Fall 2008-Spring 2009 Events Schedule

Laura C. Harris Symposium

Women’s Spaces, Women’s Places

bell hooks – OPENING CONVOCATION

September 11, 2008 8:00pm – Swasey Chapel

Belonging:  A Culture of Place

Dr. hooks is one of the nation’s leading scholars, activists, and writers. Dr. hooks has made ground-breaking contributions to scholarship on race, gender, and class and has pushed us to be better human beings through her tireless devotion to education in both the classroom and the community. She has taught at the University of Southern California, Oberlin, Yale and The City College of New York, and is currently a Distinguished Professor at Berea College in Kentucky. Her visit will inaugurate the 2008-09 academic year and kick off the campus-wide intellectual themes Urbanscapes, sponsored by the McGregor Connections Initiative and Women’s Places, Women’s Spaces, sponsored by the Laura C. Harris Fund and Women’s Studies.

A Night of 200 Bras (Bra Art 2008)

October 15 & 16, 2008 6-10pm – Doane Library Printmaking Room

Bra Art 2008 is a community project and exhibition to promote the use of artwork as activism and raise awareness of breast cancer. The project is the result of student coordinator Chrissy Martin’s desire to raise money for breast cancer research. The community project to create the bra artwork is to be held from 6 to 10pm on two nights: October 15 & October 16. The exhibition “A Night of 200 Bras” will occur at 7pm on October 29 at a gallery hop that begins in the Doane Library Student Gallery. The goal of Bra Art 2008 is to involve the entire community with the creation of artwork for the exhibit. Collaboration with the Studio Art Department, Denison Colleges Against Cancer, the Laura C. Harris Symposium, Denison Art Collective, John Alford Center for Service Learning along with the local community, incorporated many views into the work. Maidenform generously donated 200 bras for the artwork. All proceeds from the sale of the decorated bras will go directly to the American Cancer Society to aid in breast cancer research.

John Prendergast

October 20, 2008 4:30pm – Higley Auditorium

Ending Sexual Violence Against Women in the Congo

John Prendergast is Co-Chair of the “Enough Project”, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity. During the Clinton administration, John was involved in a number of peace processes in Africa while he was director of African Affairs at the National Security Council and special advisor at the Department of State. John has also worked for members of Congress, the United Nations, human rights organizations, and think tanks, as well as having been a youth counselor and basketball coach in the United States. Co-sponsored by Laura C. Harris Symposium and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs.

SOAPBOX!

October 27, 2008 4:30pm – Campus Commons

Public orations by Printmaking As Activism Students in conjunction with opening outdoor exhibition of VOTE posters created by Printmaking as Activism Students. Sponsored by the Studio Art Program, Alford Center for Service-Learning and the Laura C. Harris Symposium.

One-in-Four RV Tour

December 4, 2008 4:30pm – Burton Morgan Lecture Hall

How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor: What Men Can Do

One in four college women have survived rape or attempted rape.
Statistics can change, men can help.

The Words and the Music IV, Printmakers As Activist: What’s Goin’ On Now

January 19-February 19, 2009 – Campus Commons

Posters Inspired by the Songs of Marvin Gaye and The Issues That Connect Our Past to Our Present

In conjunction with Denison’s 2009 Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, “The Words and the Music IV, Printmakers as Activist: What’s Goin’ On Now” is opening as an exhibition on the Campus Commons. The exhibition of 17 large scale banners created by students in the Studio Art, Women’s Studies and John W. Alford Center of Service-Learning course “Printmaking as Activism: Print Design, Dissent and Activism” taught this past semester will be on display from January 19-February 19, 2009.

Notes From A Pullman Porter’s Daughter

January 28 & January 29, 2009 8:00pm – Ace Morgan Theatre

Notes from a Pullman Porter’s Daughter is based on autobiographical materials, tracing JoAnne Henry’s struggle to become an artist, a scholar, and an activist.  This work explores the intersections of creativity and the Sacred with the artist’s passion for social justice.  Informed by Black Feminist thought, Womanist Theology, and Feminist Performance strategies, the work weaves narrative with popular music across several decades—including Freedom Songs, rock, hymns, and folk music.

