CFP for 14th Annual Graduate Student Conference in African-American History at The University of Memphis

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CFP for 14th Annual Graduate Student Conference in
African-American History at The University of Memphis

The Graduate Association for African-American History (GAAAH) at The
University of Memphis invites graduate students at all levels to submit
proposals for its 14th Annual Graduate Student Conference in
African-American History, to be held October 31-November 2, 2012, in
Memphis, Tennessee. We welcome the submission of individual papers,
complete sessions, workshops, and roundtables on all topics relating to
the scholarship and teaching of African-American/African Diaspora
histories and cultures. We encourage the participation of graduate
students who represent a broad range of disciplinary and methodological
approaches.
Individual paper proposals should include a 300-word abstract, including a
paper title; author contact information; postal address and e-mail
address; and a brief curriculum vitae. The organizers of complete sessions
should send, in a single submission, abstracts and cvs for each of the
paper presenters; 200-word description of the session; and contact
information for all participants. Please list audio-visual requirements,
if any.
This year’s conference will feature a keynote address from Dr. Deborah
Gray White, Professor of History at Rutgers University and the author of
Ar’n’t I A Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South (1985 and 1999),
the groundbreaking gendered analysis of the institution of slavery.
Additionally, she is the author of Too Heavy a Load: Black Women in
Defense of Themselves, 1984-1994 (1999) and Let My People Go:
African-Americans, 1804-1860 (1996).  Professors from area institutions
will serve as panel commentators and participate in a workshop on
professional development and the job market.

The submission deadline for proposals is September 22, 2012. A committee
of University of Memphis professors will consider all papers for the
“Memphis State Eight Paper Prize” which is awarded to the conference’s
best paper. The first place prize includes a monetary award. Second and
third place papers will also receive recognition.

Participants will be notified of acceptance by October 1, 2012, and
completed 10-12 page papers must be received no later than October 15,
2012.

Please submit all proposals by e-mail to GAAAH President Micki Kaleta:
gaaah.memphis@gmail.com or mykaleta@memphis.edu

For questions, you also may call Ms. Kaleta at (901) 678-3395 or contact
GAAAH faculty advisors Dr. Arvin Smallwood at (901) 678-3869,
asmallwd@memphis.edu or Dr. Ernestine Jenkins, eljenkins@memphis.edu (
901) 678-3450.

A Deep But Unilateral Intimacy: Reading the Life of Another Mawrtyr

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While the broader goal of the Greenfield Center is to create a space for dialogue on the history of women’s higher education, one area of focus has been to use our collections to highlight the lives and stories of specific individuals who have shaped that history.1 Some have been notable for their influence here at Bryn Mawr, while others are distinguished by accomplishments that reach far beyond the school. A rich grasp of the history of the rise of women in higher education must grow out of an intimate knowledge of the extraordinary individuals who appear as characters in that broader narrative.

Margaret Bailey Speer

For my first project as a member of the Greenfield team, I was introduced to the Speer Family Papers: an extensive collection of materials from the family of Margaret Bailey Speer, Bryn Mawr class of 1922. Since July I have been immersed in her letters and photographs, selecting items to feature and attempting to shape a narrative that will authentically illuminate her distinctive life and voice. This has been my first engagement with Bryn Mawr history and culture since I graduated in 2010, and it has been invigorating to jump back into a place in which I have a heavy personal investment with such a fascinating project.

Yearbook photo clipping with comment quoted from President Thomas

During her time at Bryn Mawr, Margaret Bailey Speer (or “MBS”, as she chose to be referred to in text) was a distinguished student and leader. In addition to serving as junior class president in 1920-21, much of her extracurricular activity on campus was focused around the Christian Association. Her religion had been deeply instilled in her throughout her childhood, as her father was one of the key figures in the Protestant missionary movement. Thus, she established involvement with the CA early on and rose to the post of president by the time she was a senior, when she graduated from Bryn Mawr with honors. However, the bulk of my work so far has been on MBS’s life after Bryn Mawr, which is characterized by the same aptitude for leadership that she had demonstrated during her student days: when she was only twenty-five, MBS left the US to teach English literature at a missionary-established women’s college in China, where she would (unsurprisingly) make her way to the deanship. After the Second World War she returned to the States and took an appointment as headmistress of the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA, where she remained until her retirement. The value of the Speer collection lies not only in the record of her accomplishments, but also in the portrait that it forms of a fascinating woman of integrity and wit. Through her letters one watches her develop an amazing ability to foster community and connections between disparate groups, and become a strong advocate for minority voices. These letters are an excellent read.

