Fall, 2012
AWS @ CGU
Applied
Women’s
Studies:
At CGU, the
internship is the
focus of the
applied aspect of
the Applied
Women's Studies
Program.
Students take
classes in their
field of focus and
intern at an
organization that
will best utilize
the skills and
knowledge
gained in the
classroom to
provide them
with real - life
experiences
to make real-life
impacts.
Photo: Megan Rao, Kim Frank 14’, AWS Alumna Keeonna Harris 12’, Angela Tilley 14’,
Sydney Bertram, Andaye Hill 14’, Meredith Anderson 14’, Dr. Linda Perkins, Corrina Wildner14’
Director’s Comments
The Applied Women’s Studies Department welcomed eight new
students into our program this year. This diverse group of young
women with interests that range from studying returning women
veterans from Iraq and Iran, the study of motherhood, issues related
to girls and youth, violence against women globally, feminist activism
through art, and non-profit organizations that work with women
and girls. Our year started with the new class of students attending a
one-day conference on Women and Leadership at Mount St. Mary’s
College in Los Angeles.
One of the AWS Advisory Committee members, Professor Jean
Lipmen-Blumen of the Drucker School at Claremont Graduate
University was one of the keynote speakers. Professor LipmenBlumen is an authority in the field of Connected Leadership. This
newsletter chronicles the activities of our students during the
semester. Among our activities was taking ten students to the
National Women’s Association’s conference in Oakland, California
in November. We participated in a graduate student recruitment
reception, met and had dinner with AWS alumni who were
attending the conference and had an opportunity to hear numerous
of our AWS alums present papers at the conference. Our students,
alums and Advisory Committee members have made impressive and
significant accomplishments this semester. Current student Amanda
Lee was selected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Greater
Los Angeles YWCA, the youngest person to be appointed
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to this position. Alumna Tara Robinson’ 06 is Communications and
Development Director at Mission Asset Fund. She is also Editor-inChief of the Golden Gate Mother's Group Magazine, a monthly
40page publication for 5000 mothers in the Bay Area.
Advisory Committee Member Professor Daryl Smith is the
recipient of the Howard R. Bowen Distinguished Career Award by
the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Professor Smith
is an internationally renowned scholar on Diversity in Higher
Education. AWS Advisory Committee member Cecelia Conrad,
Acting President of Pomona is leaving Claremont in January to
become Director of the McArthur Fellowship Program in Chicago.
President Conrad has been a very active and important member of
the Advisory Committee. While we are losing a member, we have
gained a new Advisory Committee member. Professor Piya
Chatterjee (featured in the newsletter) is the new Dorothy
Crunchshank Backstrand Chair of Gender and Women’s Studies at
Scripps College. We are delighted to have Professor Chatterjee
affiliated with AWS and serving on our Advisory Committee.
I continue to do research on the history of Black women in
higher education. I’ve presented numerous papers this fall on various
aspects of this topic. I most recently presented a paper at the Oxford
Club in London on Merze Tate, the first Black woman to earn a
degree from Oxford University (1935).
AWS @ CGU, FALL 2012
AWS Alumna Profile: Rose Gonzalez, 10’
Rose Gonzalez was a Dual Degree M.A. student in both the Applied
Women’s Studies and Arts Management Programs. She received her
B.A. in English and Women’s Studies from California State University
Fullerton. While at Claremont Graduate University, she received the
Felix & Helen Juda Award and was a Grant Writing Intern for Five
Acres - The Boys and Girls Aid Society of Los Angeles County as well
as the Assistant to the Executive Director and Database Coordinator
Intern for the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Currently she is the
Grant Writer at Villa Esperanza Services, an organization changing the
lives of children and adults with autism, down syndrome and other
intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Applied Women’s Studies Students
Learn about Leadership at the
Mt. St. Mary Women’s
Leadership Conference
By: Meredith Anderson
Students from the Applied Women's Studies program attended
the Women in Leadership Conference: Create, Connect and Commit
to Change, hosted by Mount St. Mary's College. The event was
inspired by the report the college published this year entitled the
“Report on the Status of Women and Girls in California.” The
conference is part of their mission to, “encourage dialogue and
facilitate positive changes to the challenging issues facing the women
and girls of today's world.”
The conference brought together many undergraduate and
graduate students in addition to alumni, community activists, experts
and authors to discuss a variety of avenues to equip and empower
women seeking to make a difference through transformational
leadership. Keynote speaker Bonnie St. John shared her inspirational
story as the first African-American Paralympics medalist, Rhodes
Scholar, White House economic adviser, and author of “How Great
Women Lead.”
Attendees got to listen in on presentations ranging from
balancing career and personal goals by Denita Willoughby, CEO of
The Wiki Group, to starting your own business by Jacqueline Baptist,
an entrepreneur and CEO originally from Malaysia, and realizing
your vision by Anna Ouroumian, president and CEO of the
Academy Business.
