Center for Women’s & Gender Studies

JOB POSTING
2011 Summer Internship with the Bernard and Audre
Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice

Contact: William Chandler wchandler@law.utexas.edu 512-232-4857

How to Apply: Please submit materials to William Chandler via email at wchandler@law.utexas.edu (Subject: Graduate Internship) or in person in TNH Room 3.119D at the Law School.

Deadline: 12:00 PM on Friday, April 8.

Description: Professor Karen Engle is seeking to hire two to three law or graduate students to work at least half-time (20 hrs/week) as summer fellows at the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice.

Projects may include the following:

Work with human rights archives at UT to develop online exhibits and programming;
Work on the publication of the Center’s 2010—2011 Annual Review by writing and editing articles, compiling photographs, designing layout and working extensively with the software program InDesign; Engage in human rights research, writing and curriculum development;
Other tasks may include mentoring Center undergraduate interns, helping with outreach to students and faculty at the law school and across campus, assisting in the planning of the speaker series and annual conference to take place during the 2011-12 academic year, expanding the Center’s social media and web presence, and assisting with grant writing and fundraising.

Funding is available for the positions.

Required Application Materials: Cover letter, resume, list of three references, and an unofficial transcript that includes the courses you are currently taking. Please indicate any InDesign or Photoshop software skills and foreign language proficiency.

This fellowship is open to all law and graduate students.

Please join us for the seventh installment this semester of our Lecture Series to be held this upcoming MONDAY, March 28th from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the new Anthropology Conference Room in SAC 5.118

We are honored to welcome Prof. AMIRA MITTERMAIER from the University of Toronto whose lecture is entitled:

BEYOND SELF-CULTIVATION: EGYPTIAN DREAMS AND SUBJECTIVITIES

Lecture abstract: How do Egyptian dream-stories complicate the paradigm of self-cultivation which has in recent years become hegemonic in the anthropology of Islam? Drawing on narratives of visitational and prophetic dreams, Dr. Mittermaier suggests that self-cultivation works well to describe certain practices that are central to the Islamic piety movement, but it obscures other modes of religiosity that revolve around neither acting-against nor acting-within but that revolve around being-acted-upon. These other modes of religiosity are just as prominent in Egypt today and, as the talk aims to show, pose an even more radical challenge to the liberal autonomous self.

This event is generously sponsored by the UT Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

A *light* lunch will be served.

CAAS Scholarships

The Center for Asian American Studies (CAAS) at The University of Texas at Austin is an interdisciplinary academic program devoted to raise awareness of issues pertaining to Asian Americans. CAAS provides scholastic awards for exceptional students who have furthered the promotion of research, service, and academic involvement which is imperative for the growth of Asian American Studies.

CAAS Scholarships are open to any student attending the University of Texas at Austin, pending that they meet specific application requirements. Please visit this website in the Spring Semester to download the scholarship application(s). Contact CAAS if you have any questions, comments, or concerns.

SPRING 2011 Awards:

Spring 2010 Scholarship/Awards are now available. Click Here!
Scholarships Available: DUE DATE for all scholarships is Friday, April 22nd.

CAAS Student Service Award:
The Center for Asian American Studies (CAAS) at The University of Texas at Austin is an interdisciplinary academic program devoted to raise awareness of issues pertaining to Asian Americans. CAAS provides scholastic awards for exceptional students who have furthered the promotion of research, service, and academic involvement which is imperative for the growth of Asian American Studies.

Community involvement is highly encouraged both at the UT-Austin and CAAS levels. Additional support to CAAS is very appreciated and should be noted in the applicants CV/resume.
Undergraduate applicants must have completed or are enrolled in at least 1 (3 credit hour) Asian American Studies (AAS) course.

Service Award Amount for the 2010-2011 academic year: (Pending on the applications received, one award will be received by an undergraduate student and the second to a graduate student.)
$250 for two undergraduate students CAAS: Asian American Undergrad. Student Organizational

Excellence Award:
CAAS provides scholastic awards for exceptional students and organizations who have furthered the promotion of research, service, and academic involvement which is imperative for the growth of Asian American Studies. University and community involvement is highly encouraged both at the UT-Austin and CAAS levels. Additional support to CAAS is very appreciated and should be noted in the application.