Archival work can be a thoroughly immersive undertaking: it is a strange thing, to cultivate a deep but uni-lateral intimacy with another person’s life and character. My first foray into this type of work came in my junior year as an undergraduate, when I took Elliott Shore’s class on the history of Bryn Mawr College2 and worked on the letters of Nathalie Gookin, BMC class of ’20, from her freshman year in 1916. As a Bryn Mawr student I was primarily reading Nathalie’s letters for similarities and differences between her life and my own, trying to grasp what it meant to be a Mawrtyr across the century-and-a-quarter that such a thing had existed. Though I was learning the story of Nathalie’s life, I was also turning my gaze inwards as I sought fragments of myself and my own experiences among hers.

Newspaper clipping on the visit of Madame Kai-shek to Yenching. MBS fourth from left in back

In contrast, I have found that the Speer papers continually refracts my gaze outwards. Because of the sheer volume of the Gookin letters (Nathalie wrote to her parents with astonishing frequency; often multiple times a day), I was completely absorbed in the quotidian details of her daily existence but only had time to cover a relatively brief period of her life. The Speer letters are far less dense in frequency, due in part to the month of lag-time in postal correspondence between China and the US, but cover a much greater span of time and space: we have nearly three decades of regular letters from MBS to her parents, as well as several audio interviews from the 1980s and various other photographs, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings. Together these materials tell a story that extends far beyond Bryn Mawr College and open up avenues into individual and collective histories that are personal, political, religious, and international. While the Gookin collection indulged my need to reflect on my own identity and experience as a Mawrtyr and a young woman, I find that the Speer collection continually sprouts connecting tendrils into other stories, challenging me to locate the place of the individual in a global history and thus to shape broader and more comprehensive narratives out of the words she left us.

The first phase of my work on MBS has been the construction of a digital exhibit that showcases many of the letters and photographs from her collection. This resource is meant to serve as an entry-point into the history of MBS for the researcher or casual browser, giving an overview of her life and career as well as establishing the personal characteristics that stand out in her letters. Next, I hope to publish a series of blog posts that tease out some of the topics that her letters bring to light, including relations between women’s colleges in different nations and the role of missionaries in education.

This work has been the start of what I know will be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see what the archives will next present as I continue to work on the Greenfield Center.

1. This blog has published several posts in this vein, including several on M.Carey Thomas and Mary Garrett and one on Lucy Martin Donnelly. See “M. Carey Thomas, a Ouija Board, and a Moment of Reflection”, “Ever Wondered what M. Carey Thomas Sounded Like? If so, listen Up!”, “M. Carey Thomas and Mary Garrett – Lives in Letters”, and ” ‘“Don’t Put Up My Thread and Needle’: a few thoughts on archives, unbinding, and digital books“.
2. My reflections on the experience I had in that class were published in the 2009 issue of the library newsletter, Mirabile Dictu.

The Filson Historical Society Filson Fellowships & Internships Deadline: October 15, 2012

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The Filson Historical Society
Filson Fellowships & Internships Deadline:
October 15, 2012

The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky, invites applications
for fellowships to support research in The Filson’s collections, and
internships. Applications must be received by October 15, 2012. Detailed
information about fellowships, internships, and application procedures can
be found on The Filson’s Web site:
http://www.filsonhistorical.org/programs-and-publications/fellowships-and-internships.aspx.
Information about The Filson’s collections can be found on the online
catalog. The Filson anticipates that Fellows will publicize the results of their
research in Ohio Valley History, the peer-reviewed journal published
jointly by The Filson and the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Questions regarding the fellowship and internship program should be
directed to Dr. A. Glenn Crothers, Director of Research at The Filson:
crotherfilsonhistorical.org or glenn.crothers@louisville.edu

Founded on May 15, 1884, the mission of The Filson Historical Society is
to collect, preserve and tell the significant stories of Kentucky and the
Ohio Valley history and culture. The Filson is headquartered in the
Ferguson Mansion in Old Louisville and houses a library, a museum, and a
special collections department. The Filson’s fellowship and internship
program is made possible in part by the Thomas Walker Bullitt Perpetual
Trust.

