Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

From The National Office, Elaine Reuben

Women's Studies Quarterly

During the final weeks of preparation for the First NWSA Convention last spring, various National Office tasks and concerns had to be postponed to a less hectic time we called "After Kansas." There was such a peaceful moment: it lasted just about as long as it took for the National Office staff to return from Lawrence to begin counting down days and deadlines "Before Indiana."

"After Kansas / Before Indiana" we have been responding to congratulations received on our first Convention and to suggestions for the second ; filling requests for information or materials from the 1979 meeting and beginning …

Nwsa Research Committee, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

At its February 1979 meeting, the NWSA Coordinating Council established an Ad Hoc Committee on Research and Grant Sponsorship. Its initial mandate was to propose guidelines for relationships between NWSA and its members, subgroups, and outside groups regarding endorsement or cosponsorship of ongoing or new women's studies research; and to outline for the Council priorities for NWSA's own longterm research and grant-writing. This work is now in progress.

Some Thoughts On The Integration Of Diversity, Elizabeth Schultz, Janet Sharistanian

Women's Studies Quarterly

In contrast to the 1977 Founding Conference, when a much smaller number of participants concentrated, of necessity, on structural and definitional issues, the Lawrence Convention offered 246 sessions on an impressively wide range of topics to over 1,000 participants from most states and several countries. With twelve or more sessions running simultaneously at any time, the program could and did reflect the diverse constituencies within the NWSA.

Sometimes, indeed, it almost seemed that there was too much diversity; those working backstage were chagrined to see how often individual lifestyles and preferences were translated into demands for alterations in practical arrangements …

Nwsa News And Views, Elaine Reuben, Patricia A. Gozemba, Jerilyn Fisher, Liz Birch, Diane Marting, Barbara Fassler, Judy Marcowitz, Barbara Parker

Women's Studies Quarterly

The reports in this issue on the finances of the First NWSA Convention and on NWSA's Project to Improve Service Learning in Women's Studies might serve as Fall reports from the National Office.

Both are about NWSA activities derived from our broad definition of women's studies; both announce long-awaited good news of what we hope will be the first of many successful conventions and projects that will bring women's studies practitioners together to share the work of transforming curriculum and educational institutions.

International Programming, Peg Strobel

Women's Studies Quarterly

The NWSA took several important steps in international programming at its First Convention. Those participating in sessions included women from Argentina, Britain, Ghana, Holland, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Senegal, and Zanzibar. Three national leaders of the All China Women's Federation of the People's Republic of China spent a day touring the Convention. But more important than the mere presence of foreign visitors were the information and issues generated by an international perspective.

In the first place, the Convention provided a forum for exchange of information. International sessions covered such topics as the educational needs of immigrant women in capitalist systems; …

All About Indiana, Jean Robinson

Women's Studies Quarterly

It is with pleasure that we at Indiana University/Bloomington look forward to welcoming the National Women's Studies Association's Second Convention.

The Convention will be an exceptional highlight to the history of women in Indiana. Both the state of Indiana and the university have had a long history in the struggle for women's rights. In 1851, the first Indiana State Women's Rights Convention was called to order; resolutions at that meeting reinforced the sentiments expressed by women at Seneca Falls. More recently, women (and men) of Indiana were able to convince the State Legislature to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Indiana …

American Indian Women Meet In Lawrence, Rayna Green

Women's Studies Quarterly

Twelve American Indian women held a special meeting at the NWSA Convention, partly to participate in a symposium on Indian women, and partly to formalize the organization of a network of academic Indian women. Not only did the Convention bring together some of the most active and distinguished Indian women in the country, but it offered a framework for discussion and planning that will have a positive impact on women's studies and Native American studies.

When, with Peg Strobel's strong encouragement and support, Clara Sue Kidwell (Chippewa-Choctaw) and I (Cherokee) began to plan the state-of-the-art symposium on Indian women, we …

The Delegate Assembly, Shirley Frank

Women's Studies Quarterly

The 1979 NWSA Delegate Assembly, a body made up of more than 300 regional, caucus, and group member representatives, met for a full day at the NWSA Convention to hear reports on the state of the Association since its founding and to continue the process, begun in San Francisco, of developing governance structures and organizational priorities.

Reports were presented by Jan Meriwether, who spoke for the 1978-79 Steering Committee and described the activities of the Coordinating Council over the past two years; by Elaine Reuben, NWSA Coordinator, who reported on the efforts and accomplishments of the National Office in its …

Front Matter, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Meine Mutter Sagte Zu Mir / My Mother Said, Ute Reich, M. Grunwald

Women's Studies Quarterly

Poem.

Graduate Programs In Women's Studies, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

Women's Studies Programs offering graduate degrees recently responded to the following questions: 1. What is the curricular shape and major emphasis of your program? How flexible is it? How many (and which) credits and other requirements must be completed for the degree? Name your degree(s). 3. What is the cost of your program? Are forms of financial aid or teaching assistantships available? Is housing available or especially difficult or expensive to obtain? 4. Can you estimate the number of graduates of your program, as of Summer 1978, and can you describe what they have gone on to do? 5. What …

Debate On Graduate Women's Studies At George Washington University, Rosemary Beavers, Carol Bros, Patricia Mcdonough, Terry Savage, Lois West, Phyllis M. Palmer

Women's Studies Quarterly

The M.A. program in women's studies at George Washington University is undergoing dramatic changes in focus and structure. As students and graduates, we believe these changes raise questions about the quality of our Women's Studies Program, especially its lack of feminist focus and content.