Participants enjoyed networking with one another, discussing the
ideas and issues raised and considering ways change can be realized
in everyday professional work. After a day full of sessions,dialogue
and business card swapping attendees benefited from the exposure to
the work being done across disciplines, professions and locations.
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AWS @ CGU, FALL 2012
Applied Women’s Studies Students Attend
“Motherhood in the 21st Century”
By: Meredith Anderson 12’
“Motherhood is a
complex and ever
changing
performative role
that is important
both biologically as
well as socially to
the development of
the next
generation.”
-”Motherhood in
the 21st Century”
3
On October 13th Claremont Graduate University
hosted the first ever Motherhood in the 21st Century
Conference. Attendees enjoyed speakers, discussion and
a workshop aimed at building understanding and
awareness around the unique issues facing and defining
mothers today. The event was hosted by the Claremont
Graduate Women's Council in collaboration with
American Mothers, Inc., a non-profit organization that
works to recognize the important role of motherhood
through educational programs and community
outreach.
The speakers and discussions centered around the
significant yet evolving role motherhood plays in
shaping our world and the women who live in it.
Emphasis was placed on the dynamic roles that women
are playing in and outside the home as professionals,
activists, community leaders and mothers. In addition
the CGU's recently launched Living Women's History
Project participated by leading a workshop designed to
raise awareness of the necessity of not only hearing the
lived stories of women but also preserving them.
The project leaders Gina Messina-Dysert,
Associate Professor of Theological Studies, and Dianne
Callister, Chair of the CGU Women's Council and UN
Representative for American Mother's Inc., lead those
in attendance through a series of exercises to begin a
historical record of their own lives and to train them in
how to create such a historical capsule of others who's
lived realities may easily be lost.
Dr. Linda Perkins, Director of Applied Women's
Studies at CGU, set the tone of the day by speaking to
the expansion of the stereotypical image of a mother in
American culture. Perkins emphasized the reality that
most women are confronted with poverty, violence and
single motherhood. She addressed the misconception
that today mothers struggle primarily with wanting to
“have it all.” Perkins identified this as an issue faced by
a privileged minority in that most woman have to “do it
all” in order to survive and provide for their families.
She also discussed how women and their partners need
to establish equality in their relationship with one
another, in parenting and shared the responsibilities of
having children.
American Mother's appointed Young Mother of
the Year, Carrie Leonard, recounted her journey to
balance her professional and personal pursuits with
four children and a successful career in law and
development. Monica Coleman, Associate Professor of
Constructive Theology and African American
Religions and Co-Director for Process Studies at
Claremont School of Theology, spoke about
motherhood and depression and her own journey to
make peace with the process of having a child and
maintaining her voice once motherhood seemingly
consumes a woman's life.
Also in attendance was former Duarte Mayor and
community activist Margaret Finlay who encouraged
mothers to engage in public service from the PTA to
city council to the Senate by including their children
and families in their work.
Attendees enjoyed conversations about how
women are dealing with creating community of other
women for themselves and the necessity of carving out
space for their own personal aspirations beyond of the
motherhood piece of their identity in order to manifest
the power and potential each woman possesses.
AWS @ CGU, FALL 2012
AWS Student & Alumna News
• Amanda J. Lee, 13’ was appointed to
serve on the Board of Directors of the
Great Los Angeles YWCA
• Alumna Keeonna Harris, 12’ and a
Doctoral Student in the Arizona State
University Justice Studies Program will be
presenting a paper at the 4th Annual
Global Conference: Experiencing Prison
in Prague in May, 2013 entitled
“Cyntoia’s Story: Mentally Unstable or
Disposal Youth”
• John Erickson, 11’ and Meredith
Anderson, 14’ were selected to serve on
the Women’s Council at CGU
• Tara Robinson’ 06 is Communications
and Development Director at Mission
Asset Fund. She is also Editor-in-Chief of
the Golden Gate Mother's Group
Magazine
Photo(s): Left: Amanda J. Lee 13’, AWS Alum
John Erickson 11’, Dr. Linda Perkins
Rights: Dr. Linda Perkins, Corrina Wildner 14’,
Dr. Johnetta Richards, AWS Alum
John Erickson 11’, Sydney Bertram 14’, Kim
Frank 14’, Amanda J. Lee 13’
AWS at the National Women’s Studies Conference
New Applied Women’s Studies Students Join Alums at the National Women’s Studies
Conference in Oakland, California.
By: John Erickson
Each fall students and alumnae from the Applied Women’s
Studies program travel to the annual National Women’s Studies
Conference to present, network, and participate in a conference
made up of Women and Gender Studies scholars from across
the country. This year the meeting was held in Oakland, GA.
Alumna Keeonna Harris and Pamela O’Leary, alongside
alumnae John Erickson joined AWS Director Dr. Linda Perkins
and new Applied Women’s Studies Students in partaking in this
years conference theme entitled “Feminism Unbound:
Imagining A Feminist Future.”
The conference this year was a success for many reasons.