Award will be given to President of the organization. This individual should be the one who fills out the scholarship form. This individual will also be the recipient of the monetary award. Only one form per organization please.

Student Organizational Excellence Award Amount for the 2010-2011 academic year:
$500 for one undergraduate student organization

CAAS: Undergraduate Research/Scholarship Award:
Due to the interdisciplinary focus of our program, the scholarship awards can include research papers, works of fiction, visual art/representation, and other types of research activities. Research must be backed by the faculty assigned to the course in which the research paper/project was completed. Research submitted may be from the Fall 2009 and/or Spring 2010 semester. Items submitted must be in it’s completed and graded form from Fall 2009. However, Spring 2011 research may be “works in progress” meaning that they are 90% completed. This is for research that would be graded for the final, but due to the deadline of this application may not have received the final grade before May 6, 2010.

Please submit a copy of the completed Research Papers/Project with the grade you received on it. We need some indication on what grade you received for the Research/Project. A letter of recommendation from the faculty member who was the instructor of record for the course your research paper/project is required. Papers should be electronically submited to Barbara Jann a barbaraj@austin.utexas.edu. Anything on DVD/CD should be delievered to CAAS.
Undergraduate applicants must have completed or are enrolled in at least 1 (3 credit hour) Asian American Studies (AAS) course.

Undergraduate Research Award Amounts for the 2010-2011 academic year:
$200 for two undergraduate student with an exceptional research paper/project
CAAS: Graduate Student Research Scholarship Award
Please see description above for undergraduate research scholarship award.

Additionally, graduate students should acknowledge in their application any affiliations they have with CAAS. Please also attach your CV/Resume.
Graduate Research Award Amounts for the 2010-2011 academic year:
$250 for one graduate studen

The application is available at: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/aas/undergraduate-program/financial-aid.php

Loretta Ross, the national coordinator of SisterSong Women of Color
Reproductive Health Collective, co-author of Undivided Rights: Women
of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice, and longtime human rights,
anti-racism, and anti-sexual violence activist, will be speaking to
the public in April at the University of Texas at Austin. We invite
everyone to join us for this inspiring event.

Who: Loretta Ross
Date: Saturday, April 2
Time: 2:00pm-3:15pm (doors open at 1:45)
Place: Utopia Theater, School of Social Work Building, 1925 San
Jacinto Boulevard, Austin, TX
Cost: Free

Feminist Action Project, a student group at UT, is sponsoring Ms. Ross
as part of their student-run activist conference, “Feminism is for
Every(body),” on April 1 and 2. For more information on the event or
to register, please contact feministactionproject@gmail.com or go to
http://feministactionproject.blogspot.com/. For more information on
Ms. Ross and her work, please see her Speak Out biography here:

http://www.speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=50&uid=113

REGISTRATION IS OPEN for Feminist Action Project 2011: Feminism is for
Every(body)

April 1 & 2 at the UT School of Social Work

Organized by students, aimed at building community, this conference is
open to everyone interested in social justice. Come join us to talk
about body politics and increasing accessibility to feminist thought.
We will explore reproductive justice, size acceptance, images of
women in the media, activism in academia, and more!

Presenting keynote speakers:
Loretta Ross, the national coordinator of SisterSong Women of Color
Reproductive Health Collective, co-author of Undivided Rights: Women
of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice, and longtime human rights,
anti-racism,and anti-sexual violence activist

Marianne Kirby, a blogger, artist, and the co-author of Lessons from
the Fat-o-sphere. Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce With Your Body

We have many exciting panels, workshops, and presentations lined up.
Sample titles include:
- Women of Color in the Media: Deconstructing a Lens of Inequality
- Airport security, our bodies, and rape survivors
- Beyond Waves of Controversy: Feminist Art Making and Queer Political Forms

Register and join the conversation at:

http://www.feministactionproject.blogspot.com

Attention WGS Colleagues,

Here is an opportunity to get involved with one of our community partners!

Conspire Theatre is a new nonprofit theatre company (sponsored by Austin Circle of Theaters) created to serve marginalized and incarcerated women using the creative mediums of theatre and creative writing. Many of the women we serve have suffered severe physical and psychic trauma, and we counter that by creating a safe and joyful space to explore creativity, agency and self-expression. CWGS is working to help Conspire Theatre build a support network.