A radical feminist believes that women are a distinct group, restricted by custom and law from complete participation in society. Moreover, feminists believe that women's lives—and the female experience—have worth and should be preserved. Therefore, feminists strive for equity, recognition of the importance of the female world, and fundamental change in the social order.

Farewell To Joan Malory Webber, Nancy Nowik

Women's Studies Quarterly

Joan Malory Webber died last year on October 14 in a climbing accident near Mt. Rainier. She was a Professor of English at the University of Washington and a respected Renaissance scholar, whose death calls to mind the deaths (in the same month) of the two women on the American Women's Anapuma Expedition and the recent death of another great scholar, Jane English, also in a climbing accident. Each of these four deaths sends those of us who do not climb back to Adrienne Rich's poem "Phantasia for Elvira Shatayev," the leader of a women's expedition that perished in a …

Nwsa News And Views, Elaine Reuben, Emily Abel, Deborah Rosenfelt, Peg Strobel, Shirley Harkess, Kathleen Blumhagen, Loretta Seppanen, Sandy Rubaii, E. R.

Women's Studies Quarterly

It's been a little more than a year now that I've been reporting on the Association in these columns, a little more than two years since there has been a National Women's Studies Association to report on. When friends and supporters ask, "How is it going?'" I've been forced to give a rather cryptic-seeming reply: "It's going steadily better, so even more is expected; but we hardly have resources to meet the original expectation, so sometimes it feels like it's going worse."

Often the next question from members has been, "When are we going to have the Convention?'" A Convention, …

Front Matter, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Newsbriefs, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Courage, Emma: You Can Read Two Feminist Magazines Each Month In The Federal Republic Of Germany!, Sandra Abelson Zagarell

Women's Studies Quarterly

Emma—a traditional German name, a name which sounds "round and energetic," but transforms tradition in the direction of "Amazon" and "ema/ncipation," according to Alice Schwarzer, the magazine's founder and publisher. Courage—for the seventeenth-century German writer Grimmelshausen's heroine, whose experiences transfigure her from camp-follower to a self-sufficient woman who fights for her rights with joy and humor. These are the names ofthe Federal Republic of Germany's two feminist magazines. Courage, published in West Berlin, was begun in June 1976; Emma, located in Koln, in February 1977. Each is about sixty pages long.costs three marks (about $1.50), is …

College Board Exam Places "Imprimatur" On Women's History, Mildred Alpern

Women's Studies Quarterly

There is a payoff in studying women's history. European History Advanced Placement high school students learned this in May 1978, when they had a chance to demonstrate knowledge of women's history in answering a document-based question dealing with the education of women from the time of the Renaissance to the early eighteenth century.

The Advanced Placement examination is divided into three parts: a multiple-choice section testing knowledge of the narrative history of Europe from 1450 to the present (75 minutes); one essay chosen from six topics dealing with major themes (45 minutes); and a required essay based on carefully selected …

Letter From The Road... At Oberlin College, Midway Point..., Margaret Randall

Women's Studies Quarterly

For three months last fall, Margaret Randall, American-born writer now resident in Cuba and well known for her bestselling Women in Cuba, toured more than 40 U.S. campuses. She began in mid-September at the universities of New Mexico and Arizona, and San Francisco State University, and concluded in late November at M.I.T., Wellesley, and Amherst. Her tour, coordinated by Phyllis Vine, historian at Sarah Lawrence College, testifies to the women's studies community's concern about feminism internationally, and to a broad campus interest in Cuba. At Oberlin, Randall, never a college student herself, taught a one-credit, one-week-long intensive course to 45 …

Back Matter, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Teachers' Institute For Equality In Education Held At The University Of Arizona, Myra Dinnerstein, Brenda Even, Betty Newlon, Sherry O'Donnell

Women's Studies Quarterly

Women from the Tucson community and the University of Arizona collaborated to design a two-week Teachers' Institute for Equality in Education. Held last June on the university campus, the Institute was designed to help Arizona teachers of grades K through 12 develop nonsexist classroom methods and materials. The many inquiries we have received from other educators and women's studies personnel throughout the country suggest that information about our program will help others design similar institutes in their own regions.

We planned our Institute for the summer, since there is little time or money for bringing women's studies information to elementary …

Big Ten Forms Women's Studies Permanent Consortium, Gayle Graham Yates

Women's Studies Quarterly

A permanent standing panel on women's studies was established early in 1978 within the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the consortium of chief academic officers of the Big Ten universities* plus the University of Chicago. This action has considerable symbolic significance, for it means the official recognition of women's studies as an emerging academic field by the constituent universities of the CIC, which has regular meetings of various academic officers—academic vice presidents, liberal arts deans, etc.—of the member universities. The practical significance of this action is that now twice-yearly meetings of coordinators or representatives of women's studies in that group …

For The Teacher, Mary Grunwald

Women's Studies Quarterly

Poem.

Editorial: Hard Choices, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

Oberlin College, November 24, 1978

HARD CHOICES

Many of us deal with hard choices by refusing to choose: we decide that "both" are necessary and we divide our time, our resources, our energies, our love and commitment. And such decisions are, of course, necessary. We cannot usually choose between our families, our lovers and friends, and our work. We cannot make those choices because they are, in fact, unreal: our lives and our work are one. It is not that there are no tensions, no "obligations," no problems. But they are felt as such, and what one usually needs is …

Centers For Research On Women, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

The preliminary listings that follow were kindly supplied by Mariam Chamberlain, Program Officer, The Ford Foundation. In a subsequent issue, we plan to provide annotated information about the work of the centers.