From The Director
Inclusive Excellence
The 2009-2010 academic year has begun with an added excitement and sense of anticipation for those of us in Women’s Studies and other academic learning communities built upon a grounding of critical thinking, inclusive pedagogies, and curricular transformation at the intersection diversity and identity. The Women’s Studies Consortium is one of the many initiatives in UW System Office of Academic Affairs that is contributing to an Inclusive Excellence Leadership Team being led by Associate Vice President Vicki Washington and the staff of the UW System Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
The UW System is adopting the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) planning process for institutional transformation that puts diversity profoundly at the center of educational excellence. To succeed in the 21st century, students need certain knowledge, skills, and multicultural perspectives, including the ability to empathically put themselves in another’s shoes and work effectively with diverse peoples. Inclusive Excellence is the UW System’s successor to Plan 2008. It is designed as an ongoing process of institutional planning and action (rather than a finite initiative). Its purpose is help UW institutions establish a set of comprehensive, well-coordinated strategic actions that foster greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and accountability at every level of institutional life, with the larger goals of preparing students for responsible, ethical, and engaged citizenship, and to meet the university’s broad educational mission of promoting excellence in professional, civic, and personal life.
To date there have been two System-wide meetings hosted by the Leadership Team to help in the initiation of the campus-based Inclusive Excellence work that will be the site of the central work of Inclusive Excellence.
The most recent workshop took place August 20th in Madison, bringing together over 80 campus leaders to focus on what the next steps are for each of our unique institutions. A special thank you to EDI Organizational Development and Diversity Leadership Planner Shirin Selph for ably chairing the organizing committee that facilitated the gathering, and to the rest of the EDI staff, the IE Leadership Team and campus participants for making this such a meaningful event.
The EDI staff are currently working with each campus to facilitate campus planning as appropriate to each unique institution. Watch for this work to become more visible on your campus, and plan to participate in whatever way you can.
As we settle into autumn there are a number of local and national opportunities for our faculty, students and staff outlined in the categories below.
Upcoming Conferences
Each year a statewide women’s studies conference is organized in collaboration with a campus program. The 2010 conference is being organized and hosted by the UW-Whitewater Women’s Studies Program for April 16-17, 2010. This will be the fifth year that the conference is also co-sponsored and coordinated in collaboration with the UW System Inclusivity Initiative for LGBTQ people, and the second year of collaboration with the UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity. Our joint theme is: Leadership and Collaboration in Shaping the Future: The Intersections of Gender, Race, Ethnicity and Sexuality. There is already a wonderful lineup of speakers including
This will be the fifteenth anniversary of the annual UW System Outstanding Women of Color in Education Awards, which are a highlight of the conference. Campuses are currently identifying the individuals who will receive the 2010 Outstanding Women of Color in Education recognition. The event will take place Saturday, April 17th at UW-Whitewater, and we are delighted to have as our keynote speaker, Madison’s Poet Laureate, Fabu Carter-Brisco.
This year there UW System has also undertaken presenting the first President’s Summit on Excellence in Teaching and Learning to acknowledge and highlight the work and expertise of UW faculty across the disciplines. This conference is the result of a unique collaborative effort between many of the UW System faculty development and diversity programs. The gathering will take place the last week in April, 2010. Check ‘Save the Dates’ for a more in-depth description of the event.
The national Women’s Studies learning community is looking forward this November to a fantastic National Women’s Studies Association in Atlanta, GA. This year the conference theme is: Difficult Dialogues: NWSA 2009. The conference will examine how feminist intellectual, political, and institutional practices cannot be adequately practiced if the politics of gender are conceptualized (overtly or implicitly) as superseding or transcending the politics of race, sexuality, social class, nation, and disability. The conference keynote speaker is Angela Davis and other conference speakers include Pearl Cleage, Natasha Trethewey, M. Jacqui Alexander, Chandra Mohanty, Bonnie Thornton Dill, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Rudolph P. Byrd, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Stanlie M. James, Johnetta Betsch Cole, and Frances Smith Foster.
Acknowledgements
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge Dr. Lisa Beckstrand’s work with the UW System Inclusivity Initiative for LGBTQ People. Lisa has served as an able Coordinator of the Inclusivity Initiative since 2006. During that time Lisa has led the Inclusivity Initiative efforts to achieve access, equity and inclusion for LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff; supported the UW System Climate Study work and contributed to the larger UWSA efforts toward Inclusive Excellence. In December Lisa plans to pass the torch of leadership of the Inclusivity Initiative to a new Coordinator whose position will be situated in the UW System Academic Affairs office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, (see position description in UW System Announcements). Lisa will continue her work as an academic planner and contribute to support Inclusive Excellence in University of Wisconsin System, including working on curricular transformation efforts in Women’s, LGBTQ, and International Studies. Thank you Lisa for a job well done!
A second congratulations goes to Lisa for the recent publication of her book “Deviant Women of the French Revolution and the Rise of Feminism,” Associated University Presse, 2009. This work aims to uncover the work of Parisian women who challenged prevailing views of female nature, sought social reforms, and were deemed "deviant" for their writing and/or activism during the French Revolution. The book focuses on the work of Olympe de Gouges and Manon Roland, both of whom played active political roles in the Revolution and used writing as a means to influence public opinion.
Please remember to use the WSC E-bulletin to bring additional updates and announcements to the attention of the larger Women's Studies community.
