Fall 2008

 

Voices

 

 

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Feminist and Women Studies Division

News from Your Chair

Kristina Horn Sheeler, PhD

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

 

As the Indiana air gets colder and damper at the end of October, I always look forward to the warmer destinations of NCA. This year I'm especially looking forward to San Diego, not just for the weather, the sun, or the beaches, but for the collegiality and feminist spirit that always fills me when I rekindle old friendships and make new ones while attending sessions of the division and caucus. I have thoroughly enjoyed my tenure as an officer in the division and I thank all of you for making my time so enjoyable.

 

One of the events that I'm looking forward to this year is the Bonnie Ritter Book Award celebration, held in conjunction with the Caucus's Francine Merritt Award reception on Saturday November 22 at Salvatore's Cucina Italiana. This book award is really something that began three years ago thanks to our past-Chair, Karrin Anderson. When Karrin was the program planner in 2006, she developed sessions featuring book publications by women in NCA. The next year, she facilitated a session with book publishers and editors. This year, I am pleased to see her idea come to fruition with the Bonnie Ritter Book Award in Feminist and Women Studies Scholarship. Thanks to so many women like Karrin, research on women and feminist studies has really become a focus of attention. This year, there are many sessions on the program that highlight that research--book Spotlight sessions, research Spotlights, 20 Years Later Spotlights, women in politics sessions, and many UNconventional panels; be sure to read Sheena Malhotra's FWS Highlights and Suzanne Enck-Wanzer's Caucus Highlights for more on sessions focusing on the robust body of research in women and feminist studies.

 

While I never had the opportunity to meet Professor Ritter, I am so pleased that the Division has named this book award in her honor. It is because of women like Professor Ritter that we have a division and caucus and a space to celebrate our scholarship. This year at the Book Award reception we will celebrate the scholarship of Mary Triece who writes on women's forms of protest in the 1930's in her new book On the Picket Line. Please join us Saturday November 22 at 5:00 pm at Salvatore's Cucina Italiana for the award presentation.

 

It is fitting that the first Bonnie Ritter Book Award presented to Professor Triece is on the topic of women's forms of protest. This year's NCA presents the Division and Caucus with the challenge to live up to that organizing spirit in a way that honors and supports our laboring and LGBTQ sisters and brothers while at the same time creating an inclusive space that is open and welcoming to all our membership regardless of impairments because of mobility or access. There is no easy answer to this tension and I realize there will be those who disagree with our decisions. However, the leadership of the Division and Caucus believe we have made the best decision possible in light of the constraints posed and we will be moving our business meeting and our awards reception to Salvatore's Cucina Italiana. The extra costs associated with the move will be offset with the sale of Purple Protest T-shirts, which we ask you to wear on Saturday of the convention, traditionally Purple Day, whether you will be protesting outside the hotel or inside. Salvatore's has been very accommodating of our needs and we are pleased to be able host our business and awards sessions there. You can read more about the decision, get walking directions to Salvatore's, and place your Purple Protest T order at this link: http://ux1.eiu.edu/~senckwanzer/FWSWCNCA/Welcome.

  • Combined Division/Caucus Business Meeting 3:30 - 5:00 pm Saturday November 22

  • Francine Merritt / Bonnie Ritter Book Award Celebration, 5:00 - 6:30 pm Saturday November 22

  • Both at Salvatore's Cucina Italiana, 750 Front Street, San Diego

I look forward to reconnecting with all of you in San Diego. In the meantime, enjoy this issues of Voices, order your Purple Protest T by November 1, plan to attend the off-site business meetings and celebrations, and consider running for office yourself. Serving the Division or Caucus in a leadership role definitely has its rewards.

 

Last Updated 24 October 2008

 

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