Center for Women’s & Gender Studies

(Snacks provided)

Friday, November 12
3-5 p.m.
GAR1.102

“Still Riding the Second Wave: The Importance of Radical Feminism in Reactionary Times”
The radical feminism of the second wave offers powerful tools for analysis and action that are more needed than ever. Using the feminist critique of pornography as a case study, Professor Jensen will discuss the consequences of the marginalization of radical feminism over the past two decades and argue for a radical theory and politics.

For more information, contact
Kyle Shelton kylekshelton@gmail.com
Sarah Steinbock-Pratt sarahsteinbockpratt@yahoo.com

WRITING THE MAP: CARTOGRAPHY AS SPATIAL FIGURE OF SOCIAL CONTROL IN/AS LITERATURE
Organizers: Valerie E. McGuire (NYU), Patrick W. Gallagher (NYU)
ACLA Annual Meeting, March 31-April 3, 2011

The act of mapping introduces the principle of alterity into human society like little else. Maps introduce the principle of differentiation, surveillance, and control into the relationships between humans and animals, humans and the earth, humans and other humans. By creating boundaries, maps give place-names, toponymy, definitions, and identities, and in the process, often eliminate important and meaningful “other” or alternate routes.

We are inviting proposals that investigate the intersection of spaces and ideology. On the concrete level, how do politics inform decisions about urban interventions, city planning, and architectural design? On a more abstract level, What is the relationship between urban space and/or urban design and narrative? Can urban planning constitute an act of violence, and if so, what are some potential responses and re-appropriations of such cartographical violence?

We welcome case studies from Anthropology, History, or Cultural Studies, particularly projects that treat urban re-development and planning and its social consequences in either colonial or metropolitan contexts. Analyses of literary, philosophical, or theoretical texts, in which the cultural work of mapping plays an integral role, are also strongly encouraged.

Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words by 5 pm EST, Friday, Nov. 12, at http://www.acla.org/acla2011/

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
7pm- Refreshments will be provided
University of Texas Union, Chicano Cultural Room 4.206 Corner of 24th andGuadalupe

Panelists from Amnesty International, Mamas of Color Rising and others.

Learn more about the maternal health care crisis in the U.S. and in Texas
and what YOU can do to HELP, including exciting upcoming campaigns, and legislation!

“Almost 19% of women in Texas receive delayed or no prenatal care,
significantly increasing their risk of death. Women in the USA have a
greater risk of dying during pregnancy complications than women in 40 other countries.

For more info, contact Kris at (512) 736-1277 or kristinabrady@hotmail.com

ALSO, tune into KAZI, 88.7FM that morning November 9th from 8-8:30am to hear Mamas of Color Rising speak about the Amnesty event and our community organizing work around increasing access to birthing choices for poor and working class mothers of color. The show is called Health Talk with Shannon Jones.

“Crafting an Inclusive Citizenship for Women in the Post-Colonial African Moment”

Dr. Patricia McFadden
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies and African American Studies, Syracuse University

Friday, October 29, 2010
3:00 pm
Isese Gallery/Warfield Center
201 East 21st, Jester Center, A232A

The Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies presents:
Confronting Czech Gender Stereotypes: Harder Than Ever

Libuse Heczkova
Visiting Professor, Charles University, Prague

Wednesday, November 10
1pm
Garrison Hall, room 1.102

What have Czech women been doing in the democratically restored public space after 1989? Has their emancipation directed by the communist state (1948-1989) left “positive” or “negative” traces upon their self-esteem, approaches to social functioning, ambition and goals? What do representations in the media say about women and their doings? Do authentic women produce information about “women’s issues” that is mostly readable and visible in the Czech media? Do they themselves validate timid, patient, conventionally feminine and heterosexually obedient behavior, which survives as the gender norm, because it pays, or are they under pressures to do so? Are there chances that Czech society, as one among many, will open itself to a gender change, in functioning and in representations?

Libuse Heczkova is a Visiting Professor from Charles University in Prague. This semester she is teaching a course in Czech Literature for CREEES.

