2013 Schedule
Wednesday, March 13
11:30 am-1:00 pm, Stamm
Animal Natures
Moderator: Deborah Heath, L&C Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of Gender Studies
Benjamin Safford, L&C ’13, “Feminism and Animals: In Review”
Fallon Alvarez, graduate student, Portland State University, “Humanity, Sexuality, and the Feminine-Animal Other: Christianity and Animalibus Exemplum in The Good Wife’s Guide”
Vanessa Wendland, graduate student, Portland State University, “Meat is the Message: Gender, Race, and Religion in Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats”
1:00-1:30 pm, Gregg Pavilion
Performance: Transgressing the “Father Figure”
Allyson Dean, Oregon State University Instructor, and
Whitney Jones, Oregon State University graduate teaching assistant
A dramatic exploration of power within the Catholic Church.
1:45-3:15 pm, Stamm
Moderator: Therese Augst, L&C Assistant Professor of German
Artistic Expressions
Ian Blair, L&C ’14, “A Study in Femininity and Catholicism”
Gabe Parque, L&C Art Department 3-D Technical Assistant
Zibby Pillote, L&C ’13, Synergia co-editor and The Pioneer Log editor-in-chief
Anna Svoboda-Stel, L&C ’14, Synergia co-editor, artist in symposium exhibit
Mari Navarro, artist
Careen Stoll, artist
1:45-3:15 pm, Council Chamber
Mediated Bodies: Sex and Gender in Popular Culture
Moderator: Isabelle DeMarte, L&C Associate Professor French
Sara Rangel, L&C ’13, “Making Light of the Grey: Liberation and Objectification in the Mainstreaming of Erotica”
Samira Tristani-Firouzi, L&C ’13, “Alignment of Feminism and Kink: An Analysis of Fifty Shades of Grey”
Charlene Gilbert, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Film, University of Toledo, “Foreign Bodies: Race, Disability, and Gender in James Cameron’s Avatar”
Libby Howard, L&C ’14, “It Must Be Ya Ass ‘Cause It Ain’t Ya Face’: Examination of Black Female Sexual Agency in the Black Church and Hip Hop”
3:30-5:00 pm, Gregg Pavilion
Sex Without Commandments: An Alternative to Abstinence-Only Education
Moderator: Jenny Bornstein, L&C Watzek Library staff
Dana J. Regan, Credentialed Religious Educator, Lead Religious Education Consultant of the Pacific Northwest District of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Rev. Cecil Prescod, Director of Christian Education and Youth Ministries, Ainsworth United Church of Christ
Faolán Thompson, L&C ’13 and symposium co-chair, past participant in Unitarian Universalist Our Whole Lives program
3:30-5:00 pm, Council Chamber
Sex Crimes
Moderator: Diana Wiener Rosengard, L&C ’04 and Law ’09, domestic violence and sexual assault advocate
Jyl R. Shaffer, Assistant Dean of Students for Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, Reed College, “Restorative Justice, Higher Education, and Sexual Assault: Empowering Survivors or Hiding the Problem?”
Melissa Osmond, L&C Associate Director for Health Promotion, “Sexual Assault Perpetration on College Campuses: Identifying Characteristics and Factors that Lead to Assaults”
Staci Hallanzzini, Campus Wellness Coordinator, Pacific University (This presenter has withdrawn from the session.)
