Create, Record, Inspire!
The Gender Amplified Music Festival is a unique event to “celebrate, support and unite women in the world of music production. This festival aims at identifying and motivating next generation of women music producers.” This year, this magnificent event took place at Barnard College on September 28, 2013, uniting producers, scholars, artists, activists and music enthusiasts. With an aim to […]
Women’s History Month Lecture: Joan Wallach Scott
BCRW’s annual Women’s History Month Lecture this year featured renowned historian Joan Wallach Scott. However, as she herself admitted, Scott is often considered to be a political philosopher; more “traditional” historians (read: old university men), as she put it, categorize her as such with the intention of criticizing her and perhaps de-legitimizing her approach to history. As […]
Intergenerational Organizing: Panel Reflection
The focus of the African Women’s Rights and Resilience Forum at Barnard College on March 12, 2014 was to use different panels of discussion to target and attempt to begin to resolve specific issues that exist in the African feminist movement. The last panel of the evening entitled “Intergenerational Organizing” focused on how activists of […]
Intergenerational Organizing: Panel Reflection
A person’s age is not an isolated category; rather, age difference is often a condition for cultural and social discrepancies. For instance, people of different ages are subject to different atmospheres and attitudes surrounding education, LGBTQ rights, religion, and globalism. With this in mind, the patterns that emerged through discussion on the Intergenerational Organizing Panel […]
African Men and Feminisms: Panel Reflection
In second panel of the African Women’s Rights and Resilience Conference, three key themes emerged. The first was the invisibility of (male) privilege, the second was an expressed fear of feminism, and the final theme was the way in which women’s rights could benefits entire communities. Regarding the first of these themes, Mohammed Yahya summarized […]
African Men and Feminisms: Panel Reflection
The panel on African Men and Feminisms held at Barnard College on March 12, 2014 included three men who presented issues directly paralleled to those discussed in our Feminist Theory Colloquium. Those issues included topics such as Feminism in the public and private spheres, men’s perception and treatment of female bodies, and the fear of […]
Redefining Realness
Next Wednesday, April 23, BCRW will be hosting Redefining Realness: A Salon in honor of Janet Mock featuring respondents Brittney Cooper, Che Gossett, Reina Gossett, CeCe McDonald, and Mey Valdivia Rude. They will be participating in a conversation around Janet Mock’s book Redefining Realness, the importance of storytelling in social movements, trans women’s activism, media representation of trans women, and […]
“I Use My Love to Guide Me”: Conversations on Prison Abolition, Love, and Safety
Over the last few months, BCRW Activist Fellow Reina Gossett has hosted several discussions around the topic of prison abolition, especially as it relates to vulnerable communities, specifically queer and trans people. To provide context, research assistant Carly Crane offered useful definitions of the prison-industrial complex and prison abolition, and compiled links to resources, key figures, and organizations […]
Examining the History and Representation of Domestic Workers
On April 16, BCRW, along with the Barnard Forum on Migration, will host Historical Perspectives on Domestic Worker Organizing. The conversation-style event will feature Elizabeth Quay Hutchison, Professor of History at the University of New Mexico, and Premilla Nadasen, Visiting Associate Professor in History at Barnard. Hutchison and Nadasen will look at the changing labor relations […]
Bringing Good Back to the People
On March 28, BCRW will gather a variety of scholars, activists, and writers for a two-day conferenceto discuss various approaches to reshaping our social infrastructure to most effectively support the public’s best interest. The conference will be the culmination in a series of events from the project For the Public Good, which began in 2011. The first […]
“At the Intersection of Queer Studies and Religion”: A Summary
As part of a larger research project hosted by Utrecht University, the BCRW and Barnard’s Religion Department held a roundtable discussion in November on the intersections of queer studies and religion. Grappling with definitions of ‘queer’ and the thorns of importing contemporary Western terminology to ancient religious/transnational contexts, 10 scholars, theologians, and activists furthered the interdisciplinary study of religion […]
S&F: Digital Engagemet Panel
This Saturday at the annual Scholar and Feminist Conference, Locations of Learning: Transnational Feminist Practices, speakers will discuss the ways feminist activists, writers, and thinkers around the world engage with issues of globalization, nationalism, gender, sexuality, identity, and power. One prominent type of engagement is through online communities. For the lunchtime Digital Engagement session, we will […]
No One is Disposable: Resources and Context for a Conversation on Prison Abolition
BCRW recently released a series of four short online videos produced in in conjunction with the upcoming online event No One is Disposable: Everyday Practices of Prison Abolition, co-sponsored by the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. In the videos, activists Reina Gossett and Dean Spade discuss prison abolition as a political framework, exploring why this is a top issue for those committed to supporting […]
The Façade of Unleakable Media – Reflections on “Habitual New Media: Exposing Empowerment”
A few weeks ago, I attended Wendy Hui Kyong Chun’s lecture, “Habitual New Media: Exposing Empowerment.” Her analysis of “new media as leak” and the culture surrounding new media is thought provoking and has truly broad potential. She examines the treatment of machines and new media as secure, and the human hurt that emerges when […]
Prison Abolition: Utopian Ideal or Emerging Reality?
