Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Legal News: Cornell University, Alice H. Cook

Women's Studies Quarterly

Friends:

I am writing to ask your support for the Cornell Eleven, a group of present and former members of the faculty who are filing a class action suit against Cornell University alleging sex discrimination in hiring, promotion, equal compensation, and other personnel practices.

We (the Friends of the Cornell Eleven) believe they have three of the four vital components of a successful suit: (1) strong cases, (2) good legal assistance, and (3) courage. What they lack is the fourth component: (4) enough money to carry this through by themselves.

Back Matter, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Newsbriefs, Sharon Rae Jenkins, S. F., F. H.

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

"Out" At The University: Myth And Reality, Toni A. Mcnaron

Women's Studies Quarterly

For the first eleven years I taught at the University of Minnesota, I stayed in the closet I'd fled to within the first month of recognizing my lesbianism. During those years, I was awarded tenure quite early (the end of my third year); I won both a collegiate and an all-University award for outstanding teaching; I almost got a book on Shakespeare's last plays published; I was active in my regional professional organization. During those years, I experienced increasing pain at the dislike my immediate superiors [sic] had for me, no matter what I did. I learned quickly …

Editorial: Goodbye, Women's Studies Newsletter: Hello, Women's Studies Quarterly!, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

In the fall of 1972, the Women's Studies Newsletter appeared for the first time, as four pages of national news about women's studies in schools and colleges. We were "national" at least in part because there were no "local," "regional," or even campus-based newsletters. Since then, the Newsletter has followed the growth of women's studies across the nation—in schools and colleges and in such nontraditional settings as prisons, nursing homes, and community-based women's centers. The network thus created became the core for the National Women's Studies Association's beginnings in 1977. It is not surprising that now, in 1980, one can …

The Women's Studies Conference In Berlin: Another Chapter In The Controversy, Peggy Mcintosh

Women's Studies Quarterly

Those who read the Winter and Spring issues of the Women's Studies Newsletter in 1979 may remember accounts of controversies among women which surrounded feminist thought, teaching, and research in all of West Germany, and especially in Berlin. The next chapter in the controversy, though far from the last, occurred last April at the Free University of Berlin, where three hundred people attended a conference on "Aims, Content, and Institutionalization of Women's Studies and Research," sponsored by Berlin's Senator for Education, and by the President of the Free University of Berlin. Foreign participants were invited from Sweden, France, Italy, The …

Unesco Document By Twelve "Experts On Research, And Teaching Related To Women," Paris, May 1980, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

In May 1980, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) invited twelve "experts on research and teaching related to women" to a special meeting in Paris. The experts were Julinda Abu Nasr, Director of the Institute of Women's Studies in the Arab World (Lebanon); Alya Baffoun, Center for Economic Study and Research (Tunisia); Teresita Barbieri, Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Social Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Uruguay); Lil Despradel, sociologist (Dominican Republic); Florence Howe, Professor of Humanities, State University of New York/College at Old Westbury (United States); Herta Kuhrig, Director of the Forschungsgruppe …

On "Elitism" And The Gifted, Markita Price

Women's Studies Quarterly

Dear Editor:

At the recent NWSA National Convention in Indiana, a delegate spoke against the use of the word "gifted" in the title of one of the sessions. She said that the word was elitist. Because there were people applauding her remarks, I would like to clarify the assumptions and blatant stereotypes she used in denouncing the gifted.

Back Matter, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

On "Unfeminist Behavior" At The Convention, Judith Markowitz

Women's Studies Quarterly

To the Women's Studies Newsletter:

I left Bloomington after the NWSA Convention both elated and concerned. As one of the Program Coordinators I was generally happy with the Convention and appreciative of the many "thank yous" I had received. Most of the women to whom I spoke expressed satisfaction with the meeting and felt that the time they had spent in Bloomington had been energizing and educational. I want to thank each woman for her support and positive feedback.

Yet, as I left Bloomington, my elation was tinged with anger and concern because I had witnessed a great deal of …

Building Coalitions Between Women's Studies And Black Studies: What Are The Realities?, Ann Cathey Carver

Women's Studies Quarterly

When the idea of building coalitions between women's studies programs and Black or Hispanic studies programs was mentioned to me, my initial reaction was, "Fantastic! Women of all races and cultures have so many things in common, there should be many areas of cooperation for the mutual benefit of both programs—especially in this period when budget cuts and the 'back to basics' attitude are rampant on campuses across the country." Then I began to think seriously about the possibilities of such coalitions. To do so, I had to shift my focus from the hypothetical "what should be" to the concrete …

Editorial: Everywoman's Educational Health On The Road To Equity, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

We have not often used this space to announce new projects. But we are doing so because the project is both timely and important. This fall, The Feminist Press, with the cooperation of NWSA and other major organizations, is launching a two-year project called Everywoman's Guide to Colleges and Universities. The title of the project will also be the title of a paperback designed to supplement the guides produced for those college-bound.