On May 14th, Conspire Theatre will be having its first ever fundraiser to support our Summer Workshop at the Travis County Jail. Since the summer of 2009, Conspire Theatre has been using theatre to help incarcerated women in Texas find their voices, develop communication and literacy skills, heal from trauma, and hold on to their humanity. Our mission is “to offer marginalized women a healing and empowering experience through the creative mediums of theatre and writing.”

Our fundraiser will be an Art and Crafts Sale held on S. Congress on May 14th, 2011. We’re seeking donations of sketches, paintings, sculptures, crafts (knitting, stitching, paper crafts, glass pieces – basically anything wonderful that you make!), photography, mixed media and whatever else you can think of. To donate artwork, crafts, or to volunteer the day of the sale, email Katherine Craft, Executive Director of Conspire Theatre at conspiretheatre@gmail.com.

Dear CWGS MA & Portfolio Students,

We invite you to participate in a planning discussion for the October 2012 International Conference on Women’s Human Rights with a focus on women’s human rights organizing in the Americas. This conference is part of the Embrey Women’s Human Rights Initiative, the Center for Women’s & Gender Studies grant-funded project to develop education for women, gender, and human rights. The upcoming meeting builds on an initial pre-planning discussion held in February, and we encourage new faculty, students, and organizers to join the conversation; please see below for details on the initial discussion.

This conference should support the work of faculty, students, and community organizers in Austin, and we need your participation to ensure that the conference will speak to you!

Please join us for a discussion
Monday, April 4, 11:00-12:30
Gebauer (GEB) 4th Floor Conference Room (to the left off of the elevators): http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/geb.html
Bring your lunch, and we will provide cookies and coffee.

At this meeting, we will develop:
1. Conference topic and title
2. Conference concept (what it will look like)
3. Plans for community/university and cross-university partnerships for which we may partner with other centers and institutes to provide new project seed money

We also hope to have time to discuss:
4. Goals for the conference
5. Possible keynote or plenary speakers
6. Possible performers or films for the evening event
7. Strategies for circulating the conference announcement and call for proposals.

Please share this announcement with faculty, students, and organizers who may be interested. If you would like more information, please contact Kristen Hogan at hogank@mail.utexas.edu

This meeting will build on an initial shape developed by faculty and staff at a pre-planning meeting in February. Here’s some of what that group contributed:

Conference Goals:
The assembled group described their hopes that such a conference would:
1. Unsettle thinking about gender & human rights,
2. Contribute to ongoing flows of research & conversations,
3. Connect UT faculty with visiting presenters (don’t overlook the work our faculty are doing),
4. Feed back into the EWHRI by supporting new courses or course content, and
5. Involve faculty, community organizers, and students in planning stages and conference.

What will the presentations at the conference look like?
1. Conference organizers will create a call now for partnerships of university and community organizers to collaborate on a project; Centers/Institutes will collaborate to provide seed money to co-researchers in exchange for their report on the work at the conference.
2. Organizers may solicit papers in collaboration between faculty at two different institutions.
3. Organizers will create time and space for networking and project building at the conference.
4. Sessions may consist of results presentation or works in progress.

CMHC will be holding a weekly Body image workshop from April 5th through the 26th. This workshop is appropriate for anyone with mild or moderate body concerns that are impeding their daily lives. The weekly sessions are structured and work to create a discrepancy between what the students believe and what their actions support. The hope is that by creating space for students to question societal norms of beauty, size, and health they are better able to accept themselves and live more body confident lives.
If you have any students you feel would be appropriate please feel free to have them contact us and give them a flyer.
The group will be Tuesdays from 2-3 and will occur again this summer for 4 weeks.

Research has shown that this is one of the best classes for improving body image, and is has also been shown to lower likelihood of obesity and eating problems.

To sign-up contact Sara Weber at saraweber@mail.utexas.edu

The INSPIRE (Formerly TULIP) program is a leadership development program for undergraduate women created specifically to empower young women to re-envision and enact what leadership means in a global society. We envision that the women who go through this program will create a world that opens up opportunities to generate change in women’s lives in the workplace, in higher education, and in every aspect of their lives. Through our program, young women are exposed to conferences, leadership training, community building activities and much more. Applications are now available! 2011-2012 sophomores from any major are eligible to apply.

