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Dr. Shuana Tucker, University of Connecticut (Left) and Dr. Linda Perkins, CGU (Right)
Letter from Applied Women's Studies
Director, Dr. Linda Perkins:
This has been a productive year for the
Applied Women's Studies Program at
Claremont Graduate University.
Throughout this year, we continued our
focus on scholarship and activism. Our
new and continuing students are
highlighted in this newsletter. This year's
newsletter illustrates the
accomplishments of our students and our
sponsored events, as well as introduces
our newest Advisory Committee
member, Professor Michelle Bligh, from
the School of Behavioral and
Organizational Sciences at CGU.
Professor Bligh's research on women and
leadership has resulted in a series of
forums during the year. I participated in
one of the forums in the fall and
discussed women, education and
leadership. AIso during the fall, the
National Women's Studies Association
had an exciting conference in Atlanta,
Georgia with the theme "Difficult
Dialogues." I participated on a panel
with several other Women's Studies
directors to discuss our various programs
and their components. I also recently
presented a paper at the Women and
Girls of Color Conference in New
Haven, Connecticut on the life of May
Edward Chinn, the first Black woman
medical doctor in Harlem.
has been outstanding. She has
coordinated all of our activities
as
well
the spring we hosted two South African
artist-activists who performed scenes
from their original plays as well as poems
about identity in post-apartheid South
Africa. This was a wonderful and
powerful event.
Our program and one of our students,
Lillian Pittman are featured in the latest
of The Flame, the magazine of
Claremont Graduate University, which
can be viewed at httP://rrrrrr.cgu.edtt/
issue
Currently, I am on sabbatical from the
spring semester until the fall semester of
2010. I'm completing a book on the
history of Black women's higher
education. Jenell Navarro, a 2007
graduate, is administering our program
during my absence. .fenell's leadership
as
served as advisor to our students. During
oases/3B90.asn.
\[e are thriwing and our students
continue to excel!
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Writing Our Way Home
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pplied Women's Studies brought
Malika Ndlowu
Chantal Snyrnan, two South African women
iters and theatre-makers, to campus to perform a
of their works titled "Writing Our Way
lome." This performance was about coming of age
uring their country's transition from an apartheid
te to a fledgling democracy. These women shared
ies and sources of inspiration shaping their lives
creative work, through poetry, play extracts and
. For both of these arts activists. issues
d gender, race, ancestry, family and a true
of belonging are recurring themes and
erns in their work that resonate with the belief
at home is often a space you create around
rself, beyond the physical places we are tied to by
ine or history.
e primary performance was March 31 in Balch
torium at Scripps College. The following day,
r, Malika ar.rd Chantal held a roundtable
ion at the Office of Black Student Affairs
t racial identity and what it means to be
red" in South Africa, which generated a lively
ion about identity politics, racially constructed
ierarchies, spiritual belonging, and more. Later
at day they also participated in a panel sponsored
the Women's Union at Pomona College on
men, Indigeneity, Education, and Healing."
g with other indigenous women, they presented
of their work through sharing life stories, song,
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and poetry. It was a moving performance that left
students with much to consider regarding issues of
identity, race, gender, and belonging. Applied
Women's Studies worked in conjunction with
Intercollegiate Women's Studies, the Minority
Mentor Program, Intercollegiate Africana Studies
ar.rd The Transdisciplinary Studies Program to make
these events possible. We are grateful to all who
helped make this happen!
On her initial inspiration for her play
titled "A Coloured Place" Malika
Ndlovu says:
"lt's something I've avoided - the
issue of Coloured people...even
relating myself to the term Goloured
has always been a problem for me.
Doing this play is a lot like a
personaljourney. The idea came
from having so many South African
people asking me, "What are you?" I
would assume they would know the
apartheid boxes we come from. But,
there's not one panicular face, or
type of hai6 or skin that you can say
is Goloured, or can really define us."
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Michelle's research examines the intersection
between leadership, gender, and language,
focusing on how women leaders communicate
in light of prevalent stereotypes that they may
be less fit for top leadership positions than
their male counterparts. ln addition, her
research examines how portrayals of women
in the popular press impact perceptions of
their likeability, competence, and fit for
leadership roles.
