Center for Women’s & Gender Studies

Are you graduating in May, August or December 2011 from a UT Austin undergraduate or graduate program?
If so, join us to celebrate your success at the annual UT Lavender Graduation on May 18th ! To register, follow this link.
Lavender Graduation is a special graduation ceremony that honors the achievements of graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally students on campus.
Lavender Graduation is co-hosted by the Gender and Sexuality Center Advisory and Working Group and the Queer Students Alliance (QSA). Our goal is to provide a venue to demonstrate the success of our community members in a personal, entertaining and celebratory way. The Lavender Graduation Ceremony includes: exhilarating speeches from UT faculty, administrators, students, and alumni; the chance to cross the lavender stage to celebrate your success and to receive a Lavender Graduation certificate as well as a rainbow tassel; and music, cake and food to share with friends, family and well-wishers!

If you are currently a student leader or are wanting to gain leadership experience and have at least a 3.0, this is the position for you! The College of Liberal Arts is looking for a few good men and women to fill the ranks of FIG Facilitator. As a FIG Facilitator you will help the FIG Mentor organize and conduct educational and social activities to help new UT students become better acquainted with each other, faculty, the university, and community as a whole.

No prior experience required. Just fill out the attached application and turn in to Shelley Bowers at sbowers@austin.utexas.edu by April 29.

I am delighted to announce the publication of Bridging: How Gloria Anzaldúa’s Life and Work Transformed Our Own (University of Texas Press, 2011). This collection, co-edited by AnaLouise Keating and Gloria González-López, contains original work by professors, students, and other scholars and activists in the social sciences and the humanities whose lives and work have been transformed by Gloria Anzaldúa’s theories.

Bridging is multicultural, multidisciplinary, and multigenre; it includes work by established scholars and activists like Norma Cantú, Aída Hurtado, Andrea Lunsford, Denise Segura, and Gloria Steinem, as well as work by contributors at earlier points of their careers. It is a very rich collection and demonstrates some of the innovative ways that people are adopting, expanding, and/or revising on Anzaldúa’s theories. The book also includes contributions from people outside the United States, which is a welcome expansion of Anzaldúan thought.

The editors of Bridging hope this collection will help us advance in the social sciences, women’s and gender studies, the humanities, and innovative scholarship promoting a critical inquiry and understanding of all forms of human diversity in our increasingly complex, globalized world.

For the table of contents, an excerpt, and information on how to order the book (at a discount!), please see: http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/keabri.html

AnaLouise Keating is Professor of Women’s Studies at Texas Woman’s University and a prominent Anzaldúan scholar who worked closely with Anzaldúa for over a decade, co-editing several projects, and is now a trustee of the Anzaldúa Literary Trust.

Gloria González-López is Associate Professor of Sociology, Faculty Associate at the Center for Mexican American Studies, and affiliated with the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Austin Project Jam Sessions
art/activism/scholarship in performance

with:
Camille DePrang
Natalie Goodnow
Sruabhi Kukke
Candace Lopez
Nnenna Okeke

Friday April 15 at 8pm
Winship Drama Building 2.180
23rd St and San Jacinto
Reception following

Saturday April 16 at 2pm
Vortex Theater
2307 Manor Road

Here is what students have to say about the Theatre for Dialogue class with Voices Against Violence:

“This class will teach you so much about yourself and the world in which you live. This type of class, I believe, is what you come to university for; to foster a positive and beneficial relationship and awareness between community and school, between yourself and strangers. I will always cherish this class and what it’s done for me.”

“The amount of growth I’ve obtained from being in this class, both personally and
academically, has been immeasurable. This class has provided me with some serious self-reflection on the roles I play in life, as a student, as a friend, as a relative, and even as a boyfriend.”

The Theatre for Dialogue program of Voices Against Violence is looking for students for the 2011-2012 class cohort. Train with Voices Against Violence through a two-semester academic course:

Theatre for Dialogue
SW 360K or TD 357T
Wednesdays 2:00 – 5:00pm

Receive: 2 semesters of upper division credit through Theatre and Dance or Social Work.
Registration/participation is through application and interview. Applications DUE APRIL 18TH.

Find more info here:

http://cmhc.utexas.edu/vav_peertheatre.html

application available here:

http://cmhc.utexas.edu/vav_peereducator.html

“Amazing! Awesome! I cannot say enough good things about this class and the instructors.
It is of immeasurable value to me. By far, to me one of the most important classes on campus in this university.”

Hear what students have to say about this class:

EHS is a top resource for summer housing, providing safe, fully furnished and convenient residences designed for high-quality living throughout New York City and Brooklyn.

Living in a community of summer associates and interns, you will meet amazing people from all over the world… not to mention have great networking opportunities! EHS can also provide housing the summer after you graduate from your program, ideal for those considering a move to NYC but not ready to sign a lease.

EHS provides:

• Fully furnished rooms with LCD TV’s and private bathroom

• Free high-speed internet, cable, national calling

• On-site fitness center, laundry facility, lounges, and kitchens

• 24 hour security, a student life program, plus MUCH more

Check out the website http://www.studenthousing.org/and/UT or call today for locations, rates and availability: 1-800-297-4694

What: A place to constructively discuss a feminist approach to weddings

Where: FeministWedding.com

Why: The feminist movement has not offered the upcoming generations
enough advice or support on how to get married without folding to the
overwhelming consumerist pressure to have a white wedding based on
patriarchal customs and sexist traditions.