Helen Klebesadel, Director
University of Wisconsin System
Women's Studies Consortium
The 2009-2010 academic year has begun with an added excitement and sense of anticipation for those of us in Women’s Studies and other academic learning communities built upon a grounding of critical thinking, inclusive pedagogies, and curricular transformation at the intersection diversity and identity. The Women’s Studies Consortium is one of the many initiatives in UW System Office of Academic Affairs that is contributing to an Inclusive Excellence Leadership Team being led by Associate Vice President Vicki Washington and the staff of the UW System Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
The UW System is adopting the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) planning process for institutional transformation that puts diversity profoundly at the center of educational excellence. To succeed in the 21st century, students need certain knowledge, skills, and multicultural perspectives, including the ability to empathically put themselves in another’s shoes and work effectively with diverse peoples. Inclusive Excellence is the UW System’s successor to Plan 2008. It is designed as an ongoing process of institutional planning and action (rather than a finite initiative). Its purpose is help UW institutions establish a set of comprehensive, well-coordinated strategic actions that foster greater diversity, equity, inclusion, and accountability at every level of institutional life, with the larger goals of preparing students for responsible, ethical, and engaged citizenship, and to meet the university’s broad educational mission of promoting excellence in professional, civic, and personal life.
To date there have been two System-wide meetings hosted by the Leadership Team to help in the initiation of the campus-based Inclusive Excellence work that will be the site of the central work of Inclusive Excellence.
The most recent workshop took place August 20th in Madison, bringing together over 80 campus leaders to focus on what the next steps are for each of our unique institutions. A special thank you to EDI Organizational Development and Diversity Leadership Planner Shirin Selph for ably chairing the organizing committee that facilitated the gathering, and to the rest of the EDI staff, the IE Leadership Team and campus participants for making this such a meaningful event.
The EDI staff are currently working with each campus to facilitate campus planning as appropriate to each unique institution. Watch for this work to become more visible on your campus, and plan to participate in whatever way you can.
As we settle into autumn there are a number of local and national opportunities for our faculty, students and staff outlined in the categories below.
Upcoming Conferences
Each year a statewide women’s studies conference is organized in collaboration with a campus program. The 2010 conference is being organized and hosted by the UW-Whitewater Women’s Studies Program for April 16-17, 2010. This will be the fifth year that the conference is also co-sponsored and coordinated in collaboration with the UW System Inclusivity Initiative for LGBTQ people, and the second year of collaboration with the UW System Institute on Race and Ethnicity. Our joint theme is: Leadership and Collaboration in Shaping the Future: The Intersections of Gender, Race, Ethnicity and Sexuality. There is already a wonderful lineup of speakers including
- Sabrina Sojourner, an African-American woman who was the first open lesbian to be elected to the United States Congress,
- Rebecca Snedeker, an award-winning young White independent documentary filmmaker whose work supports human rights and explores racialized traditions, creative expression and her native city, New Orleans, and
- Yvonne Lumsden-Dill, Executive Director, of the Women’s Leadership Institute of Mount Mary College, a program that works diligently to bring diverse young women from across Wisconsin into public service.
This will be the fifteenth anniversary of the annual UW System Outstanding Women of Color in Education Awards, which are a highlight of the conference. Campuses are currently identifying the individuals who will receive the 2010 Outstanding Women of Color in Education recognition. The event will take place Saturday, April 17th at UW-Whitewater, and we are delighted to have as our keynote speaker, Madison’s Poet Laureate, Fabu Carter-Brisco.
This year there UW System has also undertaken presenting the first President’s Summit on Excellence in Teaching and Learning to acknowledge and highlight the work and expertise of UW faculty across the disciplines. This conference is the result of a unique collaborative effort between many of the UW System faculty development and diversity programs. The gathering will take place the last week in April, 2010. Check ‘Save the Dates’ for a more in-depth description of the event.
The national Women’s Studies learning community is looking forward this November to a fantastic National Women’s Studies Association in Atlanta, GA. This year the conference theme is: Difficult Dialogues: NWSA 2009. The conference will examine how feminist intellectual, political, and institutional practices cannot be adequately practiced if the politics of gender are conceptualized (overtly or implicitly) as superseding or transcending the politics of race, sexuality, social class, nation, and disability. The conference keynote speaker is Angela Davis and other conference speakers include Pearl Cleage, Natasha Trethewey, M. Jacqui Alexander, Chandra Mohanty, Bonnie Thornton Dill, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Rudolph P. Byrd, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Stanlie M. James, Johnetta Betsch Cole, and Frances Smith Foster.
Acknowledgements
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge Dr. Lisa Beckstrand’s work with the UW System Inclusivity Initiative for LGBTQ People. Lisa has served as an able Coordinator of the Inclusivity Initiative since 2006. During that time Lisa has led the Inclusivity Initiative efforts to achieve access, equity and inclusion for LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff; supported the UW System Climate Study work and contributed to the larger UWSA efforts toward Inclusive Excellence. In December Lisa plans to pass the torch of leadership of the Inclusivity Initiative to a new Coordinator whose position will be situated in the UW System Academic Affairs office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, (see position description in UW System Announcements). Lisa will continue her work as an academic planner and contribute to support Inclusive Excellence in University of Wisconsin System, including working on curricular transformation efforts in Women’s, LGBTQ, and International Studies. Thank you Lisa for a job well done!
A second congratulations goes to Lisa for the recent publication of her book “Deviant Women of the French Revolution and the Rise of Feminism,” Associated University Presse, 2009. This work aims to uncover the work of Parisian women who challenged prevailing views of female nature, sought social reforms, and were deemed "deviant" for their writing and/or activism during the French Revolution. The book focuses on the work of Olympe de Gouges and Manon Roland, both of whom played active political roles in the Revolution and used writing as a means to influence public opinion.
Please remember to use the WSC E-bulletin to bring additional updates and announcements to the attention of the larger Women's Studies community.
Helen Klebesadel, Director
University of Wisconsin System
Women's Studies Consortium
posted by Helen R Klebesadel at
9:30 AM
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