The AWS community was able to gather in the same space and
enjoy and learn about the new, cutting edge feminist and
gender scholarship occurring throughout different institutions
nation wide as well as within our own.
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Along with attending panels or moderating them, AWS
took part in a reception that promoted Women and Gender
studies program in the United States that offered graduate
degrees in the field. The AWS program was able to attract
multiple students to our table and talk with prospective students
who were interested in learning more about the applied aspect
of feminist scholarship happening at Claremont Graduate
University. Based on the number of people we talked with, the
AWS program is destined to become stronger in the next
couple of years because of the talented and dedicated students
who pass through our program.
AWS @ CGU, FALL 2012
Applied Women’s Studies Celebrates at the National
Women’s History Museum
By: Meredith Anderson 12’
On October 25th the National Women's History Museum's Los Angeles Council hosted its first event which honored Dolores
Huerta, President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, Co-founder of United Farm Workers and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
and Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Founder and CEO of Miss Representation and Girls Club Entertainment.
This exclusive reception was well attended by Los Angeles host committee members, celebrity friends of the museum, community
activists and scholars. Guest enjoyed mingling at Creative Artists Agency before being ushered into the private theatre for the presentation
of awards and first ever showing of the National Women's History Museum Public Service Announcement. Hosted by award winning
actress Sharon Lawrence, the evening invited attendees to celebrate the work accomplished by the National Woman's History Museum
and the activism being done nationally to advance establishment of a physical museum on the mall in Washington D. C..Representatives
from sponsors Claremont Graduate University and Dermalogica introduced the two honored guests each being recognized for their
inspirational leadership and advocacy work on behalf of women, girls and their families.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom was recognized for her documentary film Miss Representation, which examines the under and
misrepresentation of women in power by the media. The film strives to bring light to the core societal issue that women, “can not be what
they can not see.” Dolores Huerta is best known for her unprecedented life's work as a labor leader and civil rights activist. Her rousing
speech brought the audience to their feet as she lead them in her iconic “Si Se Puede” chant as she urged all to find their voice and do the
work they have been called to. Next the crowd was treated to the moving film that will be hitting the airwaves as a Public Service
Announcement to promote the cause of the museum. The cinematic piece featured a series of young girls assuming the characters of
influential women in the American narrative who are often down played or omitted in the official historical record. Each simply told the
audience, “Don't tell me I can't...” according to each of their accomplishments.
This powerful imagery beautifully summed up the mission and spirit of the evening—to plead more to join the cause to acknowledge
the significance of the vital contributions of women to history and to make their stories known for the sake of preserving their place in
the human story thereby giving young girls the role models they need to also reach their full potential to be history makers.
Piya Chatterjee
Dorothy Cruickshank Backstrand Chair
of Gender and Women’s Studies
at Scripps College & New AWS Advisory
Board Member
By: Amanda Lee ’10
Piya Chatterjee is the latest addition to the Scripps College faculty as the
Dorothy Cruickshank Backstrand Chair of the Gender and Women's Studies
department. Her previous appointment was at the University of California,
Riverside where she taught as an Associate Professor of Women's Studies. She
specializes in third world women's movements, international gender politics, and
feminist ethnographic writing. Her recent cutting edge research encompassed
Indian women (and the gender, race and labor politics that unfolded in its context)
who work in the tea plantations of India. She is an activist for woman’s human
rights, anti-violence and education on a global level.
Border crossing and diasporic worlds chart Piya Chatterjee's personal and
intellectual contours and her Anthropology. Born in India, she spent an early
childhood in Nigeria. As an undergraduate at Wellesley College she acquired an
intellectual commitment to women's issues and then took a Master's side trip
through Political Science at the University of Chicago. Her main real focus is
South Asia, but she has related interests in the history of the English-speaking
Caribbean. She is currently writing about gender, labor, and history in Indian tea
plantations, while the focus of her current research is working-class women and
public health cultures within Indian plantations and in California agribusiness. This
research is located within the broader field of women and international
"development." Her methodological approach is shaped by current debates in
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AWS @ CGU, FALL 2012
AWS Advisory Board News
• Professor Daryl Smith, professor of education and psychology at Claremont
Graduate University (CGU), has received the Howard R. Bowen Distinguished
Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE).
The award is presented annually to someone whose professional life has been
devoted in substantial part to the study of higher education and whose career has
significantly advanced the field through extraordinary scholarship, leadership, and
service. Smith received the award on Nov. 16 at the ASHE conference in Las Vegas.
The association is a scholarly society with about 2,000 members dedicated to higher
education as a field of study.
• Professor Cecilia Conrad, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Pomona
College, has been selected to serve as the next Director of the MacArthur Fellows
Program. An economist, Dr. Conrad conducts research on economic inequality. At
Pomona, she has championed the College’s summer undergraduate research
program, led conversations regarding the value and assessment of a liberal arts
college education, and worked with academic departments to improve the campus
climate for diversity.
APPLIED WOMEN’S STUDIES
150 E. 10th Street, Claremont, CA 91711
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
John Erickson