Spring 2005 Semester

February 16 th, 2005 - Dr. Elaine Martin Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science
"Black Carmen? Cinematic Transformations of a Mythic Other"

March 9th, 2005 - Dr. Utz McKnight Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science
"Octavia Butler's Transformation: Bodies That Won't Matter."

March 23rd, 2005 - Rose Wilson & Jennifer Butterworth graduate students in the Department of Women’s Studies will be presenting their political work and thesis research, respectively: Rose Wilson, "On the Campaign Trail: Attempts to Promote Equal Rights in Oregon," and Jennifer Butterworth, "Contemporary Cuban Telenovelas: The Re-Cubanization of a Genre."

April 6th, 2005 - Dr. Lisa Dorr Assistant Professor in the Department of History will be
presenting: "Fifty Percent Moonshine and Fifty Percent Moonshine: Alcohol, Dating and College Social Life in Alabama during Prohibition." This talk will examine both the rituals and the restrictions on dating relationships at Alabama's main white universities during Prohibition.

April 20th, 2005 - Summer Steib & Katherine Gibbons graduate students in the Department of Women's Studies will be presenting their thesis research: Summer Steib, "Cultural Coverture: Feminism and the Surname Debate," and Katherine Gibbons, "Fighting to Survive: Women Resisters During the Holocaust."

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Queer Movie Series Spring 2005

Dr. Jennifer Purvis of the Department of Women's Studies is hosting a Queer Movie Series this spring 2005 semester. Her class, WS 440/EN 444, "Feminism and Queer Theory," is viewing several films related to the subject matter of the course. These films are being screened in 207 Manly Hall. Interested members of the broader Women’s Studies and Queer community are welcome to attend these free screenings.

The schedule is as follows: