Fall 2015

Like Minds Old Dominion University Women’s Studies Department

The Friends of Women’s Studies Newsletter

Dear Friends, This is going to be an exciting year of transition, and we hope we can count on your continued

involvement and support as FOWS branches out in new ways. Our 2016 featured speaker is Ai-Jen Poo, a 2014 MacArthur Fellow and one of TIME’s 100 World’s Most Influential People in 2012. A former women’s studies graduate who went on to lead the Caring Across Generations movement, Poo has been celebrated as one of the most vibrant leaders in the current women’s movement. This year’s format will feature our speaker as part of ODU’s President's Lecture Series, which will be free and open to the public. We hope you will join us on March 22, 2016 for Ai-Jen Poo’s public lecture and book signing for her recently released The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in an Aging America. This event promises a poignant conversation on care, aging, and the labor women contribute to our elders.

This year, the Board will be hosting more informal events that allow for group discussion and connections in the wider community. Many of you may recall salons at the home of Carolyn Rhodes, as well as book and poetry readings in various venues, or visits to museums. We have a few exciting opportunities in the works for FUN-raising and FRIEND-raising, including our upcoming Eat Your Art Out event on December 6 at the Chrysler Museum. In the meantime, please make sure your e-mail contact is up to date on our list, and consider adding Friends of Women's Studies to your "Friends" on Facebook. Lastly, we do have a few vacancies on our Board this year; so if you are interested, this would be a great time to get more directly involved with Friends. Please contact Kathleen Fogarty (KFogarty@vbgov.com) to learn more about leadership within our community of Like Minds.

As the year draws to a close, we ask that you consider the Friends of Women’s Studies in your annual giving. Your support makes measurable differences in the lives of students and the reach of feminist education at the local and global levels. You may earmark particular scholarships or make a contribution to the general fund, which provides the foundation for a wide reach of initiatives from the Department. Thank you for your generous support and involvement in our community.

We wish you a festive season and an abundance of enrichment in the New Year!

Kathleen Fogarty and Laura O’Reilly

Graduate student Rebekah Joyce reaching out to girls at Fezeka Secondary School in Cape Town, South Africa

Fall 2015 Page 2

Eat Your Art Out An Afternoon At

The Chrysler December 6,

2015 12-3pm

   Join Friends of Women’s Studies for an afternoon of art and festivity as we visit the Chrysler’s Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit. The tour of the exhibit will be followed by drinks in Norfolk’s new NEON District.

Upcoming Events

Ai-Jen Poo

Featured event March 22, 2016

Macarthur fellow

A Student Reflects on our Fall Guest Speaker: Ismail Ferdous

To launch our fall semester, the Women’s Studies Department hosted internationally renowned human rights photographer Ismail Ferdous who delivered a series of guest lectures and class talks. One of three 2015 Getty Images award winners, Ferdous’ photography has focused on documenting human tragedy in places where mainstream media has been reluctant to go. Here, Fulbright graduate student

Sidi Mahdi Mardakli reflects on Ismail’s visit.

Though he covers mostly human tragedies as a photographer, Ismail Ferdous is one of the very few people that helps us discover and understand the hardships, pain and suffering of other people. During his talk, he presented us with his coverage of the Rana Plaza factory disaster in Bangladesh, the earthquake in Nepal, and one of the battle fields of the tragic and devastating civil war in Syria. From his presentation, I retain several points: the dark side of globalization, bad and poor governance in developing countries, a confirmation of the fact that women are the ones that suffer mostly during conflicts and natural disasters, and also the ethics of photojournalism.

From the ruins of the Rana Plaza building to Nepal’s earthquake to one of Syrian civil war battlefields, Ferdous’s pictures and videos just remind us that women suffer the most during conflicts and natural disasters. Even after a war has ended, or after an earthquake has passed, they are the ones that endure mostly the hardship, pain, and suffering. Even during normal times, I mean during time of peace and no natural disasters, they suffer from physical violence and abuse, inequality, etc. Though they convey tragedies, Ferdous’ pictures help remind us that there are people out there who are paying a high price for globalization, poor governance and human greed…We need to hear stories about those who are not asking to be a star, but just to live a decent and peaceful life.

