Monday March 23

12:00-1:00 p.m.

What is Fibromyalgia and what can be done about it?

Fine Arts Building Room 217

This panel will be made up of Patricia Atherton, Laurel Fisher, Natalie Havice, and Dr. Najma Javed and moderated by Julee Rosser.

Patricia Atherton is a Graduate Student at Ball State University studying Fashion Design and earning a certification for College and University Teaching.  She has been living with Fibromyalgia since she was a child. 

Laurel Fisher has practiced massage therapy in the Muncie area for over 10 years. Her client-tailored sessions include techniques such as neural-muscular re-education and myofascial release work; both effective in addressing chronic pain issues. In addition to massage, Ms. Fisher draws on her 30 years of interest in natural foods, yoga, and ecology to encourage clients curious about holistic wellness. 

Natalie Havice has been a physical therapist for over 10 years at Midwest Healthstrategies specializing in aquatic therapy, orthopedics, and breast cancer rehab. She received an undergraduate degree in exercise science from Ball State University and then graduated from physical therapy school at University of Health Sciences at Chicago Medical School.  She also received an advanced rheumatology certification from Aquatic Therapy and Rehab Institute.  Dr. Najma Javed is a Professor of Physiology in the Department of Physiology and Health Science at Ball State University.  She specializes in the interaction of neural, immune, and endocrine mechanisms in human gastrointestinal disorders.

5:30-6:45 p.m.

Women’s Week 2009 Proclamation Reception

Earl William Lounge, Emens Auditorium

This reception will be a time to gather before the “Tres Vidas” performance to have refreshments, with music and art.

7:00-9:30 p.m.

The Core Ensemble

Tres Vidas

Emens Auditorium

The Core Ensemble: Tahirah Whittington, cello; Hugh Hinton, piano; and Michael Parola, percussion, along with featured actress Georgina Corbo, will perform the new chamber music theatre work Tres Vidas at Ball State University’s Emens Auditorium.  Tres Vidas celebrates the life, times and work of three significant Latin and South American Women: painter Frida Kahlo of Mexico, peasant activist Rufina Amaya of El Salvador, and poet Alfonsina Storni of Argentina. With storylines including Frida Kahlo’s dramatic and passionate relationship with painter Diego Rivera, Rufina Amaya’s astounding singular survival of the massacre at El Mozote, and Alfonsina Storni’s lifelong challenges as Argentina’s first great feminist poet, Tres Vidas presents dramatic situations timeless in their emotional appeal and connection to audiences across all gender and ethnic spectrums.

Tuesday March 24

9:30-10:30 a.m.

Lisa Laflin

Diva of Debris

Bracken Library Room 225

Welcome to Ask the Diva!  Working in the environmental field for about 10 years, Lisa Laflin has been given a very fitting albeit, tongue-in-cheek moniker of the Diva of Debris.  Her field of interest is recycling.  Lisa will be discussing more about this very basic, and easy step toward being green.  Start by looking at what “greenies” for years have referred to as the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, three easy steps to being green. She will discuss the materials that we all consume and talk about how they are made, and the importance of recycling them.

12:00-1:00 p.m.

Vera Adams and Rabita Rajkarnikar

Jane Jacobs: A woman on a mission, her life, works, and impact

Architecture Building Room 100

Vera Adams, Instructor in the Department of Urban Planning, and Rabita Rajkarnikar, graduate student in the Department of Urban Planning, will be discussing the life of Jane Jacobs, an urban writer and activist who championed new, community-based approaches to planning for over 40 years.

2:00–3:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion

Lesbian Studies:  What do we know?  Where are we going?

Fine Arts Building Room 217

Women's Studies students present a panel discussion on issues in Lesbian Studies. The session will be moderated by Dr. Carmen Siering.

4:00-5:00 p.m.