To produce this book we will collect information from all two- and four-year institutions of higher education in the United States. The theme around which this information will …

Scholarships For Teachers At The Nwsa Convention, Sue Elwell, Patti Lather

Women's Studies Quarterly

Despite the fact that approximately 70 percent of those being trained in schools of education are women, most schools of education, as Florence Howe has recently pointed out (Harvard Educational Review, Special Issue on Women, vol. 49, no. 4, November 1979), have been resistant to the impact of the women's movement. This situation underscores the mandate of NWSA to reach out to public school educators, who play a crucial role in either perpetuating or counteracting sex stereotyping and the low aspirations of women.

The plan to involve more preK-12 teachers in the Second NWSA Convention began with the …

Encounter With American Feminism: A Muslim Woman's View Of Two Conferences, Leila Ahmed

Women's Studies Quarterly

April 1980. The Barnard Conference, "The Scholar and the Feminist"—my first direct as opposed to page-mediated encounter with American feminism. And then it came home to me: how simple the one-dimensional experience of reading; how easy, ordered, and amenable to order it makes things seem—coherent and amenable to coherence. Sitting in that hall, listening to papers that often clearly drew on the rhetorical strategies of an oral tradition, quite different from those in scholarly writing, even in that feminist scholarship self-consciously dismantling the rigidities of tradition; being aware of the responses of a highly-and diversely-responsive audience; straining to catch …

On Class Bias And The Nwsa, Sue Dove Gambill

Women's Studies Quarterly

To the Women's Studies Newsletter:

Class is a difficult issue to work with because it has been so well disguised in the United States. Many of us aren't actually sure what economic and social class we come from nor how our class background has affected our values, beliefs, and actions. When I speak of class I do not mean only an economic concept, but also the way we perceive the world, where we place value.

Poetry Reading: Third World Women Poets, Mary E. Gibson, Antonia Quintana Pigno, Joy Harjo

Women's Studies Quarterly

One of several poetry readings at the 1980 NWSA Conuention included the following poems.

Hq 1100 - Hq 1870: A Librarian's View Of The Second Nwsa Convention, Linda Parker

Women's Studies Quarterly

In the introduction to the NWSA Convention program, the Convention Coordinators refer to the necessity of building networks, disseminating new information and research, launching new campaigns for change, stirring new insights, and nurturing our growth as individuals. These concepts could form a feminist librarian's motto. Many libraries are bureaucratic monoliths which may seem impervious to change, but change is occurring because feminist library workers are challenging institutional policies and practices which form barriers to both women workers and women library users. Feminist librarians join NWSA for the same reason as anyone else—"to further the social, political, and professional development of …

A Journalist's Personal View Of The Nwsa Convention, Ann Colbert

Women's Studies Quarterly

For me, the National Women's Studies Association Convention this May was many things: for me as an Indiana University News Bureau writer, it was a chance to generate publicity both about the Convention and about the university; for me as a member of the Women's Studies Program Coordinating Committee, it was the culmination of a great deal of hard work which began last fall and continued through the Convention; for me as a returning woman student, it was an affirmation of much that had helped me grow into an effective human being. When asked to write about the Convention, I …

Front Matter, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Concerns Of Women's Studies Programs At The Nwsa Convention: A Graduate Student's Perspective, King Ming Young

Women's Studies Quarterly

As a graduate student, I found the Convention an inspiring educational experience. The high level of energy with which participants arrived became more intense as the week went by. A sense of excitement and a spirit of mission permeated the atmosphere. People were eager to share their experiences in women's studies and to learn from others. Many left with a heightened realization of how much remains to be done at their institution. They also left with an increased commitment to bringing about the needed institutional and social changes.

One concern prevailed throughout the Convention: how can NWSA avoid becoming a …

Newsbriefs, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Astraea Foundation: A New Resource For Women, Nancy Dean

Women's Studies Quarterly

In 1977 a group of 12 women from New York and Connecticut formed The Astraea Foundation to support the efforts of women to develop economic independence and foster personal well-being. The by-laws establish the Foundation as multiracial and multiethnic; its Central Board as at least 5O percent minority in membership; and its aim to provide financial assistance to those who have little access to funding. Now incorporated and tax exempt, the Foundation has completed its first disbursement cycle, awarding 55,000 to groups from the Northeast region of the country who fulfill its multiracial, multiethnic, and feminist criteria.