Call for Papers: The Global Impact of Rosa Parks, A Centenary Celebration of the Legacy of Rosa Parks

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The Global Impact of Rosa Parks, A Centenary Celebration of the Legacy of Rosa Parks

The Rosa Parks Library and Museum, Troy University
Montgomery, Alabama
February 6-8, 2013

Born February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama, Rosa Louise Parks became one of the most inspiring and enduring symbols in modern American history. In honor of Rosa Parks’s 100th birthday, The Rosa Parks Library and Museum at Troy University will host a symposium on February 6-8, 2013, re-examining and re-assessing Rosa Parks’s legacy in regard to the American Civil Rights Movement and the influence she has had on freedom movements outside of the United States. To this end, we welcome panel proposals as well as individual paper proposals that address the legacy, role, or impact of Rosa Parks on American civil rights or on freedom struggles worldwide. In conjunction with the symposium, we plan to publish a selection of the papers in an edited collection of essays.

Paper proposals are due by November 16, 2012, and abstracts should not exceed more than one page. Submissions should include an abstract, a CV, and contact information. For panel proposals, please include abstracts of each paper, CVs for presenters and panel organizer, and contact information for all participants. Please submit your proposal to Dan Puckett at dpuckett45442@troy.edu.

 

Dan J. Puckett
Troy University
(334) 241-5478
dpuckett45442@troy.edu
Email: dpuckett45442@troy.edu

The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the Ida B. Wells Graduate Student Fellowship

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The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the Ida B. Wells Graduate Student Fellowship.

Location: Illinois, United States
Fellowship Date: 2012-09-15
Date Submitted: 2012-08-14
Announcement ID: 196386
The CCWH Ida B. Wells Graduate Student Fellowship is a $1000 award to an A.B.D. graduate student working on a historical dissertation that interrogates gender and or race, not necessarily in a history department. All applications are due by 15 September 2012. Full details and application forms are available on the CCWH website: http://www.theccwh.org/awards.htm
Sandra Trudgen Dawson
Northern Illinois University
715 Zulauf Hall, DeKalb, IL 60115
815-895-2624
Email: execdir@theccwh.org
Visit the website at http://theccwh.org

Winner of the inaugural student essay prize, Kai Wang ’15 on why single sex education matters today.

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Kai Wang, winner of the undergraduate essay prize 2012

As we welcome new students to Bryn Mawr College this week, we thought we would feature the work of a current student. This post is brought to you by Kai Wang ’15, a current Bryn Mawr College undergraduate student and winner of the inaugural Essay Competition of The Albert M. Greenfield Digital Center for the History of Women’s Education. Kai won a $500 cash prize, sponsored by the Friends of the Library at Bryn Mawr College, and the opportunity to publish her essay here. Kai was also honored in the annual prize giving ceremony. The judging panel was comprised of the Director of the Center, Dr. Jennifer Redmond, Ms. Jen Rajchel ’11, at that time Digital Initiatives Intern, Mae Carlson ’12, representing the Student Government Association, and Professor Sharon Ullman of the History Department. We all thought Kai’s essay connected the past with the present landscape of women’s education in interesting ways. Well done Kai! If you are new to Bryn Mawr College, keep an eye out for the posters this semester announcing the second competition.

Kai spent this past summer doing an exciting short self-initiated extern at the Beijing Cancer Hospital in the Department of Hepatic, Biliary and Pancreatic Cancer. At the hospital she could closely observe and learn more about the doctors’ jobs from a more authoritative perspective, in addition to familiarizing herself with the procedures in a hospital setting, interacting with patients and building more experience for a potential career in the medical field. After this, she returned to Canada to spend the rest of the summer break helping with her small family-operated plant nursery, soaking up the Summer sun, and cracking a  few books in preparation for another beautiful semester back home at Bryn Mawr.

***************

Kai Wang: Why Single Sex Education Matters Today

With the hot debate on the significance of single-sex education, dominating public opinion questions the necessity of continuing this rigid and even antiquated tradition. Thus the persisting query is: Why should single-sex education matter today?

Globally, problems of gender bias have always existed, including in earlier Western society (this is especially evident in former education systems, though it is much overlooked these days due to the supplantation of single-sex education by co-education). Thus, the importance of single-sex education cannot be so easily dismissed as great gender inequality still exists in many regions of the world such as in impoverished and rural areas of India and China. This inequality between male-female education remains a stark reality especially for women, who are most often the victims of social discrimination. Yet through its focus on the importance of learning for each and both genders, single-sex education demands equality between sexes and thus contests the culturally embedded notions of gender discrimination. Through teaching women, for instance, single-sex education discourages gender stereotypes through paralleling females’ proficiency to that of their male ‘superiors’. Hence, the development of single-sex education (again, chiefly for women) in this area is very much a means of liberation from gender inequality. Single-sex education, then, is indisputably a crucial element in bringing about recognition for education and equality between genders; it allows for the autonomy of individuals entrapped in cultural bias to reach out towards a change and a future against the flawed perceptions of gender prejudice.

The significance of single-sex education for women in particular has a deep rooted aspect of representation. Since academies for women’s higher education have opened on a socially accepted level, the continued existence and flourishing of all-females institutions attest to the decisive successes against past struggles for the recognition of intellectual equality and freedom from social inferiority. Through my own experiences at Bryn Mawr College, I am continually inspired by my peers’ dedication to their work as well as their confidence and vivacity in interaction. For those of us attending all women’s academic institutions, we bear witness to the legacy of spirit, independence, and dignity of women that these academies uphold.

While the popularity of co-ed systems seems to have rendered single-sex education obsolete, there is no doubt that it is still an important component of educational success. Often, criticism directed at single-sex education argues that it offers a false impression of the world in that its very selectivity of gender and sheltered learning environment does not reflect the real-world challenges as does, for example, the way a co-ed environment imitates a microcosm of society. Consequently, single-sex education is not realistic in preparing students for ‘real’ life and the facilitation into society with its frustrations, some of which are not introduced to students within their educational experience. Yet this argument fails to consider the rebuttal; in a single-gendered setting, there is undeniably greater freedom permitted to the student in terms of release of self expression, a cause contributed to by the elimination of societal pressures for restraint and conformity.

With the focus on single-sex education, students at these institutes are encouraged to explore greater fields of academia, thus propelling the development of single-sex communities to extend in all areas of learning. Many reports evaluating the performances of student in single-sex institutions in comparison with co-ed institutions confirm a significant rise not only in learning efficiency but also in interest of subjects: in a single-sex environment, more women tend towards science courses than in co-ed institutions, showing that what has traditionally been seen as the academic territory of one gender can be managed as adeptly by the other. This support for diverse learning thus mirrors the world within a single gendered space and serves as an outlet for self discovery and expansion of potential. The experiences acquired from a single-sex environment allow its’ students to pursue new and budding interests, thereby contributing to the odyssey of self-realization. The onslaught of new responsibilities and social activities that come with this period of college life also marks a great transitional stage into adulthood whereby one defines individuality and manages independence within the sphere of a single gendered community, and later, in the greater societal world. Thus, not only do these experiences gained through the single-sex environment offer insight and practice in handling future challenges –just as in a co-ed setting- they also invalidate the argument against single-sex education about false-preparation for integration into society.  

Yet why must we only measure the value of single-sex education in comparison to co-ed systems in order to appreciate its importance? The significance of single-sex education lies not in its point-to-point advantages or disadvantages over co-ed settings but rather, in the unique experience it provides its’ students. It is this experience that determines value. Experiencing education in a single-sex community is only a short fragment of time in one’s life, yet it creates unique memories of exploration, self-discovery, and lasting friendships in the distinct context of a single-sex setting. In society, there will always be chances for interactions with members of the other sex, though, with time, there will likely be fewer chances to experience single-sex education because of the dwindling number of single-sex educational institutions throughout the nation.