Erin McGladrey, University of Oregon ASOU Women’s Center, campus and community restorative justice facilitator, “Losing My Religion: Surviving Rape and a Crisis of Faith”
Camille Christie, L&C ’13 and symposium co-chair, and
Catlin McCartney, L&C ’13, “Myths (and Realities) of Sexual Assault at
Lewis & Clark”
7:00 pm, Council Chamber
How Clinging to Gender Subverts Enlightenment
Rita Gross, Buddhist scholar and senior teacher
Introduced by Bruce Podobnik, L&C Associate Professor of Sociology
View a video presentation by Rita Gross here.Thursday, March 14
9:30-11:00 am, Stamm
Sex and the State: International Law and Politics
Moderator: Sepideh Bajracharya, L&C Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Frances Nguyen, student, L&C Northwestern School of Law, “Taking Forced Marriage out of the ‘Other Inhumane Acts’ Box: Recognizing Forced Marriage as a Distinct Crime Against Humanity”
Sandra Reineke, Associate Professor of Political Science and Gender Studies, University of Idaho, “Religion and Assisted Reproductive Technologies: The Case of Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnostic (Pgd) and Conservative Coalition Governments in Germany”
Sara Tuomey, student, Washington State University, “Masking Islamophobia: Rethinking Queer Visibility in the Netherlands”
Aisha Khalil Nasser, graduate teaching assistant, Oregon State University, “Women, Islam, and the Egyptian Constitution Today”
9:30-11:00 am, Gregg Pavilion
Queer Space and Religiosity
Moderator: Ryan Loiselle, L&C Graduate Assistant for Campus Living
Gus Wolff, L&C ’14, “21+ Religiosity & The Gay Club”
Marisa Moser, post-baccalaureate student, Oregon State University, “Mesh? Mayhem? Or Microagressions? LGBTQ Identity and Religious Institutions”
Michael Putnam, student, Whitman College, “How to Have a Queer Catholicism: Thoughts from the Theology of Mark Jordan”
11:30 am-1:00 pm, Gregg Pavilion
Roundtable: Keeping the Faith at College?: L&C Student Reflections on Gender, Sexuality, and Religion
Moderator: Tricia Brand, L&C Associate Dean of Students and Director of Multicultural Affairs
L&C students Ian Blair, ’14, Marisol Jenkins, ’15, Willa Keegan-Rodewald, ’13, Hannah Miller, ’14, and Nima Mohamed, ’15, Angélica Pulido-Westlake, ’13
11:30 am-1:00 pm, Stamm
Struggles of Selfhood: Identity Formations and Cultural Expectations
Moderator: Andrea Hibbard, L&C Adjunct Professor of English
Anna Lofstrand, L&C ’13, “Making the Good Woman: Everyday Morality and Modernity in South India”
Janelle Davis, student, Linfield College, “Dreaming the Self: Feminist Identity in The Woman Who Owned The Shadows”
Daena Goldsmith, L&C Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies, “Divining the Meaning of the ‘Good Mother’ in Blogs by Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder”
1:00-1:30 pm, Thayer
Performance: Reclaiming Pink
Max Voltage, Pants-Off Productions
This one-act solo theater piece uses storytelling, humor, history, dance, drag, camp, costume, and popular music to follow Max Voltage’s trajectory from tomboy to baby dyke to drag king to genderqueer.
1:45-3:15 pm, Stamm
Portland Perspectives: Gender and Religion in the City
Moderator: Maisha Foster-O’Neal, L&C ’11
Sister Krissy Fiction, member of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, active participant in Alexandrian Wiccan coven, member of Gnostic community, theology student, and former Christian minister
Rev. Tara Wilkins, executive director, Community of Welcoming Congregations, member of United Church of Christ
Jason Giles, coordinator, Portland chapter of Affirmation, a national organization for LGBTQ Mormons
1:45-3:15 pm, Gregg Pavilion
Meditation Workshop with Nancy Thompson, Interdependence Project
Intended for non-denominational participants, this workshop will be based on Buddhist concepts and feminist ideas of the body.
2:15-3:15 pm, L&C Bookstore
Bookwarming with Susan Kirtley, L&C ’95, Assistant Professor of English, Portland State University. A presentation and celebration of Susan Kirtley’s new book, Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass, an examination of femininity and feminism in the illustrated fiction and graphic novels of Lynda Barry.
Light refreshments.
3:30-5:00 pm, Council Chamber
Women and Religious Leadership: Personