New Faculty Join Women's Studies

Meet the WSU Center for Women's Studies' new faculty members who joined the department in January.

Dr. Chinyere Okafor, poet, playwright and short story writer, is associate professor of Women's Studies. She has taught at the University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME; Montgomery College, Rockville, MD; University of Swaziland, Swaziland; University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria; and University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

A specialist in gender and cultural studies, Okafor has taught literature, theater, culture and women's studies. She is vice president of the Association of African Women Scholars; board member for the Museum of African Tribal Arts; and board member with the Global Learning Center.

Dr. Okafor;s impressive achievements include: 1998 Rockefeller Fellowship for Residency as a Writer in the Rockefeller Center in Bellagio (Italy); two Rockefeller Humanist-in-Residence Fellowships in 1991 (at Cornell University and Hunter College) for research in the poetics and politics of African festival drama from a gender perspective; Outstanding Finalist Award in the Bertram's Literature of Africa Awards organized in South Africa in 1996; a special reconition by the Assocation of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in 1994 for proficiency in the three genres of literature; and three ANA awards for drama, poetry, and prose respectively.

Her published creative works include He Wants To Marry Me Again and other Stories, The Lion and The Iroko (a play), From Earth's Bed Chamber (a collection fo poems), Campus Palavar and Other Plays. Her essays can be found in publications such as Okike, Literary Review, Research in African Lit, World Literature Today and Commonwealth. Some have been translated to French and Italian.

At WSU, Dr. Okafor teaches "American Women in Popular Culture," "Women in Africa" and "Women Writers."

Dr. Doris Chang is assistant professor of Women's Studies. She received her Ph.D. degree from the Department of History at the Ohio State Universty in 2002. Her areas of specialties include East Asian history and the history of women's movements in Asia and the United States.

Dr. Chang's PhD dissertation was entitled "Daughters of Formosa: Feminist Discourses and Women's Movements in Taiwan, 1920-2002." In addition, she has done extensive research on the sexual liberation ideology in contemporary Taiwan and the New Feminism of Ms. Hsiu-lien Annette Lu, vice president of Taiwan.

The WSU courses that Dr. Chang teach include "Women in World Religions," "Women in Society: Social Issues" and "Asian Women in Modern History, Culture, and Society." She is also coordinator of the annual Women's History Month, a public program sponsored by the Center for Women's Studies at WSU.

Discovering Kansas

Some well-meaning friends and associates advised me against coming to "plain" Kansas. Since my arrival, I have been explaining the place. Finally, I wrote a poem for them, and for all of us.

WIDE COUNTRY

Wide country that stretches my eyes to the domain of memory,
Where landscape of imagination is watered by contemplation.
You salute my body with hefty winds,
You assault me with crowds of wind,
That wrestle my path as I jog by the lakes of Rock Road.

Wide country that washes eyes with waves of acclimatization.
Rain, hail, sun and all that fight for space and wrestle irritation.
You caress my body with waves,
That soar to abode of memory.
Wide coutnry, you are the one that defies poetic imagination.

My dears, you need to see the place,
To imagine its essence, and drink the cup of wide country,
Kansas, wide part of the body of Mother Earth that is soothed by her breath.

Faculty Activities

Dr. Ramona Liera-Schwichtenberg, chair, associate professor and graduate coordinator of the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) program. In November Dr. Liera-Schwichtenberg presented a paper titled "The Power of the Visible: Latina Representation," at the National Communication Association in New Orleans. In March, she gave an invited paper titles "Latina Power and the Brown Virgin" during the annual meeting of the American GI Forum in Wichita.

She was a member of the University Program Review Committee, and served on the Geraldine Hammond committee. Her summer was devoted to working with the faculty on the department's assessment document for the Kansas Board of Regents. She will be on sabbatical during spring semester 2004.

Dr. Doris Chang, assistant professor, contributed an article about the Taiwanese women's movement in the post-martial law era to an edited book titled "Engendering the Taiwan Miracle." Currently, she is writing an article about Taiwanese feminist discourse in the Japanese colonial era.

Dr. Deborah Gordon, associate professor, spent the summer redeveloping her course "Gender, Race, and Knowledge" through a global learning grant from WSU and traveling to the West Bank in the Palestinian Territories, where she consulted with faculty at Al-Quds Open University, the Arab world's largest open and distance-learning university. Her students will videoconference with English language students at Al-Quds this semester, and with Women's Studies student at Birzeit Univeristy in Spring 2004.

While in the Middle East, Dr. Gordon met with Palestinians in the Ministry of Education and with the Palestininan Cultural Channel, a local television station that broadcasts from Ramallah. She conducted a workshop for faculty at Al-Quds on combining internet technology and student-centered teaching strategies. The media center of Al-Quds Open U. videotaped the workshop for distribution to academic centers throughout the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. In June, she published a report from Ramallah in the Wichita Eagle. In December, Dr. Gordon will return to the West Bank to complete work for her course redevelopment grant.

