The National Women’s Studies Association
Women's Centers
2008 Pre-Conference
Thursday June 19, 2008
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8:00 – 10:000 am REGISTRATION
BREAKFAST & INTRODUCTION TO THE DAY
North: 201
Welcome; networking; introductory remarks; welcome to new Women's Centers' Committee Chair A light breakfast is provided.
Welcome by Roxanne Qualls, Cincinnati City Councilwoman and former Cincinnati Mayor.
9:15am - 11:45am Breakout Sessions
008. Presentation
An Insider's Job: Developing Leadership/Transforming Institutions
North: 201
This session addresses opportunities and challenges for women (and some men) who are in, or aspiring to, leadership positions in higher education today. It explores questions suggested by the pre-conference theme-Women's Centers within the Institution: Resisting Hegemonies. The purpose of the session is to foster leadership development specifically for women's center professionals, and it pursues this goal by focusing on the importance of developing a structural analysis of the institution while strategically engaging in institutional processes and systems.
Michelle Meyers, Meyers & Munafo, LLC
12:00pm - 1:00pm Lunch
North, 201
1:15pm - 2:15pm Breakout Sessions
022. Presentation
Starting from Scratch: Building a New Women's Center
North, 202
This session will focus on the practical and real politics involved in starting a new women's center. Based on my experience of starting two new centers. I will provide useful information to seasoned center staff, new center staff, and aspiring center staff. I will include discussion of best practices and potential challenges.
Susanne Dietzel Ohio University
023. Workshop
"I Hate My Body!": Addressing Body Dissatisfaction Among College Women
North: 203
A majority of women are dissatisfied with their bodies, which can negatively affect their academic success and well-being. Women's centers can be instrumental in raising awareness and generating solutions. This workshop will briefly review current research, discuss programming and facilitate discussion on ways we can effectively challenge this growing trend.
Katherine Rose-Mockry, University of Kansas
Lisa S. Rismiller, University of Dayton
024. Panel
“Inside Out: Women, Prison and Performance”
North, 204
This panel would provide Women's Centers and Women's and Gender Studies academics with a guide on how to develop a program grounded on community based learning with students and inmates. Inside Out is a course that takes students to the nearest prison to work with the inmates on a performance that includes both students and inmates. We will talk about our experiences within the class setting from the perspective of professors and students inside and outside the prison. The panel would also include views of the various performances that have taken place inside the prison.
Ivy T. Schweitzer, Dartmouth College
Pati A. Hernandez, Dartmouth College
Megan R. Fallon, Dartmouth College
Moderator: Xenia Markowitt, Dartmouth College
2:30pm - 3:30pm Breakout Sessions
028. Workshop
Are Feminist Principles Being Applied in Our Centers?:
Examining Our Efforts
North, 204
Through an examination of feminist models of leadership and the CAS Standards for Women Student Programs and Services, this experiential workshop will lead participants through a self-examination of their Center structure, goals and leadership in order to evaluate how feminist principles are being enacted. What is needed to lead contemporary Women’s Centers? How is Center staff being mentored for advancement? How are feminist principles used in your Center? How inclusive is your Center? This workshop will provide an opportunity to develop effective, innovative and creative strategies for the future and to define and perhaps, re-imagine feminist leadership.
Anitra Cottledge University of Minnesota
Leslie Ferrer University of Vermont
Michelle Issadore Lehigh University
Alexa Priddy Old Dominion University
Moderator:Alexa Priddy Old Dominion University
026. Roundtable
Being Real about our "Dream Jobs": Exploring Past & Future Career Paths in Women’s Centers
North, 202
This roundtable will address career paths to and from women's centers. While many current women's center professionals "fell into" women's center work without having intentionally chosen a women's center career, among our students and successors, a growing number aspire to women's center positions and are taking steps to get there. Many current and future women's center professionals may be looking to move "up" in the administrative ranks. Unlike faculty and other staff positions, however, the path to promotion is not always clear. This roundtable will seek to open the discussion of career paths to and from women's centers.
Chimi L. Boyd, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Claire Kathleen Robbins, Duke University
Amber L. Vlasnik, Wright State University
Moderator: Brenda Bethman, University of Missouri-Kansas City
027. Workshop
Women's Centers Providing H.O.P.E. tThrough Mentoring
North, 203
This workshop will focus on the strategies used in implementing a mentoring program at a local high school with the focus on senior female students. Curriculum development, global civic engagement, collaborative partnerships, available financial resources, peer group mentoring and potential roadblocks will be discussed. How can Women's Centers enhance mentorship to influence the lives of young women will be explored.
3:45pm - 4:45pm Breakout Sessions
035. Workshop
I Am The Man: The Institutionalization of Social Protest
North, 202
This workshop will explore the dissonance that can arise in our work in women's centers and women's studies programs around a dual set of responsibilities that are often in conflict: to represent the institution as well as to support student voices and teach critical thinking toward social change. While tenured faculty may enjoy a little more freedom of expression than administrators in their support of students' political activities, what does it mean when "agents of the institution" engage with students in their activism; teach it; and/ or create it?
036. Panel
White Privilege In Women/Gender Centers' Work
North: 204
The NWSA Women's Centers Committee has had a long-standing commitment to including conversations and sharing of best practices regarding white privilege in women's centers' work as an integral component of our pre-conference. This conversation, facilitated by one or more women's center staff, will provide space for continuing this important conversation.
034. Panel
Strategic Diversity Planning For Women's Centers
North: 201
In this session we will explore the value of diversity strategic plans for women's centers, what is included, and how to write a plan. We will devote particular attention to developing a strategic planning process that is inclusive, strengthens internal and external partnerships and alliances, and lays the groundwork for successful implementation of the plan.
Presenter: Michelle Meyers, Meyers & Munafo, LLC
5:00pm - 5:30pm Closing Session |