Fall 2015

In August 2015, three graduate students and an undergraduate alumna set out to explore issues around migration, refugees, and development on a

research journey with Dr. Jennifer Fish. Each student focused on a project that would build on her own thesis or professional portfolio. Here, our

sojourners share the impact of their journey in words and images.

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Rebekah Joyce visited Fezeka Secondary School to look at girls’ education through the Education Without Borders Canadian NGO. She writes:

Each year, eager students from Old Dominion University, under the guidance of Professor Jennifer Fish, travel to Fezeka Secondary in Gugulethu with aspirations of supporting students through various EwB-sponsored projects. Previous ODU student projects have included the creation of the library and a computer lab update.

This year, I shared the amazing opportunity to work at Fezeka as part of a service-learning approach to university-community partnerships.

Through photographer Greg Hillyard’s photojournalism after-school project, which is run by EwB, I gained the chance to see life through students’ eyes and support the development of a collection of photo essays among 10 learners. I looked at girls’ experiences of education and placed them both visually and narratively within the larger worlds that shape their daily lives.

While Greg gave everyone unique and guiding photography tutorials, our ODU team applied our writing expertise to help Fezeka students craft thoughtful essays around their chosen themes. Students gained valuable guidance on their projects through the connection of Greg as a caring mentor, and the long-standing relationship between EwB and ODU.

Projects like these are invaluable. For me, this project was a cherished opportunity to make a difference in the lives of students whose abilities and commitment to education already shine. I learned that the mentorship and encouragement provided by EwB’s programs are so impactful, especially as the students who participate take the support they received as a motivator to continue their educational dreams. This project has inspired me to continue my own goals of becoming an educator and a life long supporter for global education initiatives.

These projects not only provide great mentorship and support to the already talented students of Fezeka, but they also help realize the unifying philosophical commitment of ODU and EwB.

How You Make A Difference

On a photo walk with EwB at Fezeka

Leading a dialogue with girls from Fezeka School

Girls’ Education and Photography: Cape Town, South Africa

Fall 2015

Learning from the Global Domestic Workers’ Movement

Moriah Shumpert reflects on international experiences with the global domestic workers’ network:

This summer, with the assistance of Dr. Jennifer Fish and the support of ODU Friends of Women's Studies, I completed a two-month internship with the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers’ Union (SADSAWU) in Cape Town, South Africa. Not only was this a personally enriching opportunity, but it also provided a chance to collect the original data that frame my thesis as I near the end of my M.A. program in Humanities.

During my time with SADSAWU, I assisted with mobilizing efforts, monitored membership growth,

attended national executive conferences, and participated in capacity building workshops. Myrtle Witbooi, General Secretary of SADSAWU and President of the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF), served as my mentor throughout this experience – a life opportunity for which I hold such gratitude.

Through my work with SADSAWU, I was invited to participate in a global seminar in Bangkok, Thailand hosted by the UN Office of the High Commission For Human Rights. On this trip, I met with domestic worker leaders and UN experts from around the world during a three-day capacity building workshop hosted by the IDWF. Each of these meetings allowed me an opportunity to sit with grassroots leaders, researchers, and international policy makers who held shared goals to better understand the precarious nature of migrant domestic labor and brainstorm a way to ensure safer migration. Two key interviews from my time with the IDWF will ground a chapter I am currently co-writing with Dr. Fish on migrant women’s organizing in Asia. As part of a research grant Dr. Fish received from the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council, we co-presented this chapter draft among feminist migration and care labor scholars across the world, at the University of Toronto’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

During this fall semester, my focus has been concentrated on rendering these life changing and career forming experiences into written word. The observations I made and interviews I gathered during my

internship will be the primary sources for my upcoming thesis, which I will defend in Spring 2016.

