newsletter

ORWAC Newsletter January 2010 no. 1

A Final Word from the President . . .

As I write this final contribution to the newsletter I reflect back on the three years of gladly serving as President of ORWAC. During this time there are several accomplishments that benefit the organization and its members.  Most recent highlights include: extending one-time travel support in the amount of $500.00 to nine students each to present their work at ORWAC-WSCA 2010; securing Taylor & Francis as the new publisher of Women’s Studies in Communication, woo hooo!; and selecting Valeria Fabj to serve as Editor-Elect of the journal, double woo hooo.  As well, establishing the Research Development grant that supports scholars at all ranks; renewing our license agreement with EBSCO which resulted in a 50% increase in guaranteed royalties over the next five years; sponsoring a “border tour” and keynote speaker in 2009; obtaining a new ORWAC logo through a student competition; and, archiving the organization’s herstory.

All of the above, of course, is not without the support of fellow officers.  A special “shout-out” to past and present officers--Diane, Stacey, Valerie, Brenda, Cindy, Valeria, Bernadette and Heather.  Each of you has shown yourselves to be such a dedicated, supportive, generous, honest and outspoken group of feminists who have enhanced my experience.  Also, to the many womyn who graciously serve as reviewers and respondents of papers and panels submitted to ORWAC for WSCA conferences, thank you! I greatly appreciate your professionalism and mentoring of scholars via the blind feedback offered when reviewing and responding to papers.  Finally, to ORWAC’ians as I’ve come to refer to members . . . I value your continued commitment to attend business meetings and remain a part of ORWAC (and, many thanks for replying to whatever requests or inquiries I’ve posted to our listserve J). In sum, I really am thankful of everyone with whom I’ve worked and who has played a role in moving ORWAC to new and higher levels.  Thanks again, Michelle

Congratulations

ORWAC Research Grant Recipients!

Our annual Research Development 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; that offer insights about the challenges and negotiations confronted by women in light of intersecting identities; and/or that favor the voices, experiences, discourses, performances and lives of women.

In its second year the grant program continues to garner competitive, attractive and noteworthy projects.  In 2009, there was an increase in applications for categories two and three (Ph.D. students, and instructors & tenure/track faculty, respectively).  Based on the strength of applications received, and that no applications were received for category one (M. A. students), officers decided to extend an additional grant in each of the other categories. We congratulate the following recipients and look forward to seeing their projects in print and/or hearing them presented at conferences.

Applications for the 2010 grant period will be available in February-March with a deadline likely in June-July.  So begin working on those proposals!

New Editor for Women’s Studies in Communication!

Valeria Fabj (PhD Northwestern University) is Professor of Communication, Chair of Communication, Media & Politics and Director of the MS in Communication and Media in the College of International Communication at Lynn University in Boca Raton, FL.  Prior to joining the faculty at Lynn University she taught at Emerson College in Boston and at Northern Illinois University.  Her articles have been published in The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication Studies, Advocacy and Argument, American Behavioral Scientist and Global Media Journal.  Fabj’s research focuses on the public sphere as a forum in which traditionally marginalized groups can gain a voice and affect public praxis. Her belief is that citizens can be empowered and reclaim some of the decision-making power that is often abdicated to experts. Fabj focuses on two primary areas: how marginalized groups, and especially women, can draw on the personal sphere to bring about significant changes in the public sphere and how issues can be argued in different spheres as in the case of medical activists who politicize issues traditionally relegated to the technical sphere.

Fabj has had a long-standing relationship with  Women’s Studies in Communication.  She was privileged to serve for various years as Book Review Editor for the journal under three separate editors and is thrilled to be following in their footsteps as Editor Elect of WSIC. She is committed to continuing to publish the best in feminist scholarship in communication. As such she believes that WSIC is not only a journal for women who study women’s issues, but for any feminist scholar who is interested in question of gender, power, intersectionality and marginality. 

 

North to Alaska!

ORWAC & WSCA, Anchorage, March 5-9, 2010

Are you headed to Anchorage for the WSCA Conference? If so, ORWAC is sponsoring several provocative panels that you are going to want to check out!

3203 Top Four Papers in the Organization for Research on Women and Communication
9:10-10:20 Sunday, March 7 Spruce
Chair: Diane M. Blair, California State University, Fresno
Doing Intersectionality: Power, Privilege and Oppression in Political Activist Communities
Karma R. Chavez, University of New Mexico

“Just Another Pretty Face”: Discourses of Compulsory Heterosexuality, Competition, and Communication among Women on a College Campus
Melissa Wood Aleman, James Madison University

Shutting Out Cutting: Title, Text, and Meaning and Reading in Valerie Solanas’s SCUM Manifesto*
Robert L. Mack, The University of Texas at Austin

The Opaque Qualities of the Postmodern Aesthetic: Depoliticization in the Gallery Underground
Elinor Christopher, University of Utah

Respondent: Michelle A. Holling, California State University San Marcos

*Top Student Paper in ORWAC

3403 Critical Personalizations & Interrogations of Identity in Everyday Life
1:00-2:10pm Sunday, March 7 Spruce
Chair: Alyssa Samek, University of Maryland, College Park

One of These Spaces is not Like the Other; One of These Spaces Just Doesn’t Belong: A Look into the Resistance Toward the Use of Space and Performance of Sexuality and Identity in Gay and Straight Bars in Colorado*
Tiffany Reifschneider, Colorado State University