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AWS Offers a Gourse on:
Women and the Caribbean
Sexuality. Empire and Race in
the Modern Caribbean: Taught
By Professor April Mayes from
Pomona College's Department of
History
This Spring 201I course u'ill lte
at.r
ldisciplirtat-t' se minat' in
u{rich u e u'ill applv histot'ical anall':';i5,
anthropologr', cnltural sttlclies, literarr',
critical. and Black fen.rinist theort' to 1he
stuclr.' of ('onternl)ot'arv Cariltltean s<tcieties, fi'om tlle llilleteelllh
('elrtllr\i unlil the preseltt. Lt this sernit-rarl ()tlr goal rvill be to ecllrill
ach'ance
c[,
inte
urnd tnetl.roclologit al tools
race, sexualitr', atld emllile irtto
or-rr- l-ristorical I'esearch. \\'e r'rill also ask out-selves hou'atrcl u'lrv
histolical actors mobilized ideas alx)tlt race ancl sexualitt' 1tl ct'aft
and sustaitr social, ecotrornic, and cr.rltut'al l)o\\:er. Has en-rllile
endecl iIr the Caribbean? Do colttemporarr,' Carillbean tratiotrstates leh' on or hale thev challengecl hist<,-tricallv ernbeclclc'd idezrs
zrbout Caribbean peoples' racial identities ancl sexrtal llrat'ticcs?
otu-seh'es
u'ith the lheoletical, anah'tical,
necess:ll-\' to integr':rte analt'ses
of
Do current stnl('trlres o1' global, linartcial, atlcl ecclttott-tic llou'erreir-rforce or c()ntest racial and sexualizecl uotiotrs of the
Calibbean? \\'hat lole calr/slrould scholars ltlav iI'r ltublic, at tilnes
intcrnational cleb:rtes, r-egarditrg sex, l'ace. atlcl pou'el itr
Caribbean societies?
This cotrrse promises to be an exciting studr'!
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Re-Defining Our Father's
Power:
Yale Conference on
Honrosexuality
By John Erickson
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In the words of Professor Emilie M.
Townes of Yale University, "Sometimes
when someone threatens schism, the
best solution is to let them so." These
timeless words epitomized the struggle
that rvorld scholars addressed at Yale
Unirersity in October 2009 during a
conference titled "\\rhy Homosexuality:
Religion, Globalization, and the Anglican
Schism." The founding principles that
Emilie Townes and many of her fellow
scholars such as Mary-Jane Rubenstien
and Mark D.Jordan elaborated on are
the basis for the foundations of the first
original Anglican Schism that took place
during Henry VIII's tirade to produce a
male heir. The schism that we face now
in the Anglican Church is the same tlpe
that reshaped history long ago:
homosexuality.
Separating from Roman Authority
and redefining the power that society
believes is handed down to them by God
allows cultures to rewrite history on their
own terms and more importantly
establish the power that they believe to be
divine. In our current socially hegemonic
and sexually constructed society,
one would think the qualm over the issue
of homosexuality would not be as serious
as poverty, HIV/AIDS, or access to clean
water sources. Hower.'er, as Mary-Jane
Rubenstein states the issue of
homosexuality and it's relation to
woman. The "other" as Emilie Townes
alluded to is therefore no longer classified
as powerless, but has become the power
that these men and women are afraid to
lose. If someone begins to threaten
schism over losing tlis "power", maybe
Emilie Townes was right, and we should
let them leave and close the door behind
them. After all, history is shaped by these
critical moments and now, maybe the
goddesses and gods of history our
whispering to the "others"
that it is finally their time to shine.
Anglicanism: "Is much grealer and
much graver." The issue over
homosexuality is just another step in the
el'olutionary process of the Anglican
Church and its' need to threaten schism
over issues invol"'ing the "other."
