by Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor, Department of English
Right from the start, CSWS leaders, affiliates, and collaborators imagined our 50th anniversary as an opportunity to reach beyond the usual partnerships. From the UO Environmental Initiative to the School of Music and Dance, and from UO Common Reading to the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, we built a program of events that speak to the ways that intersectional feminism informs research, scholarship, and creative production across the University of Oregon and shapes our collective visions of social justice.
Collaborative 50th anniversary programming began in Spring 2023 with the “Haunting Ecologies” event series on environmental justice, in partnership with the UO Environmental Initiative. Held April 12–May 4, 2023, events included “Native Ecologies,” a panel discussion on Indigenous histories and approaches to fire management; the annual Acker-Morgen Memorial Lecture on “Desire in the Aftermath of Environmental Violence” with Professor M. Murphy from the University of Toronto; and the exhibit Ghost Forest, with photography by Eugene artist Sarah Grew and featuring Jon Bellona’s sound installation Wildfire. (See more on these events in the 2023 Annual Review.)
Fall 2023 kicked off with the Hypatia Journal 40th Anniversary Conference, held Sept. 6–9 at UO, followed by an Oct. 24 talk and panel discussion with Professor Diana Greene Foster, author of The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women and the Consequences of Having—or Being Denied—an Abortion. Foster’s book was one of six UO Common Reading selections for the year connected to CSWS events on the theme of “Feminist Futures: Research on Women and Gender in Society.” The busy Fall schedule continued with literary agent Anjali Singh and graphic journalist Shay Mirk in conversation on Nov. 2, in partnership with Comics Studies. On Nov. 7–8, screenings and panel discussions were held with avant-garde feminist filmmaker Su Friedrich and media artist Gelare Khoshgozaran, in partnership with Cinema Studies. The term wrapped up with a special History of Women in Science Symposium on Nov. 13, featuring a keynote address by Professor Lisa Weasel, Portland State University, on “Gender in the History and Future of Science.”
Winter 2024 saw the opening of “Artists, Constellations, and Connections: Feminist Futures” at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. For the first time, works from UO art faculty members were displayed alongside selections from the museum’s permanent collection, with tours and artist talks linked to our 50th anniversary theme. On Jan. 23, Professor Patti Duncan from Oregon State University gave a talk on the past, present, and futures of feminist knowledge and praxis in “The State of the Field,” in partnership with Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. On Feb. 27, acclaimed former New Yorker editor Tina Brown spoke about her legendary career, in partnership with the School of Journalism and Communication. Then for the first time, CSWS partnered with the School of Music and Dance to produce a showcase of dance, music, and discussion with faculty performers and invited guests on the theme “Feminist Futures.” The term concluded with a Mar. 18 COACh workshop on “Effective Communication and Negotiation for Career Success” for early- and mid-career women faculty members at UO.
Our year-long 50th anniversary programming concluded in Spring 2024 with two marquee events: the May 9 Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties with Professor Anita Hill, in partnership with the Wayne Morse Center, and the May 10 CSWS Alumni Symposium (see stories this issue).
These events and more would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of and collaborations with partners across the University of Oregon. Thank you to the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation, Division of Equity and Inclusion, CAS Program Grant, School of Journalism and Communication, School of Music and Dance, School of Art + Design, School of Law, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Oregon Humanities Center, Wayne Morse Center, Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, UO Common Reading Program, UO Environmental Initiative, Just Futures Institute, Center for Environmental Futures, the Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the departments of Cinema Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Biology, Philosophy, History, and the Comics Studies Program.
—Jenée Wilde is the CSWS research dissemination specialist.