Intersections: Women’s and Gender Studies in Review across Disciplines is an interdisciplinary graduate student publication welcoming work from current graduate students. We are seeking both book reviews and artwork for our 2011 issue: Gender and Social Justice, which should be submitted by April 8, 2011. For more information on the journal and to contact the journal’s staff, please click here.

We are pleased to invite faculty to a series of workshops on teaching critical approaches to women’s human rights. We welcome you to attend any or both of the two remaining workshops scheduled for this semester as part of the Embrey Women’s Human Rights Initiative. Each of the workshops will address readings available prior to the workshop; please email Kristen Hogan (hogank@mail.utexas.edu) if you would like to receive the readings in preparation for the workshop. The workshops will take place on: April 6, 4-5:15, Walter Webb Hall 202 • April 21, 4-5:15, Gebauer 3rd Floor Conference Room

Please remember that you can submit applications for CWGS scholarships by this Friday, March 25. The scholarships available are:

Lora Romero Memorial Graduate Award for Interdisciplinary Research in Race, Ethnicity and Gender
Ellen Clarke Temple Award In the Study of Women in History
Women’s and Gender Studies Dissertation Fellowships
The Cynthia Walker Peña Scholarship for undergraduate students

Scheduled for hearing tomorrow, March 22, in the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, at 10:30 a.m. or when the House adjourns.

Look no further than the Texas Capitol for an urgent threat to women’s rights/human rights, this time in the form of HB 1243, which will penalize pregnant women who use controlled substances. It is very likely that this bill, if it becomes law, will disproportionately punish women of color and poor women— as well as their children and families. For more information on this you can visit the National Advocates for Pregnant Women page.
This legislation would create a gender specific penalty for women who are pregnant and use a controlled substance. These news are especially dire given that Texas has moved forward with a bill that requires women to get an ultrasound before seeking an abortion (as well as limiting funding for birth control and abortions). Despite efforts such as Planned Parenthood’s rally on lobby day, women’s rights continue to be violated.
You have the opportunity to show up at the Texas State Capitol to show your disapproval of this bill early on Tuesday, March 22. You can find out the status of any bill (search by author, topic/key word, or bill number), and information about all scheduled hearings, and you can watch hearings online, via the Texas Legislature Online.

Dr. Julie Mertus, American University

Monday, April 18, 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., TNH 2.111 (The Sheffield Room at the Law School)

Join us for the Rapoport Center Human Rights Happy Hour on April 18, for an afternoon with Dr. Julie Mertus, Professor at the School of International Service (American University). Dr. Mertus is Co-Director of the MA Program in Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs.
Drawing on 25 years of experience working with a host of governmental and nongovernmental human rights organizations, Professor Julie Mertus explains the many mistakes and the few successes in two decades of human rights advocacy. The future, she predicts, rests with today’s students who must navigate the many speed bumps and pot holes frustrating social justice and participatory democracy today. See you there!

V-Day The University of Texas at Austin 2011Presents a Benefit Production of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES

Marh 30, 31, April 1, 2011 at 7:00 PM, Student Activity Center Auditorium

On March 30, 31, April 1, 2011, at 7:00 PM, V Day The University of Texas at Austin will present three night only benefit reading of Eve Ensler’s award wining play The Vagina Monologues at the Student Activity Center Auditorium.
Last year, over 5400 V-Day benefits were held around the world raising funds and awareness towards ending violence against women. These highly successful events raised over $4 million through performance of Eve Ensler’s award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, readings from V-Day’s A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer and Any One Of Us: Words From Prison and screenings of V-Day’s documentary Until The Violence Stops. The University of Texas at Austin has joined this global movement as part of the V Day 2011The University of Texas at Austin Campaign.

What is a V-Day Campaign?
A V-Day Campaign is a catalyst for mobilizing women and men to heighten awareness about violence against women and girls. By creating this global community, V-Day strives to empower women to find their collective voices and demand an end to the violence that affects one in three women in the U.S and around the world.
You can catch UT’s a benefit production of The Vagina Monologues at the Student Activity Center Auditorium on Marh 30, 31, April 1, 2011 at 7:00 PM. This benefit production is sponsored by the Women’s Resources Agency of the Student Government. See you there!
For more information on V-Day you can click here.