I feel so honored to be the recipient of the incredible faculty mentorship of our Women's Studies Department and the unwavering support of our Friends of Women’s Studies community. It is through the mutual support of both parties that I've been able to join the best of my field and contribute my own voice to the next generation of feminist scholarship.

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Singing with SADSAWU choir

At Hector Pieterson Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa

With worker leaders at the UNHCHR Seminar in Bangkok,

When I joined the Friends of Women’s Studies Board, I had no idea what an executive board was. I had just finished my Masters in Humanities and Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Old Dominion University. I felt shy and inexperienced, so early on during meetings I just listened, absorbing knowledge.

Board members helped me understand their mission of supporting students with scholarships, service learning and project funds. It was odd to sit side by side with Dr. Anita Fellman after spending years admiring her as my professor. She was the one who originally encouraged me to follow my passion. Now, I marveled that she wanted my opinion.

Within a few years, I learned enough to become Co-President, partnering with a dear friend I had made on the board. Together we helped engage members of the Friends of Women’s Studies. We planned a feminist game night including a tour of the Chrysler Museum. We created a Facebook page to let members know about events and student successes. We wrote new bylaws and worked with students on Capstone projects. After two years, I handed over the reins, but everything I learned translated into my job at ODU’s Women’s Center. Even today, my board experience informs my new position as Leadership Development Coordinator at the Tidewater Community College Women’s Center. I am proud to list my board leadership role on my resume.

I still stay in touch with board members and they still support me. I am so glad I seized the opportunity to be part of this strong group of feminists fulfilling a mission I believe in – helping young women leaders of tomorrow.

If you are considering Board membership, don’t be afraid that you’re too young, or just out of school and inexperienced. Take on the challenge, even if it’s for the first time. Your fellow board members and feminists will teach you all you need to know. If you love Women’s Studies as much as I do and want to get experience in leadership, this is the board for you.

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Gretchen Edwards-Bodmer

Interested in Joining the FOWS Board?

Congratulations to Our Scholarship Recipients From Left to Right:

Kyla Crowley Carolyn Rhodes Undergraduate

Scholarship

Rebekah Joyce Anita Clair Fellman Service-Learning

Scholarship

Moriah Shumpert Nancy Bazin Graduate Scholarship

Fall 2015

In Memory of Dr. Ernest Rhodes Ernest Lloyd Rhodes, Professor Emeritus of English and retired Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy, died in the early morning of Sept. 12, at the age of 100.

Rhodes came to Old Dominion University in 1960 as a Shakespeare scholar. Prior to that, he was a reporter for the Northern Virginia Daily and the Alexandria Gazette. During World War II he served as a boat officer in the Guadalcanal and as Landing Craft Control officer for Red Beach One during the April 1-5, 1945, attack on Okinawa.

During his 20-year ODU career, Rhodes staged many plays, built a replica of Henslowe's Rose stage theater, that was displayed in London at the Bear Gardens Museum, published "Henslowe's Rose Stage and Staging" (U. Kentucky Press, 1976), and also participated in the second wave of feminism as it swept the country and campus, sharing the activism of his wife, Carolyn Rhodes, Professor Emerita of English and Women's Studies.

Not only did Rhodes testify in support of pay equity for women at the University's Faculty Senate hearing on Title IX, in 1976; he also served as associate editor for "First Person Female American" by Carolyn Rhodes (Whitson, 1980); and when Carolyn Rhodes was awarded Fulbright grants for year-long teaching assignments overseas - one in Romania and two in China - he went along to provide technical and household support.

A self-identified feminist, Rhodes was well-known for supporting the ODU Friends of Women's Studies and co-hosting countless feminist gatherings in the Rhodes' home.

