SOUTH CENTRAL WOMEN'S STUDIES ASSOCIATION
1999 CONFERENCE
NEWCOMB COLLEGE, TULANE UNIVERSITY
11 - 13 MARCH 1999
THURSDAY, 11 MARCH
7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Anna E. Many Lounge, Newcomb College Center for Research
on Women
Caroline Richardson Hall
WELCOMING RECEPTION, EARLY REGISTRATION, AND
OPEN-MIKE READINGS
FRIDAY, 12 MARCH
8:00 - 5:00
REGISTRATION
Second floor, University Center
SESSION A -- 8:45 - 10:15
PANEL 1
University Center Stibbs B
Roundtable: Walking the Medicine Wheel: The Intersection of
Ancient Tradition and Contemporary Concerns
Dora Ruffner, University of the Incarnate Word
Patricia Fite, University of the Incarnate Word
Theresa Ortiz, University of the Incarnate Word
Sara Campos, University of the Incarnate Word
PANEL 2
University Center Hunt-Anderson
Toni Morrison 1: Perspectives on the Works of Toni Morrison
Chair: Rebecca Mark, Tulane University
"Beloved and the Kantian Sublime: A Cultural Insight into American
Perceptions of Women's Experiences"
Shannon N. Elliot, Independent scholar, Norman, OK
"Delivering Divinity: Maternal Redemption and Resistance in Toni
Morrison's Paradise"
Andrea O'Reilly, School of Women's Studies, York University, Canada
"Paradise: ÔThe Dance of an Open MindÕ"
Sara Laidlaw, University of St. Thomas
PANEL 3
University Center President's A
The Social Construction of Gender and the Problematics of
Representation and Interpretation
Chair: Joy Fuqua, Tulane University
"Lights, Camera, Theory!: Feminist Film Analysis in Action and
Activism"
Mylene Dressler, University of St. Thomas
"To Have and to Hold: Women's and Men's Understandings of
Committment in Australian Cosmopolitan"
Fiona Ann Papps, School of Behavioural Sciences, Macquarie University,
Australia
"'Intersex'?: The Importance of Mapping Past, Present, and Future Shifts
in Biological and Sociological Definitions of Sex and Gender"
Saundra Y. Boyd, Houston Community College System Ð Central
"Re-Presenting Pornography: A Feminist Reading"
Jennifer Richards, School of Women's Studies, York University, Canada
PANEL 4
University Center Stibbs A
Whither Feminism?
Chair: Susan Bryson, University of New Orleans
"The New ÒFÓ Word: Feminism and the 21st Century"
Kim Wells, Texas A & M University
"The Gender Gap in Education: Have These Findings Reached the Parents
and Teachers of Preschool Children?"
Janice McCabe, Newcomb College, Tulane University
"What Voices Will be Heard?: Women in Public Policy at the Millennium"
Natalie Harris, Newcomb College, Tulane University
PANEL 5
University Center President's B
Challenging the Real in "Reel": Using Media Studies as a Forum
to Awaken a New Generation to Gender Discrimination
Awareness
YW
Chair: Valerie Greenberg, University of the Incarnate Word
Peggy Bowie, University of the Incarnate Word
Tiffanie Wilson, University of the Incarnate Word
Rexanne Coolidge, University of the Incarnate Word
PANEL 6
Anna E. Many Lounge, Caroline Richardson Hall
Creative Writing Section Readings
Poetry: Kathy Bowman, University of New Orleans graduate
Poetry: Rebecca Stilling, BCMSW
Poetry: Catherine Loomis, University of New Orleans
Poetry: Elizabeth Thomas, University of New Orleans
Fiction: Ruth Harmon, Director ESL Program, Loyola University
SESSION B -- 10:30 - 12:00
PANEL 7
University Center President's A
Social Constructions of Masculinities
Chair: Michael Zimmerman, Tulane University
"Southern Discomfort: Race and Gender Performance within the New
Orleans Jazz Funeral"
Allison Levy, Bryn Mawr College; Visiting Scholar, Newcomb College
Center for Research on Women
"Expressions of Manhood and and Exaggerated Masculinity in African-
American Adolescent Males"
Michael Cunningham, Tulane University
"Warhol's Drag: Painted Performance"
Michael Plante, Tulane University
PANEL 8
University Center Stibbs A
Open Discussion/Workshop: Feminist (Non?)Response to the
Jones-Clinton-Starr-Lewinsky-Tripp-Goldberg-Broderick-
Impeachment-Media et al Affair
Imagine that the assembled body is the weekend media relations war room
staff on duty at Feminism, Incorporated. CNN reporter Dandy Crawley is
on the phone with the news that high-profile anti-feminist Pillis Schmoofly
has challenged the spokeswoman of your organization to debate Òthe
hypocritcal feminist non-reponseÓ to The Big Scandal via satellite hookup.
