If you agree or are interested in women’s empowerment, acceptance of diversity, differences and sexuality, then you should have gone to the 16th annual Women’s Studies Conference on March 24.
The Women’s Studies Conference highlights many different students’ artwork and papers on gender and sexuality. The Conference is always held in the Commons on campus to provide ease of access to students. Presentation subjects ran the gamut from women in the Victorian age to PSAs about domestic violence to women in pop culture.
The morning began with panels on creative works, taboos, and Victorian cultures, in which Brooke Martin and Brandee Burke both presented.
Brooke, who presented on her piece “Trauma in the Delivery Room,” really enjoyed sharing her work with others.
When asked about her nerves afterwards, she said, “I do theatre, but the big difference is that I’m usually performing something someone else wrote, so there’s only one thing to worry about, not two.”
Brandee Burke shares her presentation. Photo courtesy Brandee Burke.
Presenting on James Joyce and the topic of the “paralyzed woman,” was Brandee who also had similar feelings about her presentation. But she quickly warmed up to the idea, saying, “The idea of presenting in front of a large group of people can be really scary, but once you’re up there and you realize that the people in the audience want to hear what you have to say, it’s really exciting!”
Next up was the talk of women in pop culture, in which Kat Chandler was able to present her paper on “Women and Fandom: Feminism and Misogyny in Fan Spaces.”
Kat said, “It was fun to share information on a topic I’m passionate about.”
Artwork was another strong feature of the Conference. Attendees admired different pieces from photographs, to posters, and paintings. All of them displayed different parts of women and gender studies from very different points of view.
Brooke commented, “All of the artwork was amazing, I enjoyed seeing what other artists out there are doing with a feminist flair.”
The night ended with a guest speaker, Captain Wendy D. Lawrence and her speech “There Goes One – My Journey to Success in a Man’s World.” Captain Lawrence was a graduate from the United States Naval Academy. Later in her career, after many successful flights, NASA invited her to go into space.
Photo courtesy Brandee Burke.
She began her speech, telling the audience about her life. When she saw the moon landing, she decided what she was going to dedicate the rest of her career to – going into space.
The beginnings of Lawrence’s speech were about her history, but she delved into the meaning she saw in a photo taken from a space shuttle before landing in Florida, where you could see the rest of the earth curving behind the land mass.
She stopped and explained this photo to the audience, “We do not see obvious borders. We do not see obvious boundaries between countries, states and counties. These are lines that we draw to separate us and sometimes to label us.”
She even came back around to that point later, during the question portion. She made a point of saying that it didn’t matter what background any of her colleagues were from, it was what they did, and needed to do, that mattered.
“We were focused on what he had to do, what we had in common. We focused on that,” Lawrence said.
Her speech wasn’t all seriousness and space talk. She interjected elements of fun, even during rather serious moments. When asked what her biggest challenge in space was, her reply was simply, “Most of that space walking stuff was not fit for me.” Making sure to note that most of her was hiding behind a podium it was difficult to see her true height.
Lawrence ended her speech by advising college student to find “their people.” She said that if they do this, these friends could provide crucial support and encouragement along life’s journey.
Burke thought Lawrence’s speech was the highlight of the night saying, “Getting to listen to a female astronaut tell her story and offer advice at the end of the day was just the icing on top of the cake.”
Rebecca Steward, academic advisor for women’s, gender and sexuality studies and one of the coordinators for the Conference, also believed the presentation to be inspirational.
“It’s encouraging to see a successful woman with such a strong background in science and military. She provided sound advice for how to work hard and achieve one’s goals, even in the face of obstacles,” Rebecca said.
Photo courtesy Ayla Cruz.
Dr. Katherine Romack, associate professor of English, said that the papers this year were some of the strongest she’s seen in 16 years.
Romack said, “I founded the Conference in 2001 and am so happy it’s still going strong.”