Fall 2008

 

Voices

 

 

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Association for Education in

Journalism and Mass Communication

Commission on the

Status of Women

Brenda Wrigley, Syracuse University

 

In its “State of the Discipline” report, the AEJMC Commission on the Status of Women notes that CSW membership has remained stable at approximately 200, and we continue to work collaboratively with other divisions and interest groups in convention program planning. To examine how AEJMC members view our Commission’s mission, we conducted a survey in 2007 about the role and value of CSW. There were 191 respondents (roughly 10 percent of AEJMC membership).

 

Conclusions from the Survey

CSW needs to do more marketing. There is a lack of awareness of the Commission as a programming body.

 

The survey determined three main missions for the Commission:

 

1. Gender or feminist-based research

2. Networking and promotion of women’s scholarship

3. Gender equity within higher education

 

CSW’s Current Role

The CSW has been reinvigorated in examining gender and feminist scholarship. Gender and equity issues continue to permeate both media portrayals and academia, as noted by the AEJMC special committee on Gender, Race and Equity Diversity Assessment. CSW remains committed to bringing attention to and eliminating these issues through its programming, outreach, and teaching practices. The Commission held a special breakfast meeting in Chicago at the 2008 Convention. The results of that meeting and the Commission’s business meeting will be incorporated into our directions for the future.

 
Recommended Actions for the Future

While Commission membership is healthy, participation in business meetings, events, and the life of the Commission remains lower than desired. CSW members attending this year’s Convention have many ideas for increased marketing and awareness. Use of social media and enhanced use of the Web site for CSW will be incorporated into these outreach efforts. CSW has begun a podcast project to feature key scholars on its Web site. In addition, a syllabus project will offer opportunities to share syllabi for courses focusing on gender and feminist issues.

 

CSW is contributing an update on its activities to the NCA Women’s Voices newsletter. This newsletter connects with ICA’s Feminist Scholarship Division , ORWAC and OSCLG.

 

CSW members also support a mentoring program to help younger scholars connect with CSW and AEJMC. The Commission remains committed to the mission components endorsed by those completing our survey: gender or feminist-based research, networking and promotion of women’s scholarship, and gender equity within higher education.

 

It is clear that AEJMC supports the mission of CSW, as evidenced by its recent diversity efforts and programs to recognize diversity initiatives among member institutions. In the coming year, CSW has made a commitment to celebrating diversity, is planning for the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Commission’s work, and hopes to have an annual networking luncheon at future conferences.

 

The Commission looks to AEJMC leadership to continue to support CSW’s substantial membership and programming efforts. Established as a Committee in 1972 and deemed a Commission in 1990, this group has more than 35 years of programming and research productivity that has firmly established gender and feminist scholarship as more widely accepted in peer-reviewed journals, in tenure review decisions, and in conference programming.

 

The 2008 CSW Chicago Schedule

illustrates the Commission’s ability to deliver on topics of critical importance to AEJMC members:

 

Mini-plenary:

Striking a match: How contemporary news coverage opened national dialogue about race and gender in the U.S.

 

Refereed Paper Research Sessions:

·         Women in Journalism and the Academy

·         Female Identities, Online & Offline

·         Women’s & Girls’ Consumption of Media

·         Gender Stereotypes: Change and Stasis

Co-Sponsored Panels:

·         Mars and Venus in the advertising universe: How working together can work

·         Wisdom from Senior Women Scholars: Getting to Full Professor

·         What’s Missing? International and Domestic Issues Absent in News and Opinions and How to Fill the Gaps

·         New Media Weapons in the Fight for Social Justice

·         Women’s Voices in Political Commentary: Traditional Media Spaces and Cyberspace

·         The Role of the Internet in Campaign ‘08

·         What’s the difference? The debate about the need for, and role of, specialized divisions and interest groups in AEJMC

Signature Panel:

Gender and AEJMC: Past, present, future

 

And a Scholar-to-Scholar Session

 

2008-09 Leadership

CSW has a slate of committed leaders for the coming year:

·         Second-Year Co-Chair: Cory Armstrong, University of Florida

·         First-Year Co-Chair: Dustin Harp, University of Texas at Austin

·         Vice-Chair: Jennifer Rauch, Long Island University

·         Research Chair: Stacey Hust, Washington State University

·         Midwinter Conference Chair: Barbara Barnett, University of Kansas

·         Recorder/Secretary: Tracy Everbach, University of North Texas

·         Newsletter Editor: Spring-Serenity Duvall, Indiana University

 

Last Updated 23 October 2008

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