It turns out that the news vans are speeding towards your location even as
Dandy drops the bomb: ÒWe just had a cancellation and want to go live
with you folks at Noon. Is that enough lead time?Ó You have one hour and
fifteen minutes to come up with a ÒfeministÓ talking points document on the
whole mess. Remember: The whole world will be watching.
PANEL 9
University Center Hunt-Anderson
Toni Morrison 2: Toni Morrison's Paradise
Chair: Gretchen Mieszkowski
"Paradise in Historical Perspective"
Angela Howard, University of Houston Ð Clear Lake
"Paradise, Metaphorically Speaking"
Terry Johnson, University of Houston Ð Clear Lake
"An Ethical Perspective on Paradise"
Verva Densmore, University of Houston Ð Clear Lake
"Paradise as a Woman's Novel"
Gretchen Mieszkowski, University of Houston Ð Clear Lake
PANEL 10
University Center President's B
Women's Studies at the Millenium
Chair: Beth Willinger, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women
"Lesbian Studies at Century's End: Millennial Meditations"
Anne Charles, University of New Orleans
"Mapping the Feminist Self: Student Evaluations of the Women's Studies
Experience"
Erin Ceynar, University of North Dakota
PANEL 11
University Center Stibbs A
The Social Work of Adolescent Girls
YW
Chair: Laura Sanchez, Tulane University
"Narratives of Adolescent Girls: How They Describe Themselves in
Regards to Motherwork"
Kristin Wolfe and Alice Kemp, University of New Orleans
"ÔYou Just Gotta Beat Them DownÕ: School Sexual Harassment and Black
High School Girls' Emotional Labor"
Clare T. Porter, Center for Research on Women, University of Memphis
PANEL 12
Anna E. Many Lounge, 2nd floor, Caroline Richardson Hall
Creative Writing Section Readings
Poetry: Nancy Easterlin, University of New Orleans
Poetry: Elizabeth Cayce Dumont, University of Oklahoma
Non-fiction: Alice Kemp, University of New Orleans
Fiction: Julie Hensley, University of Kansas
Non-fiction: Kim Mikonsky, University of New Orleans
PLENARY SESSION -- 12:15 - 1:45
University Center Kendall Cram
"Beyond the Sex Wars"
a talk by Wendy Chapkis
University of Southern Maine
Wendy Chapkis is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at
the University of Southern Maine. She received her Ph.D. in sociology
from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Her scholarly work is primarily in the area of social stratification, with a
special interest in the construction of such hierarchically organized identity
categories as sex, gender and sexuality. Chapkis is the author of Beauty
Secrets: Women and the politics of appearance (South End Press: 1986) and
Live Sex Acts: Women performing erotic labor (Routledge: 1997). She is
also the editor of two anthologies: Loaded Questions: Women in the
military and Of Common Cloth: Women in the global textile industry.
SESSION C -- 2:00 - 3:30
PANEL 13
University Center President's B
Vampires, Warriors, Bitches and Terrorists: Reading Gendered
Violence in Popular Fantasy Texts
Chair: Elyce Rae Helford
"Sometimes It Was Good to be Scary: Gender, Seuxality and Violence in
Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter Novels"
Kathleen M. Therrien, Middle Tennessee State University
"Queer Pleasure, Feminist Pain: Navigating the Sexual Politics of Violence
in Xena: Warrior Princess"
Elyce Rae Helford, Middle Tennessee State University
"'My Role Models Do Not Wear Bikinis!': Representations of Sexuality and
Revenge Fantasy in Diane DiMassa's Hothead Paisan and Roberta
Gregory's Naughty Bits"
Anne N. Thalheimer, University of Delaware
PANEL 14
University Center Hunt-Anderson
"Community Partnership: University Students Providing Rape
Crisis Intervention" (workshop)
Chair/Facilitator: Susan Turell, University of Houston Ð Clear Lake
PANEL 15
University Center President's A
Gendered Perspectives on Francophone African Literature
Chair: Tola Mosadomi
"Women and Marriage: The Dis-ease of Tradition in African Francophone
Plays"
Tola Mosadomi, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women
"Rose-Anna, or, Gabielle Roy's Ideal of Womanhood in Bonheur
d'occasion"
Mohamaed Kamara, Tulane University
"Epistolary Form and The Quest for the Female Voice: Mariama B‰'s So
Long a Letter and Collette's The Vagabond"
CŽcile Accilien, Tulane University
PANEL 16
University Center Chastant
"Non-traditional" Work of Texas Women
Chair: Susanne Dietzel, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women
"A Female Roughneck: An Oral History/Analysis of One Woman's Non-
traditional Experience in the Texas Oil Industry"