Rhodes credited much of his feminist awareness to his mother, Blanche, who relocated him and his three siblings to the Mooseheart Child City & School, an orphans' home-school which still operates, when she was widowed. She worked at the orphanage while her children were trained in a vocation and earned high school diplomas.

At age 95, Rhodes published A Coal Miner's Family at Mooseheart (AuthorHouse, 2010), a memoir of the surprisingly utopian life there with 1,300 other children, from 1919 through the Depression.

"Rest in peace, Ernest Rhodes. Father, husband, soldier, scholar and friend to hundreds of us. We will always remember your simple, loving warmth, and the hope you radiated," wrote renowned ethicist and philosopher Judith Andre, Professor Emerita of Michigan State University.

Rhodes is survived by his wife of 46 years, Carolyn Hodgson Meyers Rhodes; son Stanley, and his wife Patti; another son Lloyd, and his wife Diane; as well as Carolyn Rhodes' son Richard, and his wife Sheelagh; Carolyn Rhodes' daughter Babette; five grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.

A celebration of life service is planned for Sunday, April 17, 2016, on what would have been Ernest Rhodes' 101st birthday. The 4 p.m. event will be held on ODU's Norfolk campus at the Engineering & Computational Sciences Building, first floor auditorium and atrium.

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Source: ODU Webpage

Dr. Rhodes with wife and founding member of ODU

Women’s Studies Department, Dr. Carolyn Rhodes

How to Contribute to Friends of Women’s Studies By contributing to Friends of Women’s Studies you are helping provide support for ongoing commitments, sponsoring of feminist events, assisting with student service-learning programs, and providing scholarship funds to help with the cost of higher education. You can donate via the methods listed below.

v Call us at (757) 683-3823 for additional information.

v Mail a donation check (made payable to ODU Educational Foundation) to Women’s Studies Department Batten Arts and Letters Building 3041 Norfolk, VA 23529

*Please be sure to include your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. Also specify in the memo of your check to which area your donation will be given: Women’s Studies General Fund, Carolyn Rhodes Undergraduate Scholarship, Nancy Bazin Graduate Scholarship, or the Anita Clair Fellman Service-Learning Scholarship.

v Go to the ODU Women’s Studies Dept.’s website’s giving page at [http://www.odu.edu/womensstudies/givenow].

Fall 2015 Page 7

As the year draws to a close, we ask for your support in our continued efforts to link our students to some of the world’s most urgent needs. For the past five years, the Women’s Studies Department has worked directly with refugee populations in Hampton Roads, Rwanda and South Africa. In August this year, our South Africa community research group of graduate students spent time with Congolese refugee populations in South Africa. The transformative experiences they shared stemmed directly from your generous contributions. Your continued investment will allow us to increase our efforts to place students in service-learning and

internships with refugee populations. Based on her experience as a Women’s Studies scholarship recipient and four research journeys to Africa, our doctoral graduate, Dr. Erika Frydenlund, will be offering a seminar on Refugee Studies this spring semester. This Women’s Studies course will address the current global refugee crisis and train students to work with migrant populations throughout the world.

This coming summer, two students and one alumna will also journey to Nepal this year to research and support women’s reproductive health in the post-earthquake relief efforts. Your contribution will allow us to provide direct support for students who seek to apply their knowledge to communities where social inequality and environmental impact intersect to take a particular toll on women’s lives. Please contribute to the Women’s Studies General Fund to support our new efforts in Nepal.

Your 2015 gift will also allow us to develop a series of speakers and events in 2016. In addition to our featured Ai-Jen Poo event, we will host a dialogue with Women’s Studies alumnae who went on to careers in education, nonprofit leadership and the creative arts. We will also host a special celebration for our graduates and take part in the Works in Progress spring conference at Virginia Wesleyan College.

As our student testimonials convey again and again, your efforts make a difference in students’ lives and our collective efforts to contribute to outreach efforts from the local community to the global context.

As we close 2015, we are so grateful for your support.

A Letter from the Chair

Jennifer Fish