For more information visit http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/creees/

The Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, the Austin Film Society,
and the Russian Cultural Center “Our Texas” present:

“Virginity”
A film by Vitaly Manskiy,
followed by Q & A with the director

Monday, October 25
7:00 p.m.
Garrison Hall, room 0.102

“Virginity” 2008, 89 min. Director Vitaly Manskiy, screenplay Dmitry Bykov
In this film, Manskiy explores extreme forms of Russian capitalism. Moscow is portrayed as a “megamarket” where everything is for sale and everyone must participate. New products flow into the city to be sold, and even human beings are, above all, comodities. At the center of the story are three young women who each have a sought-after commodity – their virginity.

Kristina, Karina and Katya each try to make their way in a world ruled by fame, popularity and money. Kristina auditions for a reality TV show, Karina wants to take Madonna’s place, and Katya is simply looking for a fair price for her virginity on the internet. Through their stories, Manskiy paints a chilling picture of a society that is fuelled by human exploitation.

The screening of “Virginity” is part of the 4th Russian Documentary Showcase in Texas, “Images of Russia.” For details on the entire showcase visit: http://ourtx.org/russian_film.html.

For more information on the UT screening contact
Allegra Azulay, Outreach Coordinator, at aazulay@mail.utexas.edu
Or visit:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/creees/events/15791

The Senate Hispanic Research Council is currently accepting applications for the 2011 Senator Gregory Luna Legislative Scholars and Fellows Program.

With the 82nd Legislative Session on the horizon, it is once again time to prepare for the next class of future leaders to participate in our legislative process through the Senate Hispanic Research Council (SHRC).  The SHRC is the body that operates the Senator Gregory Luna Legislative Scholars and Fellows Program for undergraduate and graduate students to participate as legislative aides in the Texas Legislature.

The 2011 Senator Gregory Luna Legislative Scholars and Fellows Program application is now available on our website.  This is a wonderful opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to obtain high-level legislative experience in the Texas Legislature.  The program provides invaluable experience for these budding leaders of tomorrow and can propel them on their professional career paths.  In addition, Scholars and Fellows receive a $2,000 monthly stipend to assist with living expenses. Application deadline: October 29, 2010.

Below you will find a link to the electronic application via our website with all the pertinent details.  I encourage you to share the attached application with all students interested in working at the Texas Capitol during the 82nd Legislature.  If you would like to learn more about the program or have any questions, please feel free to contact Sarah Saenz at (512) 499-8606 or email her at sarah@tshrc.org.

Application Link:

www.tshrc.org/Luna_Scholars_App_2011.pdf

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin, and the State Bar of Texas will present the First International Conference on Human Trafficking (ICHT): “Moving Beyond Talk”, Oct. 6-7 at the Texas State Capitol.

This inaugural conference marks 10 years since the United States enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000.

“The public has an inalienable right to know that human trafficking, a barbaric form of modern-day slavery, exists not just in countries half-way around the world but also here in Texas, and there is action that can be taken to stamp it out,” said Thompson. “This conference will provide a platform to help judges, lawyers, law makers and law enforcement officials learn more about how to identify and rescue the victims by supporting efficient prosecution of the traffickers. ”

“The numbers are frightening,” LBJ School of Public Affairs Dean Robert Hutchings said in a recent appearance on Comcast Newsmakers. “According to the U.S. State Department, an estimated 12.3 million people, mostly women and girls, are enslaved around the world and 17,500 are trafficked into the United States each year. The Texas Office of the Attorney General estimates that one of every five of them travels through Texas along Interstate 10. It’s a global problem and simultaneously it’s a local problem.

“What should ordinary citizens do? The first step is to simply open your eyes. Be aware of what is going on in your neighborhood. If it’s not going on in your neighborhood, it’s going on in neighborhoods that you pass through.”

The two-day conference will examine global perspectives on human trafficking, emerging trends within the United States and Texas, the prosecuting of human traffickers and victims’ rights on the state and national levels. The conference not only aims to raise awareness of the international problem of human trafficking, but to spur legislation and enforcement measures to curb human trafficking in Texas, the United States and internationally.

Ambassador Luis CdeBaca from the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons will deliver the keynote address. The Republic of the Philippines’ U.N. Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan, The Russian Federation’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s U.N. Ambassador Le Luong Minh will participate on a global perspectives round table.