Rose M. Rodriguez-Rabin, Texas A&M International University
"The Role of Women in Production Agriculture in a Nine-County Area of
West Texas"
Jean Brashear Nichols, Texas Tech University
PANEL 17
University Center Stibbs A
The Story of Louise S. McGehee School: Gathering, Preserving,
Recording History
YW
Chair/Facilitator: Kim Wargo, Louise S. McGehee School and Tulane
University
Members of the McGehee Senior Project in Women's History Class:
Brandy Branigan, Chelsea Cropper, Rosemary Zuppardo, Jiandi Effendi,
Ayesha Korejo, Corrine Seltzer, Leigh Taylor, Carolyn O'Neil, Jordan
Gillette, Amna Halum, Caitlin Mabile, and Katherine Goldstein
PANEL 18
University Center Stibbs B
Third Wave Feminism
YW
Chair: Marsha Houston, Tulane University
"The Politics of Difference: Implications for Feminist Theory and Praxis"
Susan Mann, University of New Orleans
"Feminism as 'The Bad Mother,' or, The Third Wave's Rebellion"
Astrid Henry, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
"The Popular Cultural Geography of US Feminism: The Politics of
Discursive Tropes in the Third Wave"
Ednie Kaeh Garrison, University of California Santa Barbara
PANEL 19
Anna E. Many Lounge, 2nd floor Caroline Richardson Hall
Creative Writing Section Readings
Fiction: Mylene Dressler, University of St. Thomas
Fiction: Marcia Pimental, University of Texas Ð Dallas
Fiction: Linda Deaver, University of Texas Ð Dallas
Fiction: Patricia Baker, University of Texas Ð Dallas
Fiction: Kate Yarbrough, University of Texas Ð Dallas
SESSION D -- 3:45 - 5:15
PANEL 20
University Center Hunt-Anderson
Women in Louisiana: The Neglected Majority
Chair: Alice Kemp
"Women's Poverty: Who Cares? It's Only Women!"
Tara Lindhorse, Welfare Reform Research Project, Southern University at
New Orleans
Louisiana State University School of Social Work
& Alice Kemp, University of New Orleans
"Gambling on Women?"
Beth Willinger, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women
"Women's Health -- or is it in Louisiana?"
Judith H. La Rosa, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical
Medicine
PANEL 21
University Center President's B
"Your Body is a Playground": Strategies of Feminist Power and
Resistance for the New Millennium
Chair: Karmen MacKendrick
"A Question of Strategy"
Ellen K. Feder, American University
"Your Body is a Playground"
Karmen MacKendrick, Gettysburg College
"The Fetus Fetishists"
Patricia Ventura, University of Florida
PANEL 22
University Center President's A
Feminist Sci-Fi Formulations and Fabulations
Chair: Robin Roberts
"'The Sensors are Having Difficulty Penetrating the Interiors': The Female
Alien in Star Trek: The Next Generation"
Robin Roberts, Louisiana State University
"ÔBetter Living Through ChemistryÕ: Cyborgs and the Problem of Female
Sexuality in Dr. Caligari"
Tria Airheart-Martin, Texas A&M University
"ÔHand Me A MacheteÕ: Building and Maintaining a Buffy the Vampire
Slayer Slash Fanfiction Community"
Kate Bolin, Newcomb College, Tulane University
PANEL 23
University Center Chastant
University Center Perspectives on Poetry
Chair: TBA
"ÔMocking My Own RipenessÕ: Authenticity and Heritage in the Poetry of
Marilyn Chin"
John Gery, University of New Orleans
"Feminism and Domesticity in Bioevolutionary Perspective"
Nancy Easterlin, University of New Orleans
"'The Fog That is Thick Between Us': Why Hilda Morley Matters"
Glenda Zumwalt, Southeastern Oklahoma State University
PANEL 24
University Center Stibbs B
Roundtable: Femillenniums: Young Women Bridge Theory and
Practice
YW
Chairs/Facilitators: Carla Mancini, Carmela Murdocca and Stefanie
Samuels, York University, Canada
PANEL 25
University Center Mezzanine A
Girl Zine Workshop
YW
Alison Fensterstock, Newcomb College, Tulane University
Editor, Bad Girl
Ann Liu, Newcomb College, Tulane University
Editor, Chinese Box Ho
PANEL 26
University Center Stibbs A
Young Women in Search of Meaning and Rites of Passage
YW
Chair: Rachel Devlin, Tulane University
"Re-membering Ourselves: Reflections on Spirituality and ActivismÓ
Rachel E. Key, University of North Texas
"Once There Was a Rite: Girls and the Coming-of-Age Ceremony"
Glenda Hufnagel, University of Oklahoma
"In Search of Role Models: Who Girls of Today Look Up To"
Jeanne Cashen, University of New Orleans
PANEL 27
Creative Writing Section Readings
Anna E. Many Lounge, 2nd floor Caroline Richardson Hall
Poetry: Biljana D. Obradovic, Xavier University
Poetry: Debra Phelps, Sam Houston State University
Poetry: Camille Martin, Louisiana State University
Fiction: Moria Crone, Louisiana State University
KEYNOTE ADDRESS -- 7:00 p.m.