From Whisper to Shout: Finding My Voice as a (Non) Traditional Graduate Student
Sarah Blithe, University of Colorado at Boulder

Feminist Surnaming Practices: Tradition, Discursive Closure, and the Constitution of Relational Roles
Diane Keeling, University of Colorado at Boulder

Living Creativity: Teaching as Art
Marnel N. Niles, California State University, Fresno

Respondent: Stacey Sowards, University of Texas at El Paso

*Debut paper

3503 Power Dynamics: Shifting Women and Gendered Constructions Toward Empowerment
2:20-3:30pm Sunday, March 7 Spruce

Gendered communication and knowledge production are processes of social construction. Rather than constructing perceptions of power in communication as conflict, we shift perceived interpretations of gendered power struggle toward gendered strengths and empowerment.

Gendered Resistance: Aprons, Grandma, & Comfort Food, oh my!
Jean Richey, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Girl Meets Boy; Boy becomes Man; Girl becomes Empowered: An Exploration of the Constructed Meanings of Asymmetrical Gendered Nouns
Ross Imbler, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

The Tattoo of Womanhood: Resistant Readings and Transgressive Adaptations of Fashion and Beauty Magazine Ads
Shelby Rosemond, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Walking Peacefully in the World: Narrative Understandings of Non-violence
Solveig Pedersen, University of Alaska

Respondent: Maureen Hogan, University of Alaska, Fairbanks

4108 Power(ful) Rhetorical-Gendered Texts: Empowering or Containing Women?
9:00-10:10am Monday, March 8 Iliamna
Chair: Diane Keeling, University of Colorado at Boulder

Innocent as Doves, Shrewd as Serpents: The Rhetorical Situation of Alcoholics Anonymous Chapter “To Wives”*
Lauren Amaro, San Diego State University

The Lesbian Tide: Crafting a Space foe Lesbian Feminist Liberation
Alyssa A. Samek, University of Maryland, College Park

Made of Fantasy: A Semiotic Analysis of Fairy Tale Themes and Gender Roles in Made of Honor*
Stephanie Gomez, California State University, San Bernardino

Sex Trafficking: A Textual Analysis of Providing Women with Agency*
Julie L. Taylor, Colorado State University

Respondent: Melissa Wood Aleman, James Madison University

*Debut Paper

 

4408 The Constitutive Powers of Communication: Identity, Voice, and Agency
2:20-3:30pm Monday, March 8 Iliamna

Scholars address questions of identity and identity politics as they relate to race and ethnicity, sex, gender, and sexuality while also pursuing the ways that identity politics and practices can and do constrain but also open up possibilities.
Chair: Cindy Griffin, Colorado State University

Negotiations from [Inside] a Collective: [Autoethnograpic] Agency from a First-Generation/White/Queer/Othered Voice
Gregory Sean Hummel, Colorado State University

Room for Us All: Deconstructing Sexual Identity Binaries in Teen Literature
Jeremy D. Trujillo, Colorado State University

“I am a WOMAN”: Mastectomy, Hysterectomy, and the (RE)negotiation of Femininity
Elise Clement, Colorado State University

Forced Rape, Forced Silence: The Implications of Sex-Trafficking Victims Defined as Survivors
Julie Lynn Taylor, Colorado State University

Carving a Safe Space for the Real Me: Exploring Identity and Agency Among Participants of Peace Circle in Secondary Education
Mallorie A. Bruns, Colorado State University

Respondent: Karma Chavez, University of New Mexico

We Need You!
Call for Vice President!

This is a wonderful opportunity for an ORWAC member to move into a leadership position for our organization. The strength of our organization comes from the dedication and enthusiasm of our members and their willingness to contribute to the future well-being and direction of our organization.

The Vice President serves for two years with the expectation of becoming President. An election for this position will be held at the ORWAC Business Meeting in Anchorage, AK. Duties for the position include:

For more information on the position or to indicate an interest in being nominated, please feel free to contact the current Vice President, Diane M. Blair, at dblair@csufresno.edu or 559-278-8578.

“I Say Hello, You Say Good-Bye.”

After serving as Editor for Women’s Studies in Communication for the past three years, Cindy Griffin has passed the torch to a new editor. Cindy’s service and leadership to both ORWAC and WSIC has been invaluable to our organization, and we are thankful for her dedication, insight, and direction.

As indicated in her President’s message, Michelle Holling is also completing her service to ORWAC and will turn the position over to Diane Blair at the ORWAC Business Meeting in March. According to the officers who have worked closely with Michelle, her leadership has been central to the growth and development of the organization and her significant accomplishments are featured her in final President’s report above. When asked what it has been like to work with Michelle, Stacey Sowards writes, “I have truly enjoyed working with Michelle, and I will be sorry to see her go. She has made our future work for ORWAC much easier by taking on these major tasks.” Valerie Renegar adds, “Michelle spends an extraordinary amount of work on making our organization better. The negotiations with Taylor and Francis were incredibly time consuming but few of our members will understand that Michelle deserves the majority of the credit for helping propel our organization into the 21st century. The legacy of Michelle's presidency will continue for many years.” Finally, Brenda Allen writes, “Michelle has been a visionary, dedicated, innovative, and hard-working leader who has taken ORWAC to another level.”  Thank you, Michelle and good luck with all your future endeavors!!