PULLMAN, Wash. — The first research symposium of Gendering Research Across the Campuses (GRACe) will be held Feb. 13 on the Washington State University campus in Pullman.
GRACe is composed largely of WSU female faculty members. The group provides a framework for discussion of scholarly work on gender and plans collaborative research and teaching activities with gender as a central theme.
The symposium will be in the Compton Union Building, Room 212. Panel discussions will include “Women as Activists and Oppressors: A Historical Perspective” from 9-10:15 a.m., a keynote panel that will speak on “Gender Equality and State Feminism: A Global Perspective” from 10:30 a.m. to noon, “Constructing Race and Gender Norms in Education” from 1:30-2:45 p.m., “Power, Policy and Social Inequalities at Home and at Work” from 3-4:15 p.m. and “Cultural Reproduction of Gender Identities Through Myths, Manuscripts and the Media” from 4:30-5:45 p.m.
A light complimentary buffet will be provided for visitors from noon to 1:30 in the CUB Ballroom. During this time, more than 40 researchers will present their work in a poster format and will be available to discuss them throughout the lunch break. The posters will be on display the rest of the day. The public is also invited to attend a reception in the CUB Ballroom from 6-8 p.m. to wrap up the symposium. WSU musicians will perform music by women composers during the reception.
According to political science professor and symposium organizer Amy Mazur, the goal of the symposium is to provide WSU and other regional researchers the opportunity for an academic discussion of gender research. “We have an exciting line up of participants from across all the disciplines,” Mazur said. “We particularly encourage graduate student involvement at the symposium. This is an excellent way for them to network. The symposium will provide presentation opportunities for gender at all levels – undergraduate, graduate and faculty.”
Aili Tripp, an expert on gender and politics in sub-Saharan Africa and associate dean and director of the Women’s Studies Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, will give the keynote presentation. Her talk is entitled “Making Women Matter: Global Norms and Local Struggles on Gender Equality.”
In a half-day workshop Feb. 14, Tripp will assist GRACe faculty in the development of a research proposal and funding strategy. “Our major aim for next year is to develop a large-scale, interdisciplinary research project proposal on gender, based on our workshop in February,” Mazur said. The group’s goal is to complete a gender research grant proposal for submission to various funding agencies by fall 2004.
GRACe was founded in fall 2002 by Mazur and Noël Sturgeon, chair of women’s studies at WSU. With support from the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy, the Department of Women’s Studies and the WSU College of Liberal Arts, the group has grown to 73 members from three campuses, four colleges and more than 20 departments/programs. Collectively, the group boasts more than $ 1.1 million in research and teaching grants on gender. GRACe’s ultimate goal is to create and sustain a new space for faculty to form a research community that cuts across traditional disciplinary lines.
For more information on the symposium or GRACe, visit to http://libarts.wsu.edu/GRACe