While tlie conference itself could have
been called "rr&'hy Femininity" or "\{hy
Masculinity", it did a great deal ol
addressing the real problem at hand:
Homosexualitv threatens masculinity
and femininity as a whole and re-defines
what it is to call yourself a man or a
Climbing Machu Picchu has been one of the greatest
experiences of my life and the most remarkable leat I have
ever attempted to accomplish. Step by step, in the early
mornins darkness, I trailed behind the ten other volunteers
that came to Peru to offer service to the women of La Casa de
Acogida (or Kausakusun in Qyechua), a temporary women's
shelter in San Sebastian, Peru. Not unlike the women of
Acogida, we volunteers were able to ascend to the top of this
ancient city only by maintaining a sense of resiliency and faith
in our own abilities. This resiliency and faith is somethine seen
in the eyes of the Peruvians that have survived Spanish
conquest of their Incan ancestors as well as exploitation by
foreign investors. For these reasons, Peru is a wonderful place
to do community service. There are large numbers of
organizations doing much needed work in a\ area that has
been hit by Capitalism /Glohalization almost literally
overnight. Due to the massil'e tourist population in Cusco,
there is much homelessness, poverty, and many socro-economrc
in the outer-lying communities. The money that is being
made is not being put back into the community. Fortunately,
the people of San Sebastian and Cusco are blessed with a host
of community organizers.
issues
Working alongside the native-born community organizers was
an amazing experience. The native organizers I worked with,
the community defenders (as they called themselves), were
proactive women tired of waiting on the government to lend a
hand and were forthright in doing the work that needed to be
done themselves. Working with these women, hearing their
stories, and planning events with the Peru 109 group I
volunteered with was inspiring as much as it was demanding. I
thoroughly enjoyed myself and plan to go back in the summer
201
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Angela Davis: Legacies in the Making
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By Jenell Navarro, AWS Alum, Class ol2OO7
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(,
On October 3i-November 1.2009 the University of
California, Santa Cruz held a cor.rference titled. 'Angela Davis:
Legacies in the Makir-rg." The conference rvas convened in
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honor of Angela's retirement from the History of
Consciousness Department at UCSC as a way to recognize the
academic, activist. and cultural ir.rterventions of this
outstanding contemporary visionary. The conlereuce was an
oralfestschtifi of sorts, bringing together many of Angela's
lormer students from the 1970's onward, her many colleagues.
ar.rd those of us who have not had the privilege to study with
Angela, but have greatly benefited from her work. Many of
the panels assembled for the event spoke to the enriching
activist-scholar-teacher model that Angela has embodied
throughout the four decades of her career, and the ways this
model has radically transformed knowledge productior.r. both
inside and outside of the academy. I was remir.rded over and
over again at the conference that a program like Applied
Women's Studies would not exist if this model had not been
ir.rsisted upor.r by the many feminist scholars like Angela rvho
have gor.re before us making the way possible.
There were many significar-rt par-rels and speakers at the event.
but I'll just highlight a couple. Andrea Smith (Professor of
Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California.
Riverside) gave a presentation titled. "The Color of Violence:
Angela Davis and the Radicalization of the Arti-Moler.rce
Movement." L.r this presentation, Smith highlightecl Angela's
contributions to the Anti-\'iolence Movement, lr,hich are too
numerous to count here. Additionally, Erik McDuffie (Professor
of African American Studies and Gender and Women's
Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
offered ar.r ir.rsightful and historical presentation titled, "I rvas
walkir.rg a path..ah'eady established by my mother." Here,
McDuffie chronicled the lineage that Angela ir.rherited from
her mother who was very influential in her political organizir.rg
and intellectual life.
Finally, Angela offered
the closing remarks
for the conference
urging all of us to
consider how we can
produce a mutable
and alterable present.
In the spirit of
commur-rity, she
challenged all of us to
create the kind of
commur-rity u'e want
to see. She said.
66This
rnornent
too shall pass,
but it is up to us
on hout it passes.t'
Rebecca Spence
preser.rted a papel at UCLAs Thinking
Gender annual conlerence titled, "Poststructuralist Agency in
the California Pur.rk Scene." which was very well-u'ritten and
well-received. In addition. Rebecca v'.ill be a Maguire Fellow
for the 2010-201I academic year, where she will rvork as Dr.