Who: All women and men interested in learning the history behind the
Western wedding traditions and perhaps challenging the status quo at
their weddings.

RSVP: Please check out the site, tell your students/friends, and feel
free to contact me with comments or questions – thank you!

-Casey

The Center for Women’s & Gender Studies has moved. We can now be found in GEB 4.200C.
The Dorothy L. Gebauer Building is just east of the tower. http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/geb.html

We are still unpacking so please forgive any delays in correspondence. Thank you for your patience.

Our campus mail code remains the same (A4900). Our new US mail address is:
Center for Women’s & Gender Studies, University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station, A4900
Austin Texas 78712

Any mail sent to our old location will be forwarded to the new office.

We hope to have our new space ready for visits soon.

Here is what students have to say about the Theatre for Dialogue class with Voices Against Violence:

“This class will teach you so much about yourself and the world in which you live. This type of class, I believe, is what you come to university for; to foster a positive and beneficial relationship and awareness between community and school, between yourself and strangers. I will always cherish this class and what it’s done for me.”

“The amount of growth I’ve obtained from being in this class, both personally and
academically, has been immeasurable. This class has provided me with some serious self-reflection on the roles I play in life, as a student, as a friend, as a relative, and even as a boyfriend.”

The Theatre for Dialogue program of Voices Against Violence is looking for students for the 2011-2012 class cohort. Train with Voices Against Violence through a two-semester academic course:

Theatre for Dialogue
SW 360K or TD 357T
Wednesdays 2:00 – 5:00pm

Receive: 2 semesters of upper division credit through Theatre and Dance or Social Work.
Registration/participation is through application and interview. Applications DUE APRIL 18TH.

Find more info here:
http://cmhc.utexas.edu/vav_peertheatre.html

application available here:
http://cmhc.utexas.edu/vav_peereducator.html

“Amazing! Awesome! I cannot say enough good things about this class and the instructors.
It is of immeasurable value to me. By far, to me one of the most important classes on campus in this university.”

Hear what students have to say about this class:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mey55fB7DM4&feature=player_embedded

Paid research opportunity – The Women’s Sexual Experiences Study

The Sexual Psychophysiology Lab (http://www.mestonlab.com) is conducting a paid research study exploring women’s sexual experiences. We’re currently recruiting women who are
A) 18 years or older
B) Currently in a sexually active romantic relationship
C) experiencing any difficulties with their sexual function (low desire, low arousal, difficulty reaching orgasm, and/or experiencing pain during sex)

Participation is paid and includes an intake interview in the Sexual Psychophysiology Lab where a researcher will discuss a number of topics with you including your sexual history, feelings about sex and sexual difficulties, and any type of medical or psychological treatment you may be receiving. Following the intake interview, you’ll complete a series of short daily surveys (5 minutes long) on a secure website. All of your responses will be completely confidential and your identifying information will not be linked to your responses in any way.

If you’re willing to be involved with this research, please call our lab at (512) 232-4805 and ask for the “Women’s Sexual Experiences Study” or e-mail us at utlab.research@gmail.com.

Join us for the 18th Annual CWGS Emerging Scholarship Conference next Friday, April 8th at the Texas Union!

- Registration begins at 8 am in the Santa Rita Suite – breakfast will be served.
- Admission is FREE and non-UT attendees are welcome.

**Our keynote speaker will be Professor Sherri Greenberg, Interim Director of the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School. The keynote will begin at 12:30 pm in the Santa Rita Suite and lunch will be served. **

Panel topics include:
• Feminism across Cultures: Immigration, Neoliberalism, and “Western Eyes”
• Higher Education and Women’s Human Rights Discourse
• Feminism and Popular Cultural Forms
• The Students Speak: Responses to Liberal Arts Centers Budget Cuts and Reflections on Feminist Organizing
• Queer Theory and Feminism
• Scholarly Inquiries by Inspire: Empowering Texas Women Leaders Program
• Women, Children, and the United States Affordable Care Act (2010)
• Feminism and Body Politics: Cultural Embodiments and Sites of Resistance

For more information, feel free to contact me.
Virginia Hernandez
virginiarh22@gmail.com

The Center for Women’s & Gender Studies has moved. We can now be found in GEB 4.200C.
The Dorothy L. Gebauer Building is just east of the tower. http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/geb.html

We are still unpacking so please forgive any delays in correspondence. Thank you for your patience.

Our campus mail code remains the same (A4900). Our new US mail address is:
Center for Women’s & Gender Studies, University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station, A4900
Austin Texas 78712

Any mail sent to our old location will be forwarded to the new office.

We hope to have our new space ready for visits soon.

April 1–2, 2011 On April 1st and 2nd, the Law School and the American Constitution Society will be hosting a conference, “The Future of Equality,” in the Jeffers Courtroom (TNH 3.140) .

This conference is part of the Constitution in 2020 project, a series of publications, conferences, lectures, and academic events exploring how Americans should interpret their Constitution in the future. For a schedule and list of participants, log on to the “Future of Equality” website .

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.

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