State of Assault

David Letterman Building Room 125

Ball State University Students majoring in Biology, Criminal Justice, Microbiology, Nursing, Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, Telecommunications and Women's Studies have come together with the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry and Dr. John McKillip to address the current "State of Assault." As students, they immersed themselves in a victim-centered perspective of the sexual assault casework process. This interdisciplinary seminar culminated in a marketable DVD documentary with interviews and hands on activities outlining the evolving needs and future trends in sexual assault case management.

6:30-7:30 p.m.

Dr. Marguerite Rivage-Seul

Remembering Oscar Romero and the Mothers of the Disappeared

Location TBA

Dr. Marguerite Rivage-Seul, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Director of Women’s Studies Department at Berea College will present her essay in homage to Oscar Romero, connecting his life to the Mothers of the Disappeared and Demeter and Persephone. 

Wednesday March 25

1:00- 2:00 p.m.

Indiana Women of Achievement

Presented by the College of Sciences and Humanities Task Force on the Status of Women

The Empowerment of Women: A Conversation with Indiana Women of Achievement 

L.A. Pittenger Student Center Forum Room

This panel will be made up of Terry Whitt Bailey, Betty Cockrum, Molly Flodder, and Patricia Schaefer and moderated by Mary Dollison. 

Terry Whitt Bailey is President and CEO of Cornerstone Center for the Arts in Muncie. She earned her B.A. from Rutgers University and her M.A. from UCLA. She has received numerous awards for her contributions to the arts and the community, including awards for National Dance Association Dance Educator of the Year, Mayor’s Community Service Award, Vivian Conley Award, and Indiana Community Arts Leadership Award. 

Betty Cockrum, a graduate of Indiana University, has enjoyed a long and successful career in public service. During her tenure as President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana since 1992, Cockrum has brought all of the state’s 92 counties under a single service area. Planned Parenthood performs pap tests, breast exams, and screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infection to over 112,000 women and men annually. 

Molly Flodder is executive director of TEAMwork for Quality Living.  This 13-year-old grassroots nonprofit organization brings together and supports volunteers in their work to build a stronger community. Molly has spent the first 25 years of her career in teaching and in the public relations field, both as manager of public relations at Ball Corporation and vice-president of marketing and public relations at Ball Memorial Hospital.  She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Oakland City University and Master of Science degree from Indiana University. 

Patricia Schaefer completed undergraduate studies in music at Northwestern University and graduate degrees at the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan. Schaefer was the first president of the Delaware County Council for the Arts, which helped organize the community’s Masterworks Chorale and its first Renaissance Fair. She also serves on the Boards of the Indiana Humanities Council, the local Community Foundation, and the Ball State University Foundation. 

Mary Dollison, an educator for thirty-one years, remains very active in a wide variety of civic activities. She is a cofounder of the Motivate Our Minds Volunteer Enrichment Program. She serves on numerous boards, including Delta Kappa Gamma Society, the Muncie Area Reading Council, the League of Women Voters, Friends of Muncie Public Library, the Muncie Chapter of Black Expo, the Coalition of 100 Women, and the Whitely Neighborhood Council.

7:00-9:30 p.m.

Presented by the Multicultural Center

Iron Jawed Angels

Pruis Hall

Iron Jawed Angels recounts for a contemporary audience a key chapter in U.S. history: in this case, the struggle of suffragists who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment. Focusing on the two defiant women, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, the film shows how these activists broke from the mainstream women's-rights movement and created a more radical wing, daring to push the boundaries of political protest to secure women's voting rights.

Thursday March 26

8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Third Annual African Diaspora Research Conference: Sisters, Girls, and Women: Gender Solidarity and Struggle  

Bracken Library Room 225

The Third Annual African Diaspora Research Conference at Ball State University is a themed one-day conference that explores issues related to the roots and global dispersion of ethnically African peoples. 

            8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.    

            Registration & Opening with Black National Anthem

            8:30 a.m. - 9:50 a.m.   

            Session One A: Diaspora Research        

            Graduate student paper presentations (60 minutes for presenters and 20 minutes for questions)

            10:00 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.   