Joe Parker's Teaching Assistant in his cor-rrse titled
"Introduction to International ar-rd Intercultural Studies," ar-rd
she will be working in New York City this snmmer completing
her internship u.ith The Doula Project (u'vvurdoulaproject.org).
Nexandra Ferna.dez
secured ar.r internship with the
Human Rights Watch during this semester, completed an
activist training course with the Coalition Against Sex
Trafficking ir.r Los Angeles (CAST IA), and will be workir.rg in
Washington D.C. this summer with Pamela O'Leary, an AWS
alum, at the Sewall-Belmont House and Museum. n'hich is the
headquarters of the historic National Woman's Party and was
the lrVashington home of its founder ar.rd Equal Rights
Amendment authol Alice Paul from 1929 until 1972.
Annesa Williarns interned with the Center for the Study of
Political Graphics. a non-profit organization that collects,
preserves, and exhibits posters relating to movements for social
change. CSPG works to reclaim the power of art to educate
and inspire people to actior.r. A.nnesa has also been accepted
into a doctoral program at The Claremor.rt School of Theology
and r,r-ill begin her course of study there in the Fall of 20 10.
Adriana Di Bartr:lo. AWS Alurn, Reports Back ort Hel
Wark at The Gueer Hesource Center:
has been an excitir-rg semestel at the Queer Resource Cer-rter! \\re startecl out n'ith a ltang.
hosting a receptior.r fol Kenji \bshino. arvarrl-n'inning author of Coroing Tfu Hiddut Assatrlt
It
Rigltli'. In September the QRC held its annual N{iddle School Dauce u'here
of Destint"s Clhild and The
Backstleet Bovs - the mnsic thev listenerl to in miclclle school nou'dou't vou feel old? In
celebration of National Coming Out Dar'. Octobel I l. u'e helcl a numbel of evetrts in effolts
to create visibility aronnd ar.r ir.rvisible communitr'. as u,ell as suppolt LGB'fQstucleuts ancl
allies to come out in a nelcomir-rg ar-rd inclusive environment. Octobel rvas also LGBTq
Historr, month. so. the QRCI along u,ith other consoltium sponsors. ir.rch-rcling A\\rS. l>rought
Glenne NlcElhirurer: directol of "On These Shouldels \\re Stand" to Pomona (iollege.
on om Ciitil
stuclents fi'om the 5Cs tore np the dance floor to the music
Alumr.ri. commurlitv members. and str-rdents from the colleges packecl Rose Hills Theatel to
see this clocumentall; u'hich highlighted the ple-Stoneu'all LC}BTQmovement iu Los
Angeles. In observance of Tlansgendel Dav of Remembrance. November'20. the QRC and
the \Vomer-r's fJnion at Pomona College joined folces holding llllmel'ous events to l'aise
of tlansgenrlel issues on the campus during TI-zursger-rdel Au'aretress \{eek. The
u,eek of events enclecl on Tlansgencler Dav of Remembrance uith a spectacttlat' altistic talk
giver.r ll'Dr. Shakina Navfack titled "Transger.rclel Spilitualitl'and Pet'fot'matrce:
Clhoreographies of Bodr,/Faith/Desire". At clusk. folks ol the queer commuuitl helcl a vigil
a\\'areness
at (llaremont \lcKenna College to honor of those u,ho have lost their lives to arttitransgendel hatlecl ol plejuclice. I have also beer"r able to paltnel u'ith the Ofllce of
Institutior.ral Diversitv at Halve,v \,Iudd ()ollege to facilitate monthh'alh'tlainirtgs fol the
facultl'. staff and administration of the Cilaren.ror.rt Clolleges. I am blessecl to hare atr amazit'tg
stafL u'hich is trr,rlv cledicatecl to cleating a space fol the LGBTQcommur.ritv at the
Cllalemor.rt Clolleges. I feel honoled to be in this position an<l I am grateful fol tl-re
encouragement and suppolt
I
receirre fi'om Dr. Pelkins and mY A\\IS colleagues!
Clarenlont
GRADUATE UIIIVERSITY
APPLIED WOMEN'S STUDIES
NEWSLETTER EDITORS: