CSWS Annual Review

Sangita Gopal / photo by Jack Liu.

An Interview with Sangita Gopal: Interim Director Seeks to Strengthen CSWS Infrastructure

Interview by Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor, Department of English, CSWS Dissemination Specialist

With a background in comparative media studies and postcolonial theory, Associate Professor Sangita Gopal came to the University of Oregon in 2004 to teach cinema studies in the Department of English. Over time she saw the popular program grow from an English concentration into a unique tri-school major, then into its own department housed in the College of Arts and Sciences.  

Law professor and former CSWS director Michelle McKinley started the Caregiver Campaign in response to community need / photo by Jenée Wilde.

New Special Project Advocates for Institutional Change: CSWS Leads an Effort to Redress Pandemic Impacts for Faculty who are Caregivers

by Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor, Department of English, CSWS Dissemination Specialist

Last year, in the early stages of pandemic lockdown, then-CSWS director and law professor Michelle McKinley began receiving panicked emails from faculty friends and Center affiliates who are caregivers. With 4J schools and childcare facilities shut down, as well as shortages in long-term elder care services, how were they supposed to fulfill their teaching and research commitments at the university while also meeting the labor-intensive care needs of others?  

Melissa L. Barnes

Examining Gendered and Racialized Violence Toward the Black Community

by Melissa L. Barnes, PhD Candidate, Department of Psychology The nation held an unofficial day of remembrance for George Floyd on May 25, 2021, one year after he was murdered by a police officer. If we held a day of honor for all of the Black men, women, transgender, and nonbinary folks who have been physically or sexually assaulted by police officers, we would mourn and remember every day of the year. On March 30, we would mourn Mya Hall; July 13 would be Sandra Bland’s day; August 9 would honor Abner Louima; and at least 13 days would be reserved for each of Daniel Holtzclaw’s sexual assault victims.
Zeinab Nobowati

Toward a Multi-Directional Feminist Critique of Gender Oppression in the Global South

by Zeinab Nobowati, PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy

Do Muslim women need freedom? Perhaps at the first glance, most feminists would be inclined to respond with a “yes,” given that most of us believe that all women, and all human beings, need freedom in some sense. In the history of philosophy, especially during modernity, freedom has been defined as one of the most valuable ideals that humans pursue in the hope of overcoming alienating and oppressive social norms and structures and in order to flourish. But when it comes to the question of freedom and emancipation of Muslim women, the issue becomes more complicated because it is a question that has become increasingly politicized in our time.
A historical advert depicting a male white settle selling soap to caricatures of Native American men.

A Critique of Whiteness as Cleanliness

By Annalee Ring, PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy

This research project takes up a genealogical method that unearths taken-for-granted assumptions regard-ing contemporary beliefs and practices surrounding cleanliness. Today cleanliness practices are enacted and are treated as “normal” without considering how they have been shaped by vectors of contingent influences including social and political institutions, technological developments, global politics, and power discrepancies. Further, we surveil and discipline ourselves and one another to enact cleanliness practices that have been normalized.
Hayward Field

Collegiate Performances at Historic Hayward Field

by Ola Adeniji, PhD Candidate, Department of Human Physiology

Historic Hayward Field has been home to record-breaking performances set by athletes at many levels. Located on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Hayward Field has hosted over two dozen elite and collegiate championship track and field meets. The highly touted 2021 NCAA Track and Field Championships, followed by the rescheduled 2020 US Olympic Track and Field Trials, were both held in June of last year in the newly renovated stadium. This summer brought athletes and track fans across the globe to participate in and witness the 2022 Oregon World Championships, the first held on US soil.
Subscribe to CSWS Annual Review