Women Studies Undergraduate News
Harriet Dumba (Women Studies 2007) has been named one of four Women of Inspiration by the Seattle Storm Women's Basketball Team. The Storm's fourth annual Women of Inspiration will be honored during a special halftime ceremony on Saturday, August 22 when the Storm hosts the Indiana Fever at 7:00 p.m.
From the Women of Inspiration announcement: Harriet Dumba grew up in Southern Sudan and was forced to move as a young child to refugee camps in Uganda and Kenya. In 1995, at age 15, she was resettled to the U.S. and became a naturalized citizen, attending Garfield High School and the University of Washington, where she earned a Masters of Public Health and Community Medicine. A certified HIV/AIDS instructor with the American Red Cross, Dumba has worked for the United Nationals High Commission for Refugees in Southern Sudan, and is committed to creating leadership around HIV/AIDS prevention in war-torn areas. As co-founder of the Southern Sudanese Women's Association with Agnes Oswaha, Dumba helps newly resettled Sudanese adjust to life in the U.S.
For more information please visit the Storm's Women of Inspiriation web page.
Members of the UW Mixed Club, a campus group for students of mixed race, worked with David Allen, Chair of Women Studies, to create a student lead course about mixed identities. The course "Mixed Identities and Racialized Bodies" was offered as Women 256 in Spring 2009. The students did a remarkable job creating the course structure, deciding on readings and course work, and created a truly innovative course. An in depth article about these students and the process of creating this course can be found in the July 2009 issue of A&S Perspectives.
11/08 Undergraduate Thesis Published in Disability Studies Quarterly
Recent graduate Ashley Mog's undergraduate thesis "Threads of Commonality in Transgender and Disability Studies" has been published in Disability Studies Quarterly. Her paper draws together two fields rarely analyzed together: Disability Studies and Transgender Studies. Using models employed in Disability Studies – the medical, moral, and social models of disability – along with an exploration of coalitions, Ashley analyzes disability and transgender identifications and communities through a comparative and intersectional lens. Disability and transgender studies both engage in analyses of societal oppression based on embodied difference.; because people with disabilities and transgender people do not fit societal expectations of "normal" bodies, individuals are often barred from access to physical spaces (for example, public bathrooms). From conceptual terminology to frequent abuses and discrimination within medical interactions, disability studies and transgender studies share common themes that this article evaluates together to facilitate a broader understanding of their complementary and innovative potential for social change. Ashley's paper can be read in its entirety at : http://www.dsq-sds.org/
5/08 Recent Undergraduate Awards
Whitney Frank, has been awarded a Bonderman Fellowship through the Honors Program. She was one of five Honors students to receive the award. The Bonderman provides a student with $20,000 for unlimited travel over a period of eight months.
Tara Kessel, & Mallory Allen have been invited to join Phi Beta Kappa in the 2007-2008 academic year. The invitation is based upon the students' excellent academic record and interest in the liberal arts.
3/08 Report It Rally
Women Studies Major Christy Forrester organized a Report It Rally on April 29th. It was part of a nationwide movement to report sexual violence on the same day and raise awareness that over 80% of sexual assaults go unreported. The Seattle rally was on the UW campus. Christy reports: "If survivors can't report it to the police; they are encouraged to tell someone they trust or report it anonymously online at www.reportitnow.org. ... Over 20 people came out to the rally to encourage changes in our culture and justice system in hopes to make it easier to speak out and ensure that every effort is made toward justice."
Last modified: 8/14/2009 9:50 AM