Women's & Gender Studies

The Robbins Hunter Museum in partnership with Denison University presents “Scandalous Voices: Journalistic Truths,” a roundtable featuring approaches to current concerns in the news media. “Scandalous Voices: Journalistic Truths” is about the media’s accountability for journalistic “truths” and “falsities.” The roundtable is part of a three-year program celebrating the interests and concerns of Victoria Claflin Woodhull, a native of Homer, Ohio, and the first woman to run for U.S. President in 1870. Woodhull and her sister were the primary contributors and editors of a newspaper, The Weekly, known for its radical views, some of which are still quite controversial today. Many of the issues the sisters approached are still relevant- woman’s rights, labor laws, and revealing frauds on Wall Street. This roundtable’s discussion, the second in a series, will tie the sisters’ interests to today’s issues of journalistic integrity, relationships between the media and administration, and the need for visible truth in media. Speakers include Max Abelson, Bloomberg News and Business Week; Myra MacPherson, Washington Post and CNN; Julie Carr-Smyth, Associated Press; and Mary Yost, Columbus Dispatch. It will be moderated by Sally Crane Cox, former editor of the Granville Sentinel.

The Laura C. Harris Series presents “Yours for Humanity – Abby,” an inspiring one-woman play based on the letters and speeches of Abby Kelley Foster (1811-1877), a radical abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Despite constant harassment and intense ridicule, Foster lectured across the country for twenty years, nearly two of which were in Ohio. Celebrate Women’s History Month and experience Foster’s world when social and political differences divided the United States – a time not unlike our own. Lynne McKenney Lydick, an actress, activist, and mother of three, has portrayed Foster since the play premiered in 2004 as a program for the Worcester Women’s History Project.

The Laura C. Harris Series welcomes Rachel Marco-Havens, a “solutionary” artist, performer, activist, facilitator, and storyteller. She currently serves as advisor for the Center of Earth Ethics and as a UN representative for the Wittenberg Center focusing on indigenous and environmental issues. Joined by faculty and local activists Carol Apacki, Rita Kipp, and Ceciel Shaw, Marco-Havens will lead an Activist Workshop focused on how to effectively and efficiently engage as grassroots organizers and activists on the local, state, and national scale. Workshop participants will develop an action plan to address a selected issue and propel the movement forward. During her visit to Denison, Marco-Havens will visit classes on Wednesday, Feb. 7 and Thursday, Feb. 8. Also, she will take part in the Courageous Voices Roundtable at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Robbins Hunter Museum. The roundtable is the first event of a three-year program of the museum to celebrate Victoria Claflin Woodhull, a native of Homer, Ohio, and the first woman to run for U.S. President in 1870. Marco-Havens will be one of four panel members moderated by Judith Dann, a professor at Columbus State Community College, who will also deliver the opening remarks. Carol Apacki, Rita Kipp, and Ceciel Shaw round out the panel. Using the backdrop of Woodhull’s own courageous voice, Rachel, the panelists will introduce their stories and their community activism work.

The Laura C. Harris Series welcomes author, academic and legal scholar Duchess Harris. Harris’ book, “Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA,” tells the story of her grandmother and other black women who made it possible for John Glenn to orbit Earth in 1962. Professor Harris is the chair of the american studies department at Macalester College. She is the author of four books. In addition to “Hidden Human Computers: The Black Women of NASA,” Harris co-authored “Black Lives Matter: with Sue Bradford Edwards. She also authored “Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Clinton/Obama,” and published an edited volume with Bruce Baum, “Racially Writing the Republic: Racists, Race Rebels, and Transformations of American Identity.”

The Laura C. Harris Series welcomes performance artist and scholar-in-residence Gabrielle Civil for a solo performance titled “Q&A: Gabrielle Civil in Performance.” The first part of the performance, “Live Art Action,” will run from 1 to 5 p.m. Audiences are welcome to drop by or to hang out for any or all of the four-hour long performance. The second part of the performance includes an “Artist Talk Back” beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the same location. Gabrielle Civil has premiered over 40 original solo and collaborative performance works around the world. Recent works include “…hewn and forged…” at the Salt Lake City Performance Art Festival; “Call and Response” for Obsidian’s “Experiments in Joy;” “Say My Name (an action for 270 abducted Nigerian girls);” and “Fugue (Da, Montreal)” at the Hemispheric Institute Encuentro. Her writing has appeared in Small Axe, Obsidian, Asterix, Rain Taxi, and other publications and her performance memoir, “Swallow the Fish” was published by Civil Coping Mechanisms Press in 2017. At Denison, Civil holds the 2017-2018 Laura C. Harris Scholar-in-Residence position, a highly competitive one-year position that brings together a scholar and their work with students over the duration of an academic year. In the second semester of her residency, Civil will work with students to present her current project, titled “Activating / Performance Activism,” to be premiered on April 19, 2018.