McAllister Auditorium
Free and open to the public
Booksigning to follow in McAlister Auditorium lobby
ÒThe Truth That Never Hurts: Thirty Years of Writing and
Working for Justice and ChangeÓ
a presentation by Barbara Smith
Activist, scholar and writer
Welcome by Susan Turrell, President South Central WomenÕs
Studies Association
Introduction by Teresa Soufas, Dean of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, Tulane University
¥ The conference keynote address is free and open to the public
thanks to the support of the Tulane Center for Scholars, The
Tulane Office of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Life, and the
members of the South Central WomenÕs Studies Association
Barbara Smith, keynote speaker for the Women@2K Conference, is a
Black feminist writer and activist who has been politically active since the
1960s. Her articles, essays, literary criticism, and short stories have
appeared in a variety of publications, including The New York Times Book
Review, Ms., The Black Scholar, Gay Community News, The Guardian,
The Village Voice, and The Nation. She has edited three major collections
about Black Women: Conditions: Five, the Black Women's Issue (with
Lorraine Bethel), 1979; All the Women Are White, All the Blacks are
Men, But Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies (with Gloria T.
Hull and Patricia Bell Scott), 1982; and Home Girls: A Black Feminist
Anthology, 1983. She is also the co-author with Elly Bulkin and Minnie
Bruce Pratt of Yours in Struggle: Three Feminist Perspectives on Anti-
Semitism and Racism (1984).
Smith is a general editor of the recent volume The Reader's Companion to
U.S. Women's History with Wilma Mankiller, Gwendolyn Mink, Maryse
Navarro and Gloria Steinem (Houghton Mifflin, February 1998). Her most
recent work is The Truth That Never Hurts: Writings on Race, Gender and
Freedom, a collection of essays and articles published in fall 1998 by
Rutgers University Press. She was the 1994 recipient of the $25,000
Stonewall Award for service to the lesbian and gay community awarded by
the Anderson Prize Foundation. She served on the Board of Advisors for
the New York Public Library's award-winning 1994 exhibition,
"Becoming Visible: The Legacy of Stonewall." She was a Scholar-in-
Residence during 1995-1996 at the Schomburg Center for Research in
Black Culture in New York City, and a Fellow at the Bunting Institute of
Radcliffe College during 1996-1997.
A guest on numerous television public affairs programs through the years,
Smith has also appeared in several films, including "Pink Triangles" and
Marlon Riggs' Black Is, Black Ain't." She has lectured on college and
university campuses throughout the country.
Barbara Smith is a co-founder of the Combahee River Collective, a Black
feminist group which did political organizing in Boston from 1974-1980.
She was co-founder and publisher until February 1995 of Kitchen Table
Women of Color Press, the first U.S. publisher for women of color.
Barbara Smith was born in Cleveland, Ohio and lived in Boston for nine
years from 1972 until 1981. She now lives in Albany, New York
SATURDAY, 12 MARCH
8:30 - 10:45
REGISTRATION
Second floor, University Center
SESSION E -- 8:45 - 10:15
PANEL 28
University Center Hunt-Anderson
Listening to Women's Voices: Therapy for Women Reconsidered
Chair: Melanie McGrath, Tulane University
"Negotiating the Semantics of Death and Survival: A Comparative Study of
Women's Recovery Narratives"
Lee Winniford, University of Houston
"Madnation, Madgrrls: Feminism, Mental Health and the Politics of
Identity"
Beth Donaldson, Stephen F. Austin State University
"'God, It's So Hard': What Some Poor White Women Want Therapists to
Know"
Carolyn Wright, Syracuse University
PANEL 29
University Center President's B
Strategies for Helping Girls in Trouble
"Early Intervention With At-Risk Young Female 'Status Offenders' in the
Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court System"
Kristen Chawla and Helen Glancy
Division of Law and Psychiatry, LSU Medical Center
PANEL 30
Freeman Auditorium, Woldenberg Art Center
Viewing Kate Chopin
"Kate Chopin: A Re-Awakening" (screening)
Produced by Tika Laudun and Lucille McDowell. Directed by Tika
Laudun. 1998
"Preserving Kate Chopin: The Kate Chopin Home in Cloutierville,
Louisiana"
(slide presentation)
Mary Linn Wernet, Northwestern State University of Louisiana
PANEL 31
University Center Stibbs A
Do I Look Fat?
