Newswire
March 23, 2004

Colloquium Part of Rider’s 25th Anniversary Celebration

Celebrating its 25th anniversary throughout this year, Rider University’s Gender Studies Program will hold its 2004 Colloquium Thursday, March 25.  “Gender and Creativity” is the theme.  The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Sweigart Auditorium.
     Those in attendance will have an opportunity to hear the reading of student essays during four afternoon sessions from noon to 1 p.m.; 1:10 to 2:10 p.m.; 2:20 to 3:20 p.m. and 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.  The papers were written in several English, history, literature and gender studies courses at Rider.  The panel of faculty judges selected the 17 best papers for presentation.
     “The paper selection panel received 40 strong papers and selected 17 that demonstrate the lively intellectual curiosity of Rider University students,” said Kathryn Holden, associate professor/librarian and chair of the paper selection committee. “The students present astute literary analysis, aesthetic interpretation, and social commentary on topics ranging from Hillary Clinton and the media to women in rock music.  It was a pleasure to read the papers and I look forward to their presentations.”   
     Also highlighting the day at 11:30 a.m. will be the announcement and presentation of the Dr. Mildred Rice Jordan and Dr. Virginia J. Cyrus scholarships to two outstanding students and the presentation of the 2004 Ziegler-Gee Award, which will be given to Dr. Gerald Klein, associate professor of organizational behavior and management.

     The following students will make the presentations:

From noon to 1 p.m.  (Rethinking Race and Sex in Literature)

  • Jasmin Joseph-Wheeler, a psychology major, who will present, “Women, Power, and Privilege in Selected Short Stories of Zora Neale Hurston and Dorothy West;”
  • Josanne Sampson, a business administration major, who will present “Self-Discovery;”
  • Joanna Wizner, a liberal studies/humanities major, who will present, “The Woman as Mother in Selected Novels of Flora Nwapa, Catherine Lim and Esmeralda Santiago;”
  • Tiffany Lauritsen, a history major, who will present, “Indissoluble Matrimony,”

From 1:10 to 2:10 p.m. (Persona)

  • Thom Bechamps, who will present “Feminism in Candida:  Shaw Challenges Male Illusions and Creates a ‘New Woman’;”
  • Cheryl Sciacca, a psychology major, who will present “The Shadow Side of Sisterly Love: Exploring Codependence;”
  • Christel M. Kleinebekel, an English/elementary education major, who will present “The Style of Virginia Woolf;”
  • Jesse Bahr, a general liberal arts and sciences major, who will present” Gender Typing in Video Games;

From 2:20 to 3:20 p.m.  (Women in the Public Eye)

  • Laura Bejgrowicz, a psychology major, who will present “Witch Hunt: The Persecution of Women During the Burning Times;”
  • Sandra Riccio, a history major, who will present “Female Soldiers in the American Civil War;”
  • Christopher Lang, an English major, who will present “Hillary Clinton, the Media, and the Role of Gender in American Politics,”
  • Elsbeth Escher, a graduate voice performance and pedagogy major from Westminster Choir College of Rider University, who will present “The Loudest Frontier: The Masculinized World of Rock Music,”

From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. (Camp, Drag, and Social Change)

  • Michelle Doherty, a music major, who will present “Metrosexual;”
  • Jennifer Kregeloh, an elementary education/communication major, who will present “Society’s Influence on Homosexuality and Transgender Roles;”
  • Zack Needles, a journalism major, who will present “The Sexual Orientation of T.S. Eliot,”
  • Don Weiss, an English major, who will present “Feminism and Social History in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Clueless; and
  • Kristin Mastrandrea, a journalism/public relations major, who will present “We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby.”

     Other activities to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Gender Studies Program include a talk by Dr. Karen Leathem, managing editor of Atlanta History: A Journal of Georgia and the South at the Atlanta History Center, who will speak on “Promiscuous Maskers: Desire, Identity, and Carnival in New Orleans, on Thursday, April 1 at 11:30 a.m. in Sweigart Auditorium, and the  reading of the one-act play, Words Between, by Dr. Rebecca Basham, assistant professor of English, on Tuesday, April 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Sweigart Auditorium.
     For more information, call Dr. Judith Johnston, professor of English and director of the Gender Studies Program at (609) 895-5580.

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