Welcome

The Organization for Research on Women and Communication (ORWAC) promotes dialogue, discussion, research, and scholarship concerned with women, feminism, gender, oppression, and social change. ORWAC is a Western States Communication Association (WSCA) affiliate, publishes a journal: Women’s Studies in Communication, and sponsors programs at the WSCA convention.

Announcements:

Congratulations to Raquel Moreira for winning the 2018 Feminist Scholar award for her article "'Now that I'm a Whore, Nobody is Holding Me Back!': Women in Favela Funk and Embodied Politics"
Help support the Feminist Language and Communication Collection at the University of Oregon. This Collection is devoted to collecting and preserving the papers of scholars, writers, activists, and organizations whose work was foundational in challenging communication practices and theory in the early years of the second wave of the feminist movement in the United States. Among those whose papers are included are: Paula Gunn Allen, Suzette Haden Elgin, Ursula Le Guin, Sally Miller Gearhart, Nancy Henley, Marcia Houston, Cheris Kramarae, Casey Miller and Kate Swift, Anita Taylor, and the Lucy Stone League. Funds donated will be used to process archival materials such as syllabi, conference papers, versions of book and article manuscripts, texts or notes for lectures and speeches, letters and emails, awards, and videos and audio tapes relevant to gender and communication. Women’s and feminist histories are easily erased and forgotten. This Collection is designed to ensure that the history of feminism in the communication discipline is preserved.

ORWAC will match up to $10,000 in funds donated over the next two years, so your contribution to the Collection goes twice as far. Checks should be made to: “UO Foundation-Special Collections Restricted Fund”; in the memo line, please write “Feminist Language and Communication Collection—ORWAC Donation.” Checks should be sent to: Keri Aronson, UO Libraries, Director of Development, 1299 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1299.

The Organization for Research on Women and Communication is against hate, including bigotry, misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and any form of violence. We support the rights of all human beings, regardless of race, gender, ability, citizenship, religion, gender identity/expression, or sexuality to be included, treated fairly, and prosper.

Learn More About ORWAC

Newsletters

Our biannual newsletter contains a message from the president, addresses commonly asked questions about professional development, updates members on recent changes within the organization, includes our calls for paper submissions to the Western States Communication Association annual convention and gender preconferences, announces honors and awards, as well as provides reports from our grant recipients.

Stay updated by reading our most recent newsletter.

Journal

The ORWAC Journal, Women's Studies in Communication (WSIC), provides a feminist forum for diverse scholarship addressing the relationships between communication and gender. WSIC invites contributions in the form of research, reviews, and commentary with the potential to advance our understanding of the intersections of gender and race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, sexuality, and class, as well as the articulations between gendered performances, power, and representation in public culture.

Each year, the Feminist Scholarship Award is presented to the top essay published in the journal at the Western States Communication Association's annual conference.

Members are able to access the online journal by logging into their account. Click the link for Members Only in the top right corner.

Grants

The Organization for Research on Women and Communication invites submissions for our Research Development Grants. Members are eligible to apply for one of three grants that support scholars at different levels of their career: M.A. students, PhD students, and instructors or tenure/track faculty. Each grant offers a maximum of $2,500.00.

Grants are designed to assist feminist scholars completing research or creative projects that privilege and advance understandings about the intersectionality and complexity defining women’s lives. Broadly speaking, submitted projects are those that:

chart new ground in disciplinary knowledge about women and gender

offer insights about the challenges and negotiations confronted by women in light of intersecting identities

favor the voices, experiences, discourses, performances and lives of women

Become a Member!

The Organization for Research on Women and Communication (ORWAC) promotes dialogue, discussion, research, and scholarship concerned with women, feminism, gender, oppression, and social change. ORWAC is a Western States Communication Association (WSCA) affiliate, publishes a journal: Women's Studies in Communication, and sponsors programs at the WSCA convention.

Membership includes:

A subscription to Women's Studies in Communication Journal

Receipt of a biannual newsletter

A voice in managing the business affairs of ORWAC

Eligibility to apply for the annual research development grants

An invitation to the annual ORWAC reception at the WSCA convention (complimentary food and drinks and a networking opportunity for early scholars)