CSWS Annual Review

Brooke Burns, PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy

Sylvia Wynter and the New Seville Project

By Brooke Burns, PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy

After witnessing the cruelty inflicted upon the Indigenous Arawak peoples of the Caribbean islands in 1514, Spanish priest Bartolemé de Las Casas underwent a “conversion experience” that would take him on a journey across the Atlantic Ocean to first meet with King Ferdinand II and later with the co-regents of Charles V. There, he argued for the abolition of the encomienda system, and as a replacement for labor proposed the importation of 4,000 African people into the Caribbean islands.
Isabella Clark, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology

Too Sensitive? Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

By Isabella Clark, PhD Candidate, Department of Sociology

My dissertation examines multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), a condition where people experience physical symptoms in response to “normal” doses of everyday chemicals. These symptoms vary and include brain fog, rashes, headaches, respiratory problems, nausea, and fatigue, amongst other things. MCS is a contested illness; its material reality is often dismissed in favor of a psychological explanation by both doctors and lay people.
Memory Museum in Huamanga, Ayacucho, Perú / photo by Gloria Macedo-Janto.

Gender Roles in the Testimonial Narratives of Andean Women

by Gloria Macedo-Janto, PhD Student, Department of Romance Languages

To better understand a 20-year period of political violence in Peru, in this project I analyze the testimonies of Andean women, especially from the Ayacucho area, to make visible their contribution to the reconstruction of an important part of Peruvian history. In accordance with their worldview and their roles as women, in their tragic and painful testimonies they tell how they suffered ethnic and gender discrimination, and it is observed that they are capable of recalling many details and telling their experiences from different perspectives and with their own narrative.
Daizi Hazarika, PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology

The Rise of Witch-Hunting & Witch-Killing in Assam, India

by Daizi Hazarika, PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology

During the winter of 2023, with the help of a CSWS graduate student research award, I had an opportunity to visit Assam, India, for two months to conduct dissertation research on witch-hunting and witch-killing. During my field trip to Assam, I conducted research in Guwahati (the capital city of Assam) and a village called Dabli, among the Rabha community (a tribal community of Assam) in the Goalpara subdivision of this region. In Guwahati, I interacted with several government officials regarding their perceptions of the current-day witch-hunting in Assam and the steps taken by the Assamese government to combat this practice.
Stephen Rodgers, Professor and Edmund A. Cykler Chair in Music, holding the copy of his book, "The Songs of Clara Schumann"

The Songs of Clara Schumann

by Stephen Rodgers, Professor and Edmund A. Cykler Chair in Music, School of Music and Dance

In April 2023, Cambridge University Press published my book, The Songs of Clara Schumann, the first book in Cambridge’s Music in Context series to be devoted to the music of a woman composer. Clara Schumann was one of the most talented musicians of the 19th century—a formidable pianist who maintained an active career as a concert performer for 63 years, and a composer who wrote piano music, songs, choral works, chamber music, and instrumental music. But to this day she lies in the shadow of her more famous husband, the composer Robert Schumann. My book places Clara Schumann’s music front and center, focusing on her small but extraordinary output of songs.
Jina Kim, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages & Literatures

Airing It Out: Women’s Role in Korean Radio Broadcasting

By Jina Kim, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages & Literatures

In recent years, Korean TV dramas have become a significant presence on the international television circuit, so much so that some of the most watched shows on over-the-top (OTT) platforms are Korean TV dramas. The Netflix-produced Korean drama Squid Game (2021) and The Glory (2023) are just two of many that have received critical and widespread acclaim, bringing much attention to Korean dramatic storytelling texts. However, what often gets overlooked in these televisual texts are the scenarists who pen these successful stories, many of whom are women writers.
A health outreach worker at an encampment in Eugene / photo by Mackenzie VanLaar.

A Multi-Stakeholder Analysis of Women’s Houselessness in Eugene, Oregon

by Lesley Jo Weaver, Associate Professor, Department of Global Studies, and Mackenzie VanLaar, PhD, Department of Anthropology

Elsie, a woman in her mid-twenties who is struggling with opioid dependency on the streets of Eugene, Oregon, spiraled out earlier this year when police swept her camp, cutting her off from the mentor and friend she refers to as her “street dad.” “Like, my dad, my street dad—he’s somebody that really helped me,” she explains from the doorway of her tent. She begins crying. “Without him, now I’m crashing and burning even more because I can’t just go see him, you know what I mean? Some people are really, really big influences on what people do in their life—like, they make a huge difference.”
Sangita Gopal, Director of CSWS

An Invitation from the Director of CSWS

by Sangita Gopal, Associate Professor, Department of Cinema Studies

CSWS turns 50 in AY 2023-24! We invite you to a thrilling year of events themed “Feminist Futures” that look to the future while commemorating the past. We will celebrate the cutting-edge interdisciplinary scholarship on gender and intersectionality that the Center has sponsored and disseminated for five decades, and showcase feminist collaborations across the arts, humanities, sciences, and technology that imagine feminist futures to negotiate the challenges of the next fifty. 

Opening reception for the Ghost Forest photography exhibit, which included Bellona's sound installation Wildfire—a 48-foot-long speaker array that plays back a wave of fire sounds at speeds of actual wildfires.

Haunting Ecologies

During spring term, CSWS presented Haunting Ecologies: The Past, Present, and Future of Feminist and Indigenous Approaches to Forest Fire. This two-week event series included the 2023 Acker-Morgen Memorial Lecture as well as a panel discussion on “Native Ecologies.” Both events were presented in conjunction with Ghost Forest—a photography exhibit by Eugene artist Sarah Grew, featuring Jon Bellona’s sound installation Wildfire.
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