Prior to the election, Pisa and the other coordinators had numerous meetings to plan the colloquium, but the tone changed after Trump won the presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realized this topic was more important than ever,\u201d Pisa said. \u201cIt was now clear that we had to continue the battle for hard-fought rights earned over the decades. The timing of the Women\u2019s March in January 2017 coincided with our efforts, inspired us, and reinforced that we were on the right track.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said the University can now play a leading role in helping our campus and larger community understand the significance of gender in society and become more aware of the status of women\u2019s rights and the work that still needs to be done. Pisa also affirms that, \u201cIt is important to question the gender binary and move toward a more gender inclusive and equal society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynne Derbyshire, associate professor and director of the Honors Program, said the conversations that happened around the development of this year\u2019s series were not always easy. \u201cWe wanted this to be inclusive and so we were very cognizant of individual groups\u2019 experiences,\u201d Derbyshire said.<\/p>\n
Series coordinator Helen Mederer, professor and department chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, who focuses on work-life issues in her research, said \u201cFeminism is a very difficult conversation, even among thoughtful people. There is great variation in the way people think about the issue. In this colloquium, we address gender, race, class and the intersectionality of those issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the end, Pisa said one of her big hopes with this year\u2019s program is that the speakers inspire 溏心vlog免费B站 students to stay informed about the issues that affect us all and translate that awareness into meaningful action, from activism and civic engagement to public service.<\/p>\n
Another colloquium coordinator, Kyle Kusz, associate professor of kinesiology, whose research has investigated how President Trump has used sport through his campaign and presidency to reignite the culture wars by stoking both racial and gender resentments is looking forward to \u201chearing how students who take the colloquium course make sense of the gender and racial politics that underlie so many of today\u2019s headlines. I want to know how they navigate changing gender ideas and norms in their own lives. And I\u2019m interested in learning how many have already been involved in social activism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smita Ramnarain, assistant professor of economics, said she is pleased that she and her fellow coordinators and other members of the University were able to put together such a strong program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe speakers participating in the colloquium are all inspiring figures and thought leaders in their respective fields, and will set the stage for the campus community to come together to participate in this important conversation,\u201d Ramnarain said. \u201cWe want to show that gender equality is not simply the isolated concern of select groups, but rather, one that deeply impacts each one of us. It is also intimately connected to issues of social justice and transformation, equity, and the kind of future we envision for ourselves as a society.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speakers include nationally known journalists, artists and politicians<\/strong><\/p>\n Author and columnist Jessica Valenti<\/strong> will open the colloquium with her talk, \u201cGender, Power and the Future of Feminism,\u201d Tuesday, Sept. 25.<\/p>\n On Oct. 2, Jennifer Finney Boylan <\/strong>will discuss \u201cTransgender Identity and Resistance: The Power of Story.\u201d She is an author, activist and inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College, Columbia University. The talk is 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Gender and Sexuality Center Coming Out Month Keynote Lecture.<\/p>\n Claudia Rankine<\/strong>, will address \u201cContemporary Black Women Artists: Intertextuality and Counter-Narratives\u201d on Oct. 9. \u00a0Pisa said Rankine\u2019s poetry, plays, and other creative works challenge us to not turn away from the hard and often uncomfortable truths about race and gender relations in America. In her groundbreaking and award winning poetry book, Citizen: An American Lyric<\/em>, Rankine casts a disconcerting spotlight on the challenges members of marginal groups face in their everyday lives and the toll that takes on their emotional and psychological well-being.<\/p>\n Born in Jamaica in 1963, Rankine is the recipient of the MacArthur genius grant and other prestigious awards including the Guggenheim and the Jackson Poetry Prize. \u00a0She is a poet, playwright, and author of several anthologies. Among her critically-acclaimed works are Citizen: An American Lyric<\/em> (2014), Don\u2019t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric <\/em>(2004), and PLOT <\/em>(2001). Her latest play is White Card<\/em>, an interrogation of racial assumptions and the invisibility of whiteness.<\/p>\n Nancy Folbre<\/strong>, professor emerita of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, will speak on \u201cThe Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems\u201d on Oct. 23. A MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and winner of the 2004 Leontief Prize of the Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University, she received the \u00a0University of Massachusetts 2006-2007 Chancellor\u2019s Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity.<\/p>\n![\"Jennifer](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2021\/05\/boylan.jpg\")
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