BCRW’s Scholar & Feminist conference on Utopia featured a workshop with the activist and writer Reina Gossett, contributor to Captive Genders: Trans Embodiement & The Prison Industrial Complex whose work at New York’s Sylvia Rivera Law Project centers on providing services to low-income queer and transgender people. If the packed-to-the-brim classroom was any indication of the pertinence of the issue at hand, […]
Beyond Food Fights
BCRW’s 2013 Scholar and Feminist Conference on “Utopia” created a space for its attendees to take our desires seriously and to imagine better outcomes. A broad array of topics were covered, from poverty, to media and pop culture, to food justice. I attended the workshop on the latter, entitled “Beyond Food Fights: Re-Imagining Food Justice,” […]
“Don’t Blame the Media, Become the Media”: Feminist Remix as Utopian Practice
For those of us who identify as feminists, being a consumer of mass media – whether willingly or not – is an often painful, infuriating, and downright exhausting experience. The limited and limiting images of women can make a trip to the movies or a simple ride on the subway into a cause for distress. […]
Transformational Learning at The Scholar and Feminist 2013
Everyone has had both challenging and positive experiences in the realm of education, from experiencing racism in the classroom to supportive professors. What allows for these positive experiences to take place? Dean Spade of Seattle University School of Law and activist Rickke Mananzala sought to answer this question during the Open Education workshop at The Scholar & Feminist 2013: Utopia conference. […]
Queering Utopia: Circus Amok! at the S&F Conference
“Stay cool, stay calm, you have the right to remain silent. / Don’t run, don’t resist, and get that badge number.” So goes the catchy and campy tune performed by Circus Amok! that teaches people what to do when they are stopped and frisked by police. A “New York-based, one ring, no animal, queerly-situated, political circus spectacular,” Circus Amok! has […]
Safe Spaces, Queer Spaces & Public Spaces
This post is part of a series of reflections on the interdisciplinary winter seminar, “Mumbai At Home and in the World: Gender, Sexuality and the Postcolonial City.” BCRW Associate Director Catherine Sameh introduced the seminar in part 1, and BCRW Research Assistant Nicci Yin reflected on occupying space in an urban environment in part 2. Growing up […]
Art with intention: visions of newness and reform
What do a quilt, a scarf, and a vision of a feminist Utopia all have in common? They are all at work changing the realities of our world. In the morning keynotes opening up this year’s 38th annual Scholar and Feminist conference “Utopia” we heard from several feminists at work changing the material realities of […]
Gender-based Violence and Sexual Rights: Intersecting Forces in Women’s Lives
Originally published by International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region at http://www.ippfwhr.org/en/blog/gender-based-violence-and-sexual-rights-intersecting-forces-women%E2%80%99s-lives The 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women kicked off last week in New York. Its focus is on the elimination of violence against women and girls. Nine of the 45 countries that comprise the commission, tasked with negotiating an agreed conclusion document, hail from Latin America […]
Mumbai At Home and in the World: Gender, Sexuality and the Postcolonial City
From January 9 to 16, 2013, faculty affiliated with the Barnard Center for Research on Women’s Transnational Feminisms Initiative and the Barnard Global Symposia held an interdisciplinary Winter Seminar, “Mumbai At Home and in the World: Gender, Sexuality and the Postcolonial City,” at Sophia College in Mumbai, India. The seminar reflected Barnard’s investment in innovative and collaborative engagements with […]
“Strategies of Reparation, Rather Than Retribution”
Try imagining a world without prisons, or punishment for what governments and societies deem “crimes” and “criminals,” for that matter. My Critical Approaches in Social and Cultural Theory class last semester tried doing so when we read Angela Davis’s Are Prisons Obsolete? to extract the functions of prisons and punishment in contemporary time-spaces. Funnily enough, our reading of Davis […]
More Contributors for The Scholar and Feminist 2013: Utopia
In one week, the BCRW conference The Scholar and Feminist 2013: Utopia will be showcasing a diverse and accomplished range of contributers presenting and leading workshops on topics that range from community design and remix culture to open education and feminist parenting. This is our third round of introductions (read earlier posts here and here) highlighting the work of six Utopia contributors who educate, organize, […]
Feminist Scholar Mamphela Ramphele launches new political party in South Africa
Mamphela Ramphele, a keynote speaker at BCRW’s 40th Anniversary conference, has made news in South Africa, possibly to change the face of South African politics. Ramphele has stepped down from her position as Chairwoman of Gold Fields to announce the formation of a new political party, Agang (‘Let Us Build’), in time for the 2014 elections. In the speech that […]
A Few More Contributors for The Scholar and Feminist 2013: Utopia
To prepare for the upcoming BCRW conference The Scholar and Feminist 2013: Utopia, we are highlighting the diverse and accomplished contributers who will be challenging us to imagine the impossible through bold presentations and participatory workshops. This is our second round of introductions (check out the first round here), highlighting the work of four Utopia contributors who write, remix, advocate, and […]
Introducing A Few of the Contributors for The Scholar and Feminist 2013: Utopia
To prepare for the upcoming BCRW conference The Scholar and Feminist 2013: Utopia, we are thrilled to highlight the the diverse and accomplished contributers who will be engaging, educating, and challenging us to imagine the impossible through bold presentations and participatory workshops. Today, we highlight the work of four such contributors who are confronting the status quo through art, activism, publications, and performance. Dignidad Rebelde is […]
Next Steps in the Struggle for Citizenship in the Dominican Republic
On December 6th, at the Human Rights Day event honoring Sonia Pierre, we remembered a woman who amplified the voices of people who were the most marginalized and excluded in her country – women, people in poverty, and ethnic minorities. We celebrated the ambitious and relentless way she developed international coalitions to expose her government for […]
Muslim Women, Activism, and New Media in Kenya
As a college sophomore and member of technology-educated Generation Y, I tend to believe myself worthy of the title “tech-savvy.” I imagine, in true Millennial style, that I have a pretty strong grasp on media technologies and their potential. Ousseina Alidou‘s conversation on Muslim Women, Activism, and the New Media in Kenya on November 14, brought me down a notch. I […]