Clara Ramona and Company

January 31, 2009 8:00pm – The Midland Theatre, Newark

Sangre Flamenca En Gira

Clara Ramona, an esteemed Spanish dancer and flamenco artist with a profound respect for tradition and a liberal and accommodating attitude towards modernism, breathes life to both pure and energizing flamenco and has thus gained recognition for her original stage productions. Sangre Flamenca En Gira showcases an array of authentic and traditional Spanish dances and flamenco with a cast of gifted and multi-talented musicians from around the world and Clara Ramona’s dancers.

Human Rights Film Festival

February 3, 10, 17, 24, 2009 7:00pm – Slayter Auditorium

These films cover a range of human rights issues from rape of women in the Congo, freedom of expression and association in Russia, economic and social rights in China, and ethical and moral responsibility during military service in Israel.

February 3, 2009 - The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo

Lisa Jackson, USA 2007, 76m, video, doc

Shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this film brings to light the plight of women and girls caught in that country’s intractable conflicts. A survivor of rape herself, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lisa Jackson, travels through the DRC to understand what is happening and why. The film features interviews with activists, peacekeepers, physicians, and even the indifferent rapists. But the most remarkable moments of the film come as survivors recount their personal stories—inspiring examples of resilience, resistance, courage and grace. Special Jury Prize, Sundance Film Festival 2008.

February 10, 2009 - Letter to Anna

Eric Bergkraut, Switzerland, 2008, 84m, video, doc

Anna Politkovskaya was a brave and tenacious journalist for one of Russia's only independent journals, Novaya Gazeta. Anna used her journalist platform to strongly criticize Russian military actions in Chechnya. On October 7, 2006, she was shot dead in the stairwell of her Moscow apartment building. A few years before her untimely death, filmmaker Eric Bergkraut met Politkovskaya and filmed some powerful, frank interviews with the late reporter. In Letter to Anna these are interwoven with a tantalizing search for her likely killers and

insightful contributions from colleagues and loved ones. Narrated by Susan Sarandon.

February 17, 2009 - Up the Yangtze

Yung Chang, Canada, 2007, 93m, video, doc

A symbol of China’s economic prowess, the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the world’s largest, and China’s biggest engineering feat since the Great Wall. It also represents the end to a way of life and livelihood for two million people along the Yangtze. Among those being forced to relocate are the Yu family who decide to send their oldest daughter Yu Shui to work on a cruise ship. Working for the same cruise line is Chen Bo Yu, the only son from a middle class family. Both struggle with the demands of a changing China, their jobs and the

need to operate in a Western social environment.

February 24, 2009 - To See If I'm Smiling

Tamar Yarom, Israel, 2007, 59m, video, doc

Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old girls are drafted for compulsory military service. The women in the film, veterans who have tried to bury the past for years, finally speak openly about their experiences. Deeply personal interviews are dramatically interwoven with both archival footage and details of the women’s daily lives. At a time when women in the military are increasingly on the frontlines, this powerful film explores the ways that gender, ethics, and moral responsibility intersect during war.

Sponsors: International Studies, Lilly Fund, McGregor Connection, Student Activities, Foresman Fund, Multicultural Student Affairs, International Student Services, Laura C. Harris Fund, Political Science, Denison Museum

Rackie Diankha Diallo

February 10, 2009 4:30pm – Chamberlin Lodge 204

Rackie is a mixed media artist from Dakar, Senegal whose work deals with female identity. She is an artist and activist for young women’s education in Dakar. She graduated first in her class from Senegal’s National Fine Arts School and has since exhibited in venues in Europe and Africa. She was recently the recipient of the prestigious international Ma Afrika award. This event is co-sponsored by Laura C. Harris Fund and Vail Visiting Artists

Julianne Malveaux

February 16, 2009 4:30pm – Burton Morgan Lecture Hall

To Excite Dissatisfaction: Black Studies and the Contemporary Liberal Curriculum

Recognized for her progressive and insightful observations, Dr. Malveaux is also an economist, author and commentator. Her contributions to the public dialogue on issues such as race, culture, gender, and their economic impacts, are shaping public opinion in 21st century America.