Chair: TBA
"Women of Substance"
Ann Elizabeth Younger, Louisana State University
"Victoria's Big Secret"
Peggy Walzer Rosefeldt, Independent scholar and costume designer, New
Orleans
PANEL 32
University Center Mezzanine A and B
Empowerment Video Workshop
YW
Led by the young women from The Teenage Girls' Documentary Project
1) TGDP girls will begin each workshop by screening and discussing one
of the short video projects that they produced, directed and co-edited for
the TGDP.
2) The teenage videomakers will then instruct workshop participants in the
basics of how to use a video camera, with the goal of producing short
"video-voice" pieces on the spot
3) Each workshop participant will be invited to enter an englised recording
booth, face a mirror, and record herself talking about issues concerning
her developing sexuality and identity (for example, body image, romance,
sexual identity) and/or revelations resulting from her participation in the
conference. These mini-projects will then be recorded on 5 minute VHS
tapes that participants can take home. An archival reel will also be
recorded on a master tape and housed in the Newcomb College Archives,
thus creating a conference record of young women's voices that reflect not
only on their present-day concerns and assertions, but also a record of
reactions and musings on subject matter raised at the conference.
PANEL 33
University Center Chastant
Open Workshop: The 5 Greatest Opportunities vs. the 5 Greatest
Obstacles Facing Women and Girls Globally in the Year 2000
People drawn to this room have a little over one hour to get themselves
organized and produce a one-page mission statement/manifesto/press
release which speaks to the immediate future of the feminist movement.
Come prepared to map territory and plot strategy. Bring a notebook.
Please turn a copy of the document in to the registration desk at the end of
the session.
PANEL 34
Anna E. Many Lounge, 2nd floor Caroline Richardson Hall
Creative Writing Section Readings
Poetry: Christine Murphey, Program Director Environmental Studies,
Tulane University
Poetry: Pat Ward, University of New Orleans graduate & teacher at
McMain Magnet School
Poetry: Bonnie Crumly-Fastring, poet, mother & teacher
Poetry: To Be Continued Ð Dillard University poets Tameka Cage, Kalinda
Eaton, Nicole Perkins
Poetry: Martha Serpas, The Honors College, University of Houston
SESSION F -- 10:30 - 12:00
PANEL 35
Freeman Auditorium, Woldenberg Art Center
"Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour" (screening)
Director: Susan Stern, El Rio Productions, San Francisco
Note: MA rating/sexually graphic in spots
Distributed by New Day Films www.newday.com
PANEL 36
University Center Mezzanine A and B
Empowerment Video Workshop
YW
Continuation of earlier workshop.