            Session One B: Diaspora Research        

            Graduate student paper presentations (60 minutes for presenters and 20 minutes for questions)

            11:30 a.m.  - 12:30 p.m.  

            Session Two: Lunch and cultural arts presentations

            12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.  

Session Three: Keynote Address by Dr. Signithia Fordham. She is an anthropologist from the University of Rochester who has done much research on African American identity (male and female) and in particular black girls and their relationships with girls of other races. 

            1:45 p.m. -2:45 p.m.    

            Session Four: Faculty Response Panel

4:00-6:00 p.m.

Nina B. Marshall Art Exhibit: Understanding Cultural Domains

Atrium Gallery

This exhibition of women’s artwork is named in honor of Nina B. Marshall.  Marshall was an artist, friend, and Ball State professor who, in 1994, organized the first annual Women’s Week Women Faculty and Student Art Exhibition.  The exhibition now carries her name as a statement of gratitude and admiration for all that she contributed to Ball State University’s Women’s Studies Program and Department of Art.

Friday March 27

12:00-1:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion

Males Doing Feminist Work

Fine Arts Building 217

This panel discussion of males doing feminist research, will include Dr. Abel Alves, Dr. David Concepcion, Dr. Mark Malaby, Dr. Joseph Marchal, and Mr. Tal Peretz.  Adam McLachlan will be the moderator.

Dr. Abel Alves is currently the Assistant Chair of the History Department and the author of Brutality and Benevolence: Human Ethology, Culture, and the Birth of Mexico and articles in the Sixteenth Century Journal and other publications.  Dr. Alves is the first recipient of the Miriam Chrisman Award of the Society for Reformation Research. In 1997, he received Ball State's Hurley Goodall Distinguished Faculty Award. In 2000, he was awarded BSU's Lawhead Award for teaching in the University Core Curriculum. 

Dr. David W. Concepción received his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Concepción teaches Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Bioethics, Feminist Ethics, Epistemology, Practical and Professional Ethics, and Contemporary Ethical Theory and Problems (including Metaethics). Dr. Concepción has received both the “Excellence in Teaching” and “Lawhead Core Curriculum Teaching” Awards. 

Dr. Mark Malaby is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Ball State University, in Muncie Indiana. A sociologist by training, he graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2005. Dr. Malaby co-directs the Schools and Communities project, which offers immersive, transformative cultural experiences to pre-service teachers. His current research focuses on masculine identity development in the context of schooling, urban and elementary education, and social justice in schools and communities. 

Dr. Joseph Marchal received his Ph.D. in biblical studies from the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley (California), after graduating with a master's in New Testament/early Christianity and women's studies in religion (from Harvard) and majoring as an undergraduate in theology and gender studies (at Notre Dame). Having taught at a number of schools (Grinnell, Cal State-Northridge, Austin, and Colby colleges) prior to joining the faculty at BSU, Dr. Marchal's teaching and research interests include (but are not limited to) biblical studies and critical theories of interpretation, especially in those places where dynamics of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and empire intersect. 

Tal Peretz graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2005 having designed his own major in Diversity and Oppression, and then spent a year doing volunteer tutoring and mentoring for underprivileged students. Other experiences, including backpacking through Europe, working at an HIV/AIDS resource center, and volunteering at a Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Shelter persuaded him to attain a Doctoral degree. His research interests include the intersection of men and feminism, and working towards involving more men in feminist activism. More generally, he is interested in Gender/Sexuality, Race, Class, Power, and Social Change.

Saturday March 28

2:00-4:00 p.m.

Sonnets for My Sistahs

Pruis Hall

This two-part play, written by Indianapolis-area resident and Gary native playwright Vernon A. Williams, features the comedy, drama, song, and dance of relationships in the new millennium and includes stunning praise dance as well as stirring vocal solos. "Sonnets for my Sistahs" is unique in that all of its dialogue is poetry, taken from the book of the same title.