Other invited speakers include state and national prosecution and defense attorneys, members of local police departments and task forces, members of the Foreign Service, Texas state representatives, and members of state and national advocacy groups.

Together with the School of Social Work, the LBJ School will be developing a research and internship program to help in drafting new legislation. The LBJ School will also be collaborating with the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

“The LBJ School has been preparing leaders for 40 years to help find innovative solutions to the most complex public policy issues and challenges of our modern world,” said Hutchings. “Therefore, we see it as critically important to engage in this issue on every level — local, state, national and international — through research, collaborative partnerships, internship programs to help in drafting new legislation, and in conferences such as this one. We are pleased to collaborate with Representative Thompson and the other conference participants on finding solutions for one of the great injustices of our time.”

The conference is presented in conjunction with the Texas District and County Attorney’s Association, and Children at Risk.

“While much progress has been made in the fight against this hidden crime, there is room for improvement on many levels, including improving victim services and protections,” said Noël Busch-Armendariz, associate professor at the School of Social Work. “While scholarly debate continues regarding every aspect of trafficking, more attention needs to be paid to long-term services needed by victims and their families, which is one aspect of the issue that will be addressed at this conference.”

The conference will take place at the Capitol Auditorium on Oct. 6 and in the John H. Reagan Building on Oct. 7, at the Texas State Capitol. Registration is free but space is limited. Attendees of the Oct. 6 sessions may be eligible for 7.5 hours of Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit and 7.5 hours of Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education credit.

For more information about this event, including a full agenda and a link to register, visit http://peoplesunitedsummit.org.

Thursday, September 30th, 6:30pm, UTC 3.102

Join iella pelea! and MEChA for a presentation on the legacy of the Black Power and Brown Power movements of the 1960s. Stay for a discussion of the lessons we can learn from past militants and why they’re important for our struggles today against budget cuts on campus, immigrant rights, and more.

ella.pelea@gmail.com

Sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin Division of Diversity and Community Engagement Community Engagement Center

February 17-19, 2011

The Texas Union

Abriendo Brecha is an annual conference at the University of Texas at Austin dedicated to activist scholarship; i.e. research and creative intellectual work in alignment with communities, organizations, movements, and networks working for social and economic justice. Abriendo Brecha VIII calls for a renewed discussion on the meanings and practices of activist scholarship, particularly as it relates to solidarity between groups and overcoming power inequalities through alliance. Some themes for this year’s conference include: struggles over land, resource distribution, gentrification, prisons, cross-racial alliance, and immigrant rights.

Abriendo Brecha VIII is a unique opportunity for coalition building across geographic, political, and national spaces, as well as a forum to present engaged academic work in solidarity with communities at the local, national and international level. Solidarity, as a key theme, will both guide submissions as well as structure the nature of the conference. Presentations will consist of action-oriented discussions, panels, interactive workshops, performances, and film. This is an opportunity to meet, exchange experiences, and create local and cross-border connections with others working at the intersections of grassroots organizing and intellectual production.

We welcome the participation of activists, community members, artists, high school students and those not specifically connected to academia. Abriendo Brecha is free and open to the public.

Proposal submission deadline: November 15, 2010.

For proposal instructions and submissions please visit: www.utexas.edu/diversity/abriendobrecha/

Contact AbriendoBrecha2011@gmail.com with any questions.

This is the first lecture in our Human Rights Happy Hour Speaker Series this semester. UT-Austin Associate Professor of Government Daniel Brinks and World Bank Senior Economist Varun Gauri will co-present a lecture entitled “Assessing the Distributive Impact of Social and Economic Rights Litigation: More Litigation = More Inequality?” The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place next Monday, September 27, from 3:30-5:30, in the Faculty Lounge (TNH 3.214) at the University of Texas School of Law.