PANEL 37
University Center President's B
Writing Like A Woman
Chair: Susanne Dietzel, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women
"Autobiographical Criticism as Literary Criticism: Finding a Place for the
Personal"
Deshae Lott, Texas A&M University
"How to Write Like a Woman"
Christiana Langenberg, Iowa State University
"Scully's Journal: Creating the Diarist in Contemporary Popular Culture"
Amy L. Wink, Stephen F. Austin State University
"The Missing Women in the History of Technical Writing"
Margaret Dawson, Texas A&M University
PANEL 38
University Center Stibbs A
Gender and the Visual
Chair: Molly Rothenberg, Tulane University
"'There is Something Frightful in Our Midst': The Double and the
Masculinization of Women in Weimar Culture"
Barbara Hales, University of Houston Ð Clear Lake
"Fl‰nerie: Gendered Visualities and the Work of Annette Messager"
Beth Lauritis, University of California, Riverside
"Happiness is A Warm Gun: Thelma and Louise as Parable on Patriarchal
Power"
Stacey C. Short, Texas A&M University
PANEL 39
University Center Stibbs B
Border Crossings and Identity
Chair: TBA
"Feminism on the Edge: A Study in a Border Culture"
Carol Waters, Texas A&M International University
"Identity Formation and Strategies of Cultural Negotiation Among
Mexican-American Women Professionals"
Esmeralda de los Santos, University of the Incarnate Word
"Retraditionalization of Roles Through Bicultural Resynthesis as an
Effective Means of Achieving American Indian Women's Self-
Determination"
Linda Napholz, University of Wisconsin Ð Milwaukee
PANEL 40
University Center President's A
Administrative Academic Activism: Feminist Solutions at Texas
Tech University (roundtable)
Chair: Marjean D. Purinton
Elizabeth Hall, Texas Tech University
Rosslyn Smith, Texas Tech University
Marjean D. Purinton, Texas Tech University
PANEL 41
University Center Hunt-Anderson
Contemporary Perspectives on The Awakening
Chair: TBA
"Kate Chopin's Ecofeminism: A Dialogue Between The Awakening and
Contemporary Women"
Sarah Klein, Southwest Texas State University
"'I Almost Live Here': Gender and Ethnicity in The Awakening and ÔThe
StormÕ"
Pamela Menke, Regis College
PANEL 42
University Center Chastant
Roundtable/Workshop: Teaching Women's Studies in New
Orleans High Schools
YW
Chair: Mary Carruth, University of New Orleans
Anita Calagna, Louisiana Department of Education
Kim Wargo, Louise S. McGehee School
Patricia Elliott, Chalmette High School
PANEL 43
Anna E. Many Lounge, 2nd floor, Caroline Richardson Hall
Creative Writing Section Readings
Poetry: Ellen Pecoul, Librarian, McMain Magnet School and members of
the McMain Poetry Club
Non-fiction: Whitney Stewart, biographer for young adults
Non-fiction: Joyce Zonana, University of New Orleans
Fiction: Susan Hubbard, University of Central Florida
PLENARY SESSION -- 12:15 - 1:45
University Center Kendall Cram Room
ÒCents and Sensibility: Gender, Power and Economics Ð Your
value beyond the market economyÓ
a talk by Krishanti Dharmaraj
Women's Institute for Leadership Development (WILD), San
Francisco
Krishanti Dharmaraj is a human rights educator and activist. She is
currently the Executive Director and co-founder of Women's Institute for
Leadership Development (WILD), an organization focusing on promoting
human rights to address long term change in the United States through the
conscious leadership and action of women and girls.
Through her work at WILD, Ms. Dharmaraj does the following:
¥ develops strategies for implementation of international human rights
standards, both nationally and locally;
¥ provides a human rights perspective on and gendered analysis of U.S.
foreign policy and global economics;
¥ designs and conducts training on human rights and leadership for women
and girls.
She has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad on topics
including colonialism, imperialism and human rights; gender equity and
violence against women; the politics of population control; breaking the
silence about human rights violations against members of lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender communities; and globalization, power and
economic rights. She has conducted numerous workshops and training
sessions on women's human rights, cultural relativism, homophobia and
anti-oppression, international human rights treaties, and the political action
of women and girls.
Currently, Ms. Dharmaraj is a member of the Board of Directors of
Amnesty International, and is on the Citizen's Advisory Committee for
Grants for the Arts in San Francisco.
She is an immigrant from Sri Lanka and currently resides in San
Francisco. She holds Master's degrees in International Relations and
Business Administration.
SESSION G -- 2:00 - 3:30
PANEL 44
University Center Stibbs B
Medical Women of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth
Centuries
Chair: Cecelia Brown
"Early American and Canadian Women Physicians: Their Stuggles and
SuccessesÓ
Laurie Scrivener, University of Oklahoma Libraries
"Mother-Doctors on the Canadian Frontier: Charlotte Ross and Elizabeth
Matheson"
Cecelia Brown, University of Oklahoma Libraries
PANEL 45
University Center President's A
Remapping Our Bodies, Our Selves: Past, Present, Future
Chair: Phyllis Thompson
"'A Certain Portion of Misery and Disappointments': Mapping Passion and
Pain in the Female Body"
Phyllis Thompson, Louisiana State University
"Living on the 'Dark' Side of the Moon: 1990s Representations of Women
Living with HIV and the Social Construction of Marginality"
Taryn Lindhorst and Luz Lopez, School of Social Work, Tulane University
"Decorative Utility: Women's Descriptions of the Female Self at the
Millennium"
M. Kelly James, Louisiana State University
PANEL 46
University Center President's B
Nineteenth/Twentieth-Century Women's Literature
Chair: Nancy Maveety, Tulane University
"Charlotte Bront‘'s Answer to the Victorian Woman Question: Caroline
Helstone and Shirley Keldar, the Heroines of Shirley"
Jennifer Boots, University of Oklahoma
"A 'Revolution in Female Manners': Wollstonecraft's Vindications and
Cather's O Pioneers!"
