Welcome to the official blog for Villanova's Gender and Women's Studies program! Please come back often for information on events, programming, academic opportunities, alumni news, student accomplishments, and more! Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

GWS Student Spotlight: Marisol Rosado-Perez

Name: Marisol Rosado-Perez

Year in school: Senior

Majors and minors: Psychology Major, GWS Minor

Hometown: New York City

Favorite place you’ve ever traveled to: Amsterdam and Barcelona

Why do you study GWS/why is it important to you? 

Gender and Women's Studies have always been apart of who I am. I was raised by a single mother who made the best decision for my education and put me into an all girl institution that nurtured the womanist within me at an early age. When I entered college and learned that there is a whole field of study dedicated to my passion I knew I had to get involved. At its core GWS is important to me because it validates the fact that every human has dignity and deserves respect. This message has changed who I am as a person and has helped me develop throughout my time at Villanova.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The GWS Spring 2015 Course Listing is Here!


COURSE NUMBER
COURSE TITLE
INSTRUCTOR
TIME
AAH 3001-001
Women in Art
Jeanne Brody 
TR 8:30-9:45
ECO 3118-001
Women and the Economy
Cheryl Carleton
MWF 1:30-2:45
ENG 4690-001
Detecting Gender American
Fiction
Jean Lutes
TR 2:30-3:45
ENG 2045-001/ CST 4100-001
Pop Cultures and Everyday Life
Karyn Hollis
MW 3:00-4:15
ENG 4691-001
Reading Sexualities in American Lit
Travis Foster
TR 10:00-11:15
GWS 2050-001
Gender and the World
Jean Lutes
TR 1:00-2:15
GWS 2993-001
GWS Internship
Lisa Sewell
TBD
GWS 5000-001
Recent Feminist Lit
Heather Hicks
TR 2:30-3:45
HIS 1075-100
Global Women  and Daily Life
Gina Talley
MW 6:00-7:15
HIS 1150-001
Gender and Conquest in the Atlantic World
Catherine Kerrison
MWF 12:30-1:20
HIS 4528-001
Women in Modern Science &
Tech
Jeffrey Johnson
MW 1:30-2:45
NUR 2200-001
Healthy Lifestyles and Human
Values
Maryann Cantrell
M 5:00-7:45
PHI 2410-001
Philosophy of Sex  and Love
Chaone Mallory
TR 4:00-5:15
PHI 2410-001
Philosophy of Sex  and Love
Chaone Mallory
R 6:00-9:30
PHI 4140-001
Philosophy of Contemporary
Music
John Carvalho
MW 4:30-5:45
PJ 2800-001
Race, Class, and Gender
John Patrick Schultz
R 6:10-8:50
PSY 2450-001
Psychology of Gender
Katina Sawyer
TR 4:00-5:15
SOC 2300-001
Sociology of the Family
Donna Shai
MWF 12:20-1:30
SOC 3500-001
Sociology of Gender
Melissa Hodges
TR 1:00-2:15
SOC 4200-001
Sports and Society
Rick Eckstein
MWF 8:30-9:20
SOC 4200-001
Sports and Society
Rick Eckstein
MWF 9:30-10:20
HON 4951 SOC/PJ
Intercollegiate Athletics
Rick Eckstein
MWF 10:30-11:20
THL 4250-001
Global Poverty and Justice
Suzanne Toton
MW 3:00-4:15
THL 4250-002
Global Poverty and Justice
Suzanne Toton
MW 4:30-5:45

GWS Meet and Greet Pizza Party!


Next GWS Event: Joanna Barssh


 

Thursday, October 8, 2015

GWS Student Spotlight: Mitsy Wedderburn

Name: Mitsy Wedderburn

Year in school: Sophomore

Majors and minors: Biology Major, GWS Minor

Hometown: Maplewood, New Jersey

Favorite place you’ve ever traveled to: Aruba


Why do you study GWS/why is it important to you? I took an interest in GWS because I aspire to an OB/GYN and it would be helpful to study women to better prepare me for that career. Also, I feel as though I can learn valuable information about gender and women that I can apply to myself.

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Gender and Women Documentaries

Documentaries

Below is a list of some great documentaries out there concerning gender and women's issues. Check them out!

After Tiller

“After Tiller is a deeply humanizing and probing portrait of the only four doctors in the United States still openly performing third-trimester abortions in the wake of the 2009 assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas — and in the face of intense protest from abortion opponents. It is also an examination of the desperate reasons women seek late abortions. Rather than offering solutions, After Tiller presents the complexities of these women's difficult decisions and the compassion and ethical dilemmas of the doctors and staff who fear for their own lives as they treat their patients. Official Selection of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.”


 
Girl Rising

“The format of Girl Rising is unique: it’s a film about the stories of nine girls from nine countries written by nine writers and performed by nine actresses. The equivalent of a short story collection, each segment features the real girl acting out an episode of her own life, giving us an intimate view of what girls around the world are up against.”



Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

“A four-hour series shot in 10 countries: Cambodia, Kenya, India, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Liberia and the U.S. Inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book, the documentary series introduces women and girls who are living under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable — and fighting bravely to change them. Traveling with intrepid reporter Nicholas Kristof and A-list celebrity advocates America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde, the film reflects viable and sustainable options for empowerment and offers an actionable blueprint for transformation.



It’s a Girl

“In India, China and many other parts of the world today, girls are killed, aborted and abandoned simply because they are girls. The United Nations estimates as many as 200 million girls(1) are missing in the world today because of this so-called “gendercide”.

The film tells the stories of abandoned and trafficked girls, of women who suffer extreme dowry-related violence, of brave mothers fighting to save their daughters’ lives, and of other mothers who would kill for a son. Global experts and grassroots activists put the stories in context and advocate different paths towards change, while collectively lamenting the lack of any truly effective action against this injustice.”



Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger

“Performance artist and writer Kate Bornstein explodes binaries while deconstructing gender—and her own identity. Trans-dyke. Reluctant polyamorist. Sadomasochist. Recovering Scientologist. Pioneering gender outlaw. Sam Feder’s playful and meditative portrait on Bornstein, captures rollicking public performances and painful personal revelations as it bears witness to Kate as a trailblazing artist-theorist-activist who inhabits a space between male and female with wit, style and astonishing candor.”


MAKERS: Women Who Make America
 
“Makers: Women Who Make America will tell the remarkable story of the Women's Movement for the first time. Built on an extraordinary archive of interviews already completed for the website Makers.com, the film will feature the stories of those who led the fight, those who opposed it, and those – both the famous and unknown – caught up in its wake.”



Miss Representation

“Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, Miss Representation (87 min; TV-14 DL) uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.



My Prairie Home
 
“A darling at Sundance, My Prairie Home is a musical documentary about Rae Spoon, a transgender singer who embarks on a tour in Canada via a Greyhound bus. Throughout the movie, striking landscapes, nightclub venues, and Spoon’s own songs help illustrate the artist’s journey of self-discovery, from a conservative religious upbringing to present-day musings on life and love. Directed by Chelsea McMullan, My Prairie Home is a valentine to the power of song and memory, and a must-see glimpse into the life of an artist.”



No Woman No Cry

“For too many women, pregnancy is a death sentence. One thousand women die each day from complications during pregnancy or childbirth. Shockingly, nearly all maternal deaths and disabilities can be prevented. In her gripping directorial debut, Christy Turlington Burns shares the powerful stories of at-risk pregnant women in four parts of the world, including a remote Maasai tribe in Tanzania, a slum of Bangladesh, a post-abortion care ward in Guatemala, and a prenatal clinic in the United States.”



Out in the Night

“In 2006 a group of African-American lesbians were arrested after an encounter in downtown Manhattan with a straight man who made unwanted sexual advances that resulted in the man’s hospitalization for a minor injury. The sensationalized media coverage of the incident painted the group as a vicious gang, and several of the women received prison sentences that were disproportionate to the nature of the incident. Directed by Blair Doroshwalther, Out in the Night is an important documentary that tells the story from the point of view of these women. Through interviews, Doroshwalther demonstrates how sexism, racism, and homophobia resulted in failures by both the government and media in serving justice.”



The Case Against 8

“A behind-the-scenes look inside the historic case to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage. The high-profile trial first makes headlines with the unlikely pairing of Ted Olson and David Boies, political foes who last faced off as opposing attorneys in Bush v. Gore. The film also follows the plaintiffs, two gay couples who find their families at the center of the same-sex marriage controversy. Five years in the making, this is the story of how they took the first federal marriage equality lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court.”



The Invisible War

“Soldiers in the military are up against a lot, their everyday jobs often being physically and emotionally taxing. But for some it’s even worse than that. In fact, a female U.S. soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. Invisible War is an investigative documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the U.S. military, a difficult topic, but one that’s necessary to talk about.”




The Mask you Live In

“The Mask You Live In follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America’s narrow definition of masculinity.

Pressured by the media, their peer group, and even the adults in their lives, our protagonists confront messages encouraging them to disconnect from their emotions, devalue authentic friendships, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflicts through violence. These gender stereotypes interconnect with race, class, and circumstance, creating a maze of identity issues boys and young men must navigate to become “real” men.

Experts in neuroscience, psychology, sociology, sports, education, and media also weigh in, offering empirical evidence of the “boy crisis” and tactics to combat it.

The Mask You Live In ultimately illustrates how we, as a society, can raise a healthier generation of boys and young men.”



To Educate a Girl

“In 2000, 110 million children in the world were not in school—two thirds of them were girls. Moved by this statistic, two filmmakers Frederick Rendina and Oren Rudavsky traveled to Nepal and Uganda to find out what it actually takes to educate a girl. To Educate a Girl is a look at the lives of young women who are working hard to achieve their dreams despite living in situations of conflict and poverty.”