Gender, Race and Space Conference
Undergraduate students present research that examines connections of gender, race and space in modern society
“It was empowering to see students my age presenting work with thought-provoking findings.”
—Conference Participant
Undergraduate students embraced the opportunity to present their own research at Pacific's "Gender, Race and Space Conference" on September 25, 2010. About 100 people attended the conference, which took place in the De Rosa Center. In all, 30 students participated as presenters: 26 from Pacific and 4 from Stanford University.
The conference was organized by the Gender Studies Program (directed by Professor Gesine Gerhard) and the Ethnic Studies Program (directed by Professor Xiaojing Zhou). It was co-sponsored by the GHES Center, Humanities Center, Phi Beta Kappa, CAPD, College Pacific Fund, College Dean's Office, and the University of the Pacific Library. Support from students, staff and faculty from these organizations helped make the conference a success.
The theme of the conference was the production and transformation of living spaces through social relations and interactions, policies, and representations at the local, national, or global level. A call for papers went out in spring 2010, and students were asked to submit brief abstracts of their proposed research by June 1. Final papers were due mid-September.
Gender, Race and Space Concept
The purpose of the conference was to examine the connections of gender, race and space in modern society. Gender Studies organized a similar event in 2008: the Gender and Science Conference.
Keynote Address
Dr. Mary Ting Yi Lui, Professor of American Studies and History at Yale University, delivered an engaging keynote address titled "Reading Race and Gender in Everyday Landscapes." Dr. Lui is the author of The Chinatown Trunk Mystery: Murder, Miscegenation, and Other Dangerous Encounters in Turn-of-the-Century New York City (Princeton University Press, 2005), which won the "Best Book in History" awarded by the Association of Asian American Studies.
Student Panels and Posters
The student presentations were grouped into panels chaired by faculty members who led a discussion following the talks. Panel topics included:
- Recalibrating Norms in Math and Science
- En-Gendering Childhood and Adolescence
- Sexuality and Embodiment
- Real and Imagined Spaces
- Morality and Transgression in Film and Literature
The conference also included poster presentations, in which students display a summary of data and their findings on a poster and speak on the research they conducted. The poster presentations covered a range of issues, such as transnational capitalism, education of bilingual children, the LGBTQ rights movement in South Korea, and race in U.S. higher education.
Faculty Panel
A faculty panel on "Constructions of Identity in Cinema, Visual Culture, and Literature" was chaired by Dr. Merrill Schleier (Art and Graphic Design/Art History). Presenters included Dr. Diane Borden (English/Film Studies), Dr. Schleier, and Dr. Xiaojing Zhou (English/Ethnic Studies). Dr. Teresa Bergman (Communication/Film Studies) was the discussant of the panel.
Program Details
You can see a complete list of the presentations on the 2010 Conference Presentations web page or on the Program.
Best Paper Awards
From left: Stephanie Mohr (Pacific), Dr. Carrie Schroeder (Religious & Classical Studies Professor/Pacific), Nicole Chorney (Stanford)
Awards for "best paper" were given to three students: Charles Syms, Stephanie Mohr and Nicole Chorney Learn More
Charles Syms (Stanford): "Identities Claimed, Identities Assigned: Transgender Subjectivities in Raymond's The Transsexual Empire and Stone's The Empire Strikes Back" examines interactions and debates between contemporary feminism and transgender activism about the nature of sexual identity and the implications of sexual/gender identity for progressive politics.
Stephanie Mohr (Pacific): "Defining National Morality: The Role of Feminine Gender and Space within Indian Cinema" examines how notions of femininity are mapped onto notions of "Mother India" and Indian nationalism in film.
Nicole Chorney (Stanford): "Literary Portrayals of Immigrant Widows Challenging the Tradition of Subjectivity in Asian American Literature" traces changes in how Asian American authors negotiate or transgress gender norms present in Asian American immigrant cultures through their representations of widows in literature.Hide