Maria K. Stanonis, University of Florida
ÒThe Discipline of Social Corsets: The Gendered Typification of the
Southern Lady in the Diary of Sally McNeillÓ
Mary Lynn Gasaway-Hill, St. MaryÕs University
PANEL 47
University Center Stibbs A
The African American Female Experience in the Works of Toni
Morrison (Sex, Sexuality, and Spirituality)
Chair: Karen Mongo, Texas WomanÕs University
"Paradigms of Womanhood in Toni Morrison's Sula and Paradise"
Melissa Ill, University of Denver
ÒMetaphors of Pleasure, Outspoken Women, and the High Silence of
Orgasm"
Jeryl Prescott, Wake Forest University
"Speaking in Tongues: The Presence of Voice and Absence in Body in
Beloved's Baby Suggs"
Diana Davidson, University of Alberta
"I Tie All My People Together: The Yoruba Deity Oshun in Toni
Morrison's Tar Baby and Sula"
Natalie King, Florida Atlantic University
PANEL 48
University Center Hunt-Anderson
Kate Chopin in New Orleans
Chair: Emily Toth
"What Kate Chopin Did in New Orleans"
Emily Toth
Louisiana State University
"What Kate Chopin Wrote About New Orleans"
Barbara Ewell
City College, Loyola University of New Orleans
"What Kate Chopin Saw in New Orleans"
Judith Bonner
Historic New Orleans Collection
PANEL 49
Freeman Auditorium
Saturday Afternoon Screening/Younger Women's "Keynote":
Sneak Preview and Discussion of The Desire Media Project with
director Julie Gustafson and the young women of The Teenage
Girls' Documentary Project
The Desire Media Project is produced in collaboration the nine teenage
girls from three economically and racially diverse New Orleans
communities. Over the course of four years, filmmakers Julie Gustafson
and Issac Webb have trained and commissioned nine teenage girls to
collaborate on this unique media project. The work of these young women
dramatically presents teenage voices, voices that adults rarely listen to, with
a sophisticated analysis of one of today's most profound social concerns:
how class, race and gender significantly affect the "choices" young women
make about their futures. Through the eyes of the teenagers themselves,
and of the filmmakers who document the social and interpersonal
environments in which the girls live, the team explores the moral and
practical decisions young women make about work, love, family and sexual
activity - making evident the ways in which young women's desires and
choices, often taken to be private matters, are frequently linked to larger
factors.
PANEL 50
Creative Writing Section Readings
Anna E. Many Lounge, 2nd Floor, Newcomb College Center for
Research on Women
Poetry: Lee Winniford, University of Houston
Poetry: Deshae E. Lott, Texas A&M University
Poetry: Beverly Rainbolt, University of New Orleans
Fiction: Alison Fensterstock, Newcomb College, editor Bad Girl (zine)
Fiction: Darlene Olivio, photographer
SESSION H -- 3:45 - 5:15
PANEL 51
University Center President's A
Dead Girls Don't Say No: The Sexualization of the Lifeless
Female Body
Chair: Lauryn Angel-Cann
ÒThe Synthetic Woman: A NecrophiliacÕs IdealÓ
Amy Gingerich, University of North Texas
"Love Beyond Death: A Look at Necrophilia in 19th Century British
Literature"
Lauryn Angel-Cann, University of North Texas
"Keeping a Stiff Upper Lip: Necrophilia in Eliza HaywoodÕs The Double
Marriage"
Kathryn Strong, University of North Texas
"Necrophilia, Vagina Dentata, and Oedipal Complexes: The Ties that Bind
in Poe's 'Ligeia,' 'Morrella,' and 'Berenice'"
Rebecca Hanson, University of North Texas
"Lester Ballard: The Necrophiliac as Patriarchal Hero"
Kelly Herd, University of North Texas
PANEL 52
University Center PresidentÕs B
The View: Women's Perspectives on Body Image Issues Across
the Lifespan (roundtable)
Chair: Kate Victory, Texas Woman's University
Jody Oomen, Texas Woman's University
Judy Spira, Texas WomanÕs University
Sue Hayes, Manor Care, Dallas, Texas
Kamitra Brooks-Johnson, Texas WomanÕs University
PANEL 53
University Center Stibbs A
The African American Female Experience in the Works of Toni
Morrison (Blackness)
Chair: Karen Mongo, Texas WomanÕs University
"Slippin' Into Darkness: Complication Blackness in Toni Morrison's Tar
BabyÓ
Cheryl Johnson, Miami University
"Between Vision and View: Cinema, Consumerism, and the White Male