Where does the …

A Report On Research Sessions At The 1980 Nwsa Convention, Charol Shakeshaft

Women's Studies Quarterly

I cannot stress how important for . . . the future of human experience it is to take the development and explication of a feminine perspective in ... research seriously and to devote all our talents and energies collectively to its accomplishment. -Jane Anton

As research on women has increased, researchers have become increasingly concerned about how appropriate the existing research methodologies are for the study of women. In one of the earliest critiques, Rae Carlson argued that current research paradigms, which she characterized as involving manipulation, quantification, and control, not only impose restraints on the understanding of female psychology, …

Writing It All Down: An Overview Of The Second Nwsa Convention, Catharine R. Stimpson

Women's Studies Quarterly

Few conventions about education have either much cheer or tenderness. Those of the National Women's Studies Association do. In this, too, NWSA is unusual. One of the many good events at the 1980 Convention at Indiana University in Bloomington was a workshop that Frances Doughty of the National Gay Task Force gave. She used letters, photographs, and other archival remnants to portray a "lesbian friendship group," women who were either friends or lovers for thirty years. The audience touched its past with blissful curiosity. Then Doughty told a story about a famous member of the group: Janet Flanner, the writer. …

Problems And Pleasures Of Prek-12 Involvement In Nwsa: A Report After The 1980 Convention, Martha Schultz

Women's Studies Quarterly

Women's studies is the educational strategy of a breakthrough in consciousness and knowledge. The uniqueness of women's studies has been its refusal to accept sterile divisions between academy and community, between the growth of the mind and the health of the body, between intellect and passion, between the individual and society.

Women's studies, then, is equipping women not only to enter society as whole and productive human beings, but to transform it....

The National Women's Studies Association actively supports and promotes feminist education, and supports all feminists involved in that effort, at every educational level and in every educational setting. …

Nwsa News And Views, Elaine Reuben, Pat Gozemba, Jan Meriwether, Shelley Anderson, Polly Kellogg, Coralyn Fontaine, Norma J. Cobbs, Pat Miller

Women's Studies Quarterly

FROM THE NATIONAL OFFICE

By Elaine Reuben

At the opening session of the 1980 NWSA Convention, Dale Spender urged U.S. feminist educators to educate themselves beyond national boundaries. She called for an extension of our consciousness-raising efforts to understand and appreciate differences within an international feminist movement: for our own sakes, as well as for our sisters around the globe.

In the Spring Newsletter editorial, Florence Howe noted the large questions and hard choices posed by a growing awareness of international developments in women's studies. "Should we be institution-building in the U.S. or helping, advising, missionizing, urging—and learning from—women's studies …

Editorial: International Perspectives, F.H.

Women's Studies Quarterly

In this issue, among the items in the Graduate Women's Studies feature, you will find two M.A. programs at British universities. This is not an accident, but an illustration of the growth of women's studies around the globe. During March, I traveled for two weeks in a crammed visit to women's studies programs, scholars, and research centers in Oxford, London, Paris, and Rome. Perhaps because the unemployment of women academics is a serious problem, research seems more important than teaching, especially in a university context, where graduate scholarship in women's studies is helping Europeans to flesh out the history and …

The "Superwoman" Phenomenon, Carolyn Elliott

Women's Studies Quarterly

Ed. Note: The following article, originally a speech delivered to the Mary Elizabeth Garrett Symposium of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, provides a glimpse into the research that is going on at the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women. We would welcome similar reports from other women ·s studies research centers for an ongoing series in the Women's Studies Newsletter.

In an effort to establish themselves professionally, while preserving their identities as women, many women today are trying to do everything: to become "superwomen." Men are supporting women in this effort, not in the expectation that women …

Nwsa News And Views, Pat Gozemba, Patricia A. Frech, Barbara Hillyer Davis, Barbara Parker, Marcia Westkott, Jerilyn Fisher

Women's Studies Quarterly

FROM THE STEERING COMMITTEE

Responding to the 1979 charge of the Finance Committee and the Delegate Assembly, the Coordinating Council devoted a major portion of its February 14-17 meeting in College Park to a discussion of finances. The clear intent of all sessions was the consideration of fiscal responsibility in terms of feminist principles and the goals of NWSA.

On February 13, several members of the 1979-80 Finance Committee (Liz Birch, Alice Stadthaus, Barbara Taylor, Mary Thornberry, and Robin Wright) met with the Steering Committee (Pat Gozemba, Jan Meriwether, and Kay Towns); the National Coordinator, Elaine Reuben; the National Staff …

Front Matter, The Feminist Press

Women's Studies Quarterly

No abstract provided.