Maine Women’s Studies Conference Planned Nov. 18 at UMaine
Contact: Mazie Hough, 581-1225; Angela Hart, 581-1228
ORONO –The University of Maine will host the 21st Annual Maine Women’s Studies Conference on Saturday, Nov. 18, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In addition to offering panel discussions on immigration, globalization, Maine history, student activism and more, the conference will have two main sessions.
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, director of the Women’s Research and Resource Center and the Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies at Spelman College in Atlanta, will present “Global Black Feminisms” at 2:30 p.m. in the Donald P. Corbett Business Building.
Guy-Sheftall has published texts that scholars consider pivotal works, including the first anthology on black women’s literature, “Sturdy Bridges: Visions of Black Women in Literature,” which she co-edited with Roseann P. Bell and Bettye Parker Smith, “Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes Toward Black Women, 1880-1920,” “Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought,” and an anthology co-edited with Rudolph Byrd, titled “Traps: African American Men on Gender and Sexuality.”
In 1983, Guy-Sheftall became founding editor of “Sage: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women.” Beyond the academy, she has been involved in many advocacy organizations, including the National Black Women’s Health Project, the National Council for Research on Women, and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
Earlier in the day, at 9:45 a.m., participants in the University of Maine’s Somali Narrative Project will present “Telling Somali Women’s Stories: A Readers’ Theatre,” also in D. P. Corbett.
The project is an interdisciplinary, community-based research initiative that involves students and faculty at the University of Maine, working with members of the Somali community to document the experiences of Somali immigrants in Lewiston, Maine. The readers’ theatre is based on the songs, oral histories and literature of Somali women and follows them from their lives in Somalia into exile and finally to Maine.
Both plenaries are free and open to the public. Those wanting to attend the full conference should contact Angela Hart at 581-1228.
The conference is supported with funds from the University of Maine System and the University of Maine’s Distinguished Lecture Series/Cultural Affairs Fund.