This fall, Dr. Gordon conducted learning exercises on the Middle East conflict for the Council of University Women, the United Nations Club and Epsilon Sigma Alpha, a philanthropic sorority. In November, she presents a paper, "Women's Studies and Global Learning: Productive Tensions," at WSU's Global Learning and Internet2 Conference.

Dr. Gordon serves on the Liberal Arts and Sciences College Council and its Academic Planning and Curriculum Committee, and will act as the department's interim chair in spring 2004.

Dr. Carol Wolfe Konek, professor, is currently on long-term medical disability, but continues to write and meet with her reading group at Watermark Books. She sends regards to her many friends, colleagues and supporters.

Dr. Chinyere Okafor, associate professor, designed a new Women's Studies course, "Women in Africa," that aims to make students muticulturally competent by presenting views of African women from different African cultural voices. She coordinated the June 3 presentation on African women's struggle for identity by Dr. Chioma Opara of Rivers State University of Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. During Dr. Opara's visit, they continued their work on "Writing African Matri."

Dr. Okafor presented "Transgressions: Stories of an African Woman in America" in October at the Southern California Writers Conference held in Los Angeles.

From the Director

The past year been jam-packed with many stimulating moments. We celebrated the arrival of two new faculty members, Chinyere Okafor and Doris Chang. Both have added an international dimension to the Womens' Studies curriculum that was already primed for the shift by Deborah Gordon's class on women in the Middle East and my class on Latinas in culture and society.

Chinyere Okafor brings her knowledge of women in Africa and the Caribbean, and Doris Chang contributes a world religion perspective. Both new hires have excelled as scholars and teachers, contributing much to their specialty areas and to the general education curriculum.

The spring 2003 term began with our first presentation of the Wing Walker Award to Ivonne Goldstein, and just a few weeks ago, we honored Carol Beier's appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court (see story below).

In March, our own Carol Konek receive an A. Price Woodward Jr. Humanitarian Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice, Carol was recognized for her contributions in advancing understanding and respect among Wichitans, a well-deserved honor for a lifetime committed to peace and social justice.

This event was followed by Women's History Month, planned with great precision by Deborah Gordon, who nominated Dr. Suad Joseph to be WSU's latest Lyceum Distinguished Scholar and coordinated the event with the office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs. An international scholar, Dr. Joseph presented two public lectures, several seminar discussions and interacted with faculty and students. The university and community were enriched by Dr. Joseph's visit.

We co-sponsored with the Global Learning Center a June 3 talk titled "Bellowing in Silence: African Women and the Struggle for Identity" by Chioma Opara, PhD. Dr. Opara was visiting from Rivers State University of Technology in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. She is a research associate of Dr. Chinyere Okafor.

As we look to the future, we see increased work in the area of global learning, and technological possibilities for international classes. We see extending ouselves to communities of color previously untapped. We see more alliance with like-minded colleagues in other departments. We see ourselves inscribed in the heart of the campus, and important to the university.

Best of all, we see a department that has been re-born in different and beautiful incarnation. This is not to deny the past, but to learn from it, build from it and blossom anew.

Receptions Honor Two Notable Wichita Women

A stellar event, held February 18 honored star volunteer Ivonne Goldstein with the presentation of the Wing Walker Award. Ivonne was recognized for her years of public service to local organizations, such as the YWCA, Wichita Art Museum, Botanica, Music Theatre, Inter-Faith Ministries and many others. She is a member of the Center for Women's Studies Advisory Board, and has been a key fundraiser for many Women's Studies initiatives.

Two hundred people gathered to celebrate Ivonne's latest achievement, including her proud family and a number of past Wing Walker honorees, Bonnie Bing Honeyman emceed the program. Event co-chair Sheryl Wohlford and department chair Ramona Liera-Schwichtenberg made the introductions, and Lisa Callahan produced a PowerPoint presentation about Ivonne's busy life as a professional volunteer. WSU President and Mrs. Beggs and Jill Docking presented Ivonne with her Wing Walker sculpture designed by local artist Babs Mellor.

Women's Studies inherited the Wing Walker event and award from the disbanded Forum for Executive Women, Seven other Wichita women have received the award.

The Wichita Women Attorneys Association and the Center for Women's Studies honored Carol Beier's appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court by Governor Kathleen Sebelius during a reception September 29. Toasting Carol's appointment were WSU President and Mrs. Beggs, Women's Studies board members and many women attorneys.

Ramona Liera-Schwichtenberg thanked Carol for her commitment to Women's Studies, especially her years as an Advisory Board member, her work on the Plaza of Heroines and her service as a teacher of the Women and the Law class.

Gaye Tibbets, primary organizer of the event, introduced Jane Deterding who sang a song spoofing Supreme Court Justices - a show-stopping performance.

Carol Beier has done much to advance the cause of women in the legal profession. She continues to be a model for us all.