Professor Brinks’s research focuses on law and human rights in Latin America, as well as in comparative politics in Latin America, particularly Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. As a senior economist in the World Bank’s Development Research Group, Dr. Gauri’s research focuses on politics and governance in the social sectors, and aims to combine quantitative and qualitative methods in economics and social science research. Together, Brinks and Gauri edited the recent publication, Courting Social Justice: Judicial Enforcement of Social and Economic Rights in the Developing World (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

Wendy Hunter, Associate Professor of Government at UT-Austin, will serve as respondent to Professor Brinks and Dr. Gauri’s talk.

More information on Professor Brinks and Dr. Gauri can be found on our website at: http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/centers/humanrights/events/speaker-series.php#brinks. If you would like to request a copy of the paper on which their lecture is based, please contact me at scline@law.utexas.edu.

Also pasted below is the remainder of the schedule for the Happy Hour series this fall. We hope to see you at one or more of these events.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Karen Knop (Law, University of Toronto)
Title: “The Informal State in International Law: the United States, Gender and Unilateralism”
Co-sponsored by the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.

Monday, October 25, 2010
Lora Wildenthal (History, Rice University)
Title: “Asylum Rights between Left and Right: The German Case”
Co-sponsored by the Institute for Historical Studies.

Monday, November 8, 2010
Samera Esmeir (Rhetoric, University of California, Berkeley)
Title: “Temporalities of Struggle: National Liberation Movements and International Strategies of Rule”

Thursday, November 18, 2010
Thomas Pogge (Philosophy, Yale University)
Title: “The Health Impact Fund: How to Make New Medicines Accessible to All”
3:30—5:30 in TNH 3.124
Part of the Law & Philosophy Program’s workshop series, co-sponsored by the Rapoport Center.

Monday, November 22, 2010
Paola Bergallo (Law, Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires)
Title: “Cycles of Right to Health Litigation: The Elusive Argentine Experience”
Co-sponsored by LLILAS and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.

Conference at the University of Texas at Austin
September 30 – October 3, 2010

http://www.coldwarcultures.org/

Cold War Cultures: Interdisciplinary and Transnational Perspectives is a four-day conference, hosted collaboratively by 20 academic and research units at the University of Texas at Austin. Almost 300 speakers from around the world offer approximately 90 panels, 6 international keynote speakers, and other featured speakers and events that take stock of the Cold War and its 65-year-legacies around the globe.
This conference addresses not only Cold War politics, especially the familiar rhetoric of threat and mutually assured annihilation and the redrawn maps of global power, but also a wide range of cultural and social phenomena, as power and political conflicts resonated in hearts and minds. Not just nation-states, but also cultures, were reshaped by Cold War power conflicts in a host of geographic contexts. From iconic public representations (the “daisy girl” commercial associating politics with nuclear annihilation) to distinctive media advertising, memorable political speeches, world expositions, spy novels and films, new forms of social and political life, and a plethora of official and popular events that transformed nations and individuals.
Whether enthusiast, student or scholar, conference attendees will find topics of interest to every taste, from presidents to comic superheroes, diplomats through spies, and refrigerators to world fairs. Be the guest of UTs academic community, and help us engage in a reconsideration of this half-century of political change and transformed global cultures.
REGISTRATION: This conference is free and open to the public, there are no fees or registration.
PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: The most recent program, containing the complete list of speeches, speakers, and venues, is downloadable in printer-friendly form downloadable from the website. On Thursday, 30 September, printed programs, campus maps, and other information will be available at the Bass Lecture Hall outside the keynote speech; on Friday and Saturday, they will be available at the office of the Center for European Studies (Mezes 3.126, 512-232-3470). Conference speakers and moderators should pick up their badges at these sites. See below for other location information.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
o Ambassador Robert Hutchings (LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT Austin)
“American Diplomacy and the End of the Cold War”
6:00PM, Thursday, 30 September 2010, Bass Lecture Hall (LBJ School)
o Greg Grandin (History, New York University)
“The Three Faces of Containment in the Americas”
11:00 AM, Friday, 1 October 2010, ACES 2.302
o John D. Kelly (Anthropology, University of Chicago)
“When in the Course of Human Events? Situating the Cold War”
1:00 PM, Friday, 1 October 2010, ACES 2.302
o Muhsin Jassim Al-Musawi (Arabic Literature, Columbia University)
“Literature at War: Beirut, Rome, and Baghdad”
6:00 PM, Friday, 1 October 2010, ACES 2.302
o Kate Brown (History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
“Big Brother®–Made in America: How Soviet Agents Stole American Secrets to Create the Nuclear Security State ”
1:00 PM, Saturday, 2 October 2010, Welch 2.122
o Nicolas Vaicbourdt (Université de Paris 1, Sorbonne)
“Atlanticism as a Construction of the Cold War”
6:00 PM, Saturday, 2 October 2010, Welch 2.122
o Plus featured speakers in Asian Studies (Kim Brandt) and Germanic Studies (Janet Swaffar)
VENUES AND PARKING:
Parking at UT is difficult, but paid public parking is always available. See for the map of available public marking. Remember that the UT shuttle service is also available.
Sessions will be held in various buildings, most clustered around the UT Tower in various directions. Campus maps are available at . Batts (BAT), Mezes (MEZ), Parlin (PAR), Welch (WEL), and Will C. Hogg (WCH) are on the Tower Area map (#2), south and east of the Tower. Burdine (BUR) is in the sector north of the Tower (#1); Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences Building (ACE) is east of the Tower (#5), across Speedway from Welch; University Teaching Center (UTC) is south of the Tower (#3). Sid Richardson Hall (SRH), is on the eastern boundary of the main campus (map #7); the Bass Lecture Hall is in the LBJ Library/LBJ School of Public Affairs cluster. For the Thursday evening keynote and SRH sessions, participants may park in the LBJ Library parking lot off of Red River Street.
ORGANIZATION AND MAJOR SUPPORT BY:
o Center for European Studies
o Center for Middle Eastern Studies
o Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
o South Asia Institute
o Center for East Asian Studies
o Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies
o plus 14 other campus departments, programs, and centers; see the website for information on our sponsors.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, contact the Center for European Studies at UT, or email coldwarcultures@gmail.com