The Laura C. Harris Symposium holds a Transnational Feminism Roundtable as part of this year’s symposium theme titled “Leaderful Feminist Futures.” The panel discussion include transnational feminist scholars Margo Okazawa-Rey from San Francisco State University, Amy Lind from University of Cincinnati, Christine Keating from University of Washington, Simona Sharoni from Merrimack College, and Laila Farah from Depaul University.

The Laura C. Harris Symposium welcomes Harvard professor Rajani Kanth presenting “Reexaming (Euro) Modernist Idylls: The Ignis Fatuus of Democracy.” Kanth, a professor organisation at Harvard University, is an economist, philosopher, and social thinker. Though born in India, he is a U.S. citizen and has resided overseas for most of his life. His major research interests lie in the fields of economics, social theory and policy, and women’s issues. For more than three decades, he has taught in the areas of anthropology, sociology, political science, history, economics, and philosophy. Kanth currently serves as the trustee of the World Peace Congress that he founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2007. He has also served as an advisor to the United Nations in New York, aside from being on the faculty of major universities around the world. Denison University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, in coordination with academic department and student organization partners, presents the 2016-2017 Laura C. Harris Symposium. The year-long symposium will host speakers and artists to discuss the theme “Making Just Democracies?” which seeks an emergence of dialogue and action that work toward democratizing subjects and objects – natures and cultures – into a collective embrace.

Fraser is the Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research in New York and Professor II at the Centre for Gender Research at the University of Oslo. She also holds the Chair in Global Justice at the College d’etudes mondiales, Paris. A specialist in critical theory and political philosophy, Fraser’s most recent books are “Domination et anticipation: pour un renouveau de la critique, with Luc Boltanski” (2014); “Transnationalizing the Public Sphere: Nancy Fraser debates her Critics” (2014); and “Fortunes of Feminism: From State-Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis” (2013). Previous books include “Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space for a Globalizing World” (2008); “Adding Insult to Injury: Nancy Fraser Debates her Critics,” ed. Kevin Olson (2008); “Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange” (2003) with Axel Honneth; “Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the “Postsocialist” Condition” (1997); and “Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse, and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory” (1989). Fraser’s work has been translated into more than twenty languages and was cited twice by the Brazilian Supreme Court (in decisions upholding marriage equality and affirmative action). She is currently working on a book called “Capitalism, Crisis, Critique: A Critical Theory for the 21st Century.”

The Laura C. Harris Symposium welcomes Sister Simone Campbell presenting “A Nun on a Bus,” a discussion of social activism to bridge the political and economic divide in America. Campbell, a religious leader, attorney, and poet with extensive experience in public policy and advocacy for systemic change, has served as Executive Director of NETWORK since 2004. In Washington, she lobbies on issues of peace-building, immigration reform, healthcare, and economic justice. Around the country, she is a noted speaker and educator on these public policy issues. She has led four cross-country “Nuns on the Bus” trips, focused on economic justice, comprehensive immigration reform, voter turnout, and (most recently) bridging political and economic divides. Denison University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, in coordination with academic department and student organization partners, presents the 2016-2017 Laura C. Harris Symposium. The year-long symposium will host speakers and artists to discuss the theme “Making Just Democracies?” which seeks an emergence of dialogue and action that work toward democratizing subjects and objects – natures and cultures – into a collective embrace.

The Laura C. Harris Series presents Dyan Mazurana as part of the 2013-14 Laura C. Harris series, the theme of which is "Feminists Ask 'What If...?'" Mazurana is Research Director at the Feinstein International Center and an Associate Research Professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

The Laura C. Harris Series welcomes Linda Alcoff, professor of philosophy at Hunter College and Laura Gray-Rosendalep, professor of English at Northern Arizona State University presenting "College Girl: Telling our Transgressive Survivor Stories." Alcoff's most recent book is "Visible Identities: Race, Gender and the Self." Gray-Rosendale is the author of "College Girl: A Memoir," in which she revisits the memory of a brutal sexual assault and her route from assault to recovery to becoming a university professor.

The Laura C. Harris Series welcomes Laura Gray-Rosendale presenting a reading and discussion from her book 'College Girl: A Memoir.' In 'College Girl, she revisits the memory of a brutal sexual assault and recounts her long, circuitous route from trauma to recovery. It is a story of triumph, hope, and survival.

The Laura C. Harris Series presents Jack Halberstam as part of the 2013-14 Laura C. Harris series, the theme of which is 'Feminists Ask “What If…? Halberstam's lecture, entitled 'Gaga Feminism' will discuss cultural shifts that have transformed gender and sexual politics. Halberstam is professor of English and director of The Center for Feminist Research at University of Southern California.