Gaze in Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye"
Susan Somers-Willet, University of Texas
"Girls at Play: The Violence of Experience in Toni Morrison's The Bluest
Eye and SulaÓ
Delores Ayers Keller, Rice University
PANEL 54
University Center Chastant
Roundtable: Reconverging Kali: Reuniting the Female Elements
into a Feminine Unity
Facilitators: R. Anya Davis and Michael Tate, University of North Texas
5 graduate students
Department of Journalism
University of North Texas
PANEL 55
Freeman Auditorium, Woldenberg Art Center
Nina Rosenblum, "Through the Wire"
(screening and discussion with Ms. Rosenblum)
PANEL 56
University Center Stibbs B
Making It Real: Autobiography and Autotheory with College
Women and 6th Grade Girls (roundtable)
YW
Chair/Facilitator: Susan Cumings, Institute for Women's Studies, Emory
University
The members of the Emory University WS 384L "Autobiography and
Autotheory" class:
Julie Schwietert, Kay Walraven, Jennifer Kurle, Jessica Elam, Leigh
Jacobsen, Kelly Hooper, Susan Walker
PANEL 57
University Center Mezzanine A
Early Modern Voices and Representations of Women
Chair: Betsy Jones Hemenway, Newcomb College Center for Research on
Women
"Nicknames for Women: Early Modern Slang Terms for Female Genitalia"
Catherine Loomis, University of New Orleans
"Adriana's Radical Vision of Marriage and Her Threat to Patterns of Male
Bonding in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors"
Deborah Griffin, University of Houston Ð Clear Lake
"Medieval Women Writers: A Tradition of Strong Voice"
Joanie DeForest, Art Institute of Houston
PANEL 58
Anna E. Many Lounge, 2nd floor, Caroline Richardson Hall
Creative Writing Section Reading
Poetry: Martha McFerren, Warren Wilson
Poetry: Mona Lisa Saloy, Louisiana State University and Dillard University
Poetry: Carolyn Alifair Skebe, University of North Texas
Fiction: Joanna Leake, Director MFA Program, University of New Orleans
SATURDAY NIGHT ART EXTRAVAGANZA!
8:00 - 9:30
Freeman Auditorium, Woldenberg Art Center
ÒThe Feminine Products II: Good Girls Don'tÓ Fashion Show
Free and open to the public
Curators/Producers: Michelle DuBos, Koki Otero, Mary Kosut
(femprod@aol.com), Independent Artists, Activists, Hellraisers, New
Orleans
Assistant producer: Alison Fensterstock, Newcomb College
Host: Surprise guest TBA
During the month of March, be sure to visit the ÒFeminine Products II:
Good Girls DonÕtÓ art show at the Mercury Gallery at 4310 Magazine
Street. Gallery hours: Saturdays 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Fashion Show Participants:
Mariposa Vintage Clothing
2038 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 523-3037
Stella Dotir Fashion Design
3205 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
(504) 269-1666
Funky Monkey
3127 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
(504) 899-5587
Featuring designs by Sarah Wheelock, Michele Baker, and Susan Gisleson
Michele Baker
Star Steamstress
Sensual Wear
(504) 949-0791
Susan Giselson
(504) 865-1973
Lorna Leedy
(504) 484-7024
and thereÕs an art opening just down the stairs in the Newcomb Art
Gallery...
Deborah Kass: The Warhol Project
Organized by the Newcomb Art Gallery, this exhibition features a selection
of Deborah KassÕs appropriations of Andy WarholÕs now-classic Pop Art
formats. By substituting a range of Jewish, female and lesbian subjects into
WarholÕs familiar picture formsÑsuch as Barbra Streisand for Jackie
Kennedy, Gertrude Stein for Robert Rauschenberg, and Cindy Sherman for
Liza MinnelliÑKass challenges the stereotypes embedded in WarholÕs
pantheon of beauty and power to question the existence of a fixed identity
of self and culture. This exhibition will be on view March 8 - May 29,
1999.
SUNDAY 14 MARCH
Note: Participants must have pre-registered for the tour and meal.
Participants should check with someone at the conference registration desk
for details about where to meet the tour bus. Participants should plan their
own post-prandial transportation.
10 a.m., Bus/Walking Tour of Kate ChopinÕs New Orleans
led by New Orleans historian and writer Mary Gehman
to be followed by
12:30 p.m., EdnaÕs Birthday Dinner
(a recreation from the pages of The Awakening)
Governor Noe Room
TujagueÕs Restaurant, 823 Decatur Street