A spring of exploration, boldness and vision, single-sex education realizes within each single gendered community greater potential for growth, liberation from stereotypical constructs, and development of distinct individuals that other modes of education could never mimic. In the end, there will always be skeptics and critics of this approach, but it is time for single-sex education to take a decisive stand for its existence and its merit. What is needed on our part is an adamant persistence and belief in the values of single-sex education against the overwhelming odds of societal demands for conformity. The question should be: Why shouldn’t single-sex education matter today?

 

For editorial policies on guest blogs please see http://greenfield.blogs.brynmawr.edu/sample-page/

The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the Nupur Chaudhuri First Article Award

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The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the Nupur Chaudhuri First Article Award.

Location: United States
Prize Date: 2012-09-15
Date Submitted: 2012-08-14
Announcement ID: 196385
The Nupur Chaudhuri First Article Award was created in 2010 as an annual $1000 award that recognizes the best first article published in the field of history by a CCWH member. Named to honor long-time CCWH board member, former executive director and Co-president (1995-1998) Nupur Chaudhuri, the article must be published in a refereed journal in one of the two years prior to the prize year. An article may only be submitted once. All fields of history will be considered, and articles must be submitted with full scholarly apparatus.
Sandra Trudgen Dawson
Northern Illinois University
715 Zulauf Hall, DeKalb IL 60115
815-895-2624
Email: execdir@theccwh.org

Lerner-Scott Prize for best doctoral dissertation in US Women’s History

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The Lerner-Scott Prize is given annually by the Organization of American Historians for the best doctoral dissertation in U.S. women’s history. The prize is named for Gerda Lerner and Anne Firor Scott, both pioneers in women’s history and past presidents of the OAH. A dissertation must be completed between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012, to be eligible for the 2013 Lerner-Scott Prize. The prize will be presented at the 2013 OAH Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, April 11–14. The application deadline is October 1, 2012.
Please send an electronic attachment of your complete dissertation to each of the three committee members listed below by October 1, 2012. Each application must also include a letter of support from a faculty member at the degree-granting institution, along with an abstract and table of contents. Please provide email addresses for both the applicant and the adviser, if available.

The final decision will be made by February 1, 2013. The winner will be provided with details regarding the OAH annual meeting and awards presentation, where s/he will receive a cash award and a plaque.

Leslie A. Schwalm (chair), University of Iowa, leslie-schwalm@uiowa.edu.
Ruth M. Alexander, Colorado State University, ruth.alexander@colostate.edu.
Celia E. Naylor, Barnard College, cnaylor@barnard.edu.

The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the CCWH/Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Graduate Student Fellowship.

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The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the CCWH/Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Graduate Student Fellowship.

Location: Illinois, United States
Fellowship Date: 2012-09-15 (in 25 days)
Date Submitted: 2012-08-14
Announcement ID: 196387
The CCWH/Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Graduate Student Fellowship is a $1000 award to a graduate student completing a dissertation of any topic in a history department. All applications are due by 15 September 2012. Full details and application forms are available on the CCWH website: http://www.theccwh.org/awards.htm
Sandra Dawson
715 Zulauf hall
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-895-2624
Email: execdir@theccwh.org
Visit the website at http://theccwh.org

The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the Catherine Prelinger Memorial Award.

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The Coordinating Council on Women in History is seeking submissions for the Catherine Prelinger Memorial Award.

Location: Illinois, United States
Fellowship Date: 2012-09-15
Date Submitted: 2012-08-14
Announcement ID: 196388
The Catherine Prelinger Memorial Award is a $20,000 award given to a scholar whose career has not followed a traditional path through secondary and higher education and whose work has contributed to women in the historical profession. All applications are due by 15 September 2012. Full details and application forms are available on the CCWH website: http://www.theccwh.org/awards.htm
Sandra Dawson
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-895-2624
Email: execdir@theccwh.org
Visit the website at http://theccwh.org