Power to Pleasing: The Sex Lives of Teenage Girls

February 23 & 24, 2009 7:00 & 9:00pm – Shorney Hall 4th Floor Women’s Restroom

February 27, 2009 7:00pm – Burke Ground Floor Women’s Restroom

February 28, 2009 11:00am – Burke Ground Floor Women’s Restroom

Why do girls often go from a place of power to one where pleasing their friends and the opposite sex is paramount? The show holds up a mirror to contemporary issues affecting teenage girls in a unique, creative style of site-specific theater where the audience is literally part of the event in the intimacy of the Women’s bathroom. This show, produced by Giving Voice Productions has been performed over 70 times in various venues.

Lynn Dumenil

March 2, 2009 4:30pm – Higley Hall Auditorium

Women, World War, and the Emergence of Modern America

Lynn Dumenil is a Robert Glass Cleland Professor of American History at Occidental College. She specializes in U.S. cultural and social history since the Civil War. Dumenil is author of The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s (1995) and Freemasonry and American Culture, 1880-1930 (1984); and coauthor of Through Women’s Eyes: An American History. She is currently studying American women and World War I.

Chuck D and Gaye Theresa Johnson

April 1, 2009 7:00pm – Swasey Chapel

Hip-Hop in the New Millennium

Chuck D is the founder and lead rapper for Public Enemy, considered to be one of the most influential hip-hop groups of our time. Public Enemy was known for its progressive soundscapes and sophisticated, politically-astute lyrics. Their discography of hit albums is extensive. Chuck D will co-present with his wife, Black Studies Professor Gaye Theresa Johnson, whose own work on social movements, identity, and U.S. cultural history with an emphasis on music is widely respected in the academic community. Johnson is currently teaching at Stanford University and U.C. Santa Barbara. She has published several articles and recently completed a book manuscript titled “The Future Has a Past: Politics, Music and Memory in Afro-Chicano Los Angeles.” This event is co-sponsored by Black Studies, the McGregor Connections Initiative, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, History Department, Sharpe Fund, Communication Department, Laura C. Harris Symposium and the Black Student Union.

Stacy Nadeau

April 9, 2009 7:00pm – Slayter Auditorium

Embracing Real Beauty

Involvement with the Campaign for Real Beauty, Stacy Nadeau is a brave Dove “Real Women” who stood proudly along with five other women in her underwear in the summer of 2005 as part of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. This campaign and the “real Women” ads which celebrated the diversity of body shapes and sizes generated national attention when they hit billboards from coast to coast. Stacy and the other women truly brought the mission of the Campaign for Real Beauty to life which is to make more women feel beautiful everyday by widening today’s stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves. Co-sponsored by Active Minds and the Laura C. Harris Fund.

Saskia Sassen

April 13, 2009 4:30pm – Slayter Auditorium

Global Nor National: The World’s Third Spaces

Saskia Sassen is a Professor of Sociology in the Committee on Global Thought at Columbus University. Her much-cited work on global cities, immigration, and technology networks in a globalized world is internationally renowned. She has authored several books on global cities, including Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages (2006), Digital Formations: New Architectures for Global Order (2005) with Robert Latham, The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo (2001), and Globalization and its Discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money (1998). Co-sponsored by the Laura C. Harris Fund, Women’s Studies, and the McGregor Connections Initiative.

Jessica Valenti

April 21, 2009 7:30pm – Slayter Auditorium

Jessica is a 28 year-old feminist writer from New York. She has a Masters degree in Women's and Gender Studies from Rutgers University and has worked with organizations such as NARAL Pro-Choice America, Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund), Planned Parenthood, the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and Ms. magazine. She is also a co-founder of the REAL hot 100, a campaign to highlight the important work that young women are doing across the country. Jessica is the editor of Beijing Betrayed, a global monitoring report on women's progress worldwide and a contributing author to We Don't Need Another Wave and Single State of the Union (Seal Press). Her writing has appeared in Ms. magazine, Salon, The Guardian (UK), Bitch, Alternet, The Scholar & Feminist and Guernica. In April 2007, Jessica was named one of ELLE magazine's IntELLEgentsia. She is the author of two books, Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters, and He's a Stud, She's a Slut...and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know. She's also a co-editor of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape. Her newest book, The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women, will be out in Spring 2009. This event is co-sponsored by Women’s Emphasis, Campus and Residential Life, Student Activities, and Laura C. Harris Symposium.

All events are free and open to the public