Thursday, September 30, 2010

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Texas Governors’ Room (UNB 3.116), Texas Union,

The University of Texas at Austin

“Reading Chican@ Like a Queer”

Chicana/o literary and cultural texts have long been approached through two overlapping presuppositions: they offer instructive reflections of the material social processes that racialize and oppress peoples of Mexican descent living in the US; they help constitute and mobilize an oppositional Chican@ public for politically contesting racism in the US. What happens when these burdens of transparent reflection and of an identity politics squarely focused on race are lifted from the texts and from the readers/viewers? When reflection is shattered? When Chican@ representations thwart our desires for mastery (of knowledge, of agency)? When what they offer up instead is the unknowable, unthinkable, unsayable? In “Reading Chican@ Like a Queer” Sandra K. Soto, Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona, revisits key texts with these questions in mind.

Sponsored by: The Center for Mexican American Studies, College of Liberal Arts

The College Women’s Political Caucus (CWPC) is in its earliest stages, so now is your chance to help shape this national organization! CWPC will be a campus affiliate of the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC), which exists to help elect pro-choice women candidates to political office on the city, state, and national level.

The goals and possible projects of CWPC include, but are not limited to:
Volunteering on political campaigns for local women political candidates.
Putting on and participating in trainings on a variety of topics related to political leadership and political campaigns.
Mentoring under-served middle & high school girls to help develop their leadership abilities.
Working to get the ERA ratified.
Networking with women political leaders.
Finally, the president of NWPC also sees the CWPC as THE place to start identifying, and training future political leaders. If you see yourself as a future politician, press secretary, communications director, or campaign manager (or other West Wing character of your choice…), this is the place to start garnering experience, connections, and support!
If you are interested in being an officer in CWPC, please email Harmony Eichsteadt at harmonyeverafter@gmail.com.

Integration through liberation!

StandOut is the main queer political organization at UT. Our purpose is to promote positive queer political activism and provide an inclusive environment for LGBTQ individuals and allies. We are a sexually diverse group seeking gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and ally members who wish to become more involved in issues related to and affecting the queer community.

Stand Out. Be Heard. Come help us in the fight for equality!

Visit texasstandout.blogspot.com or email us at TexasStandOut@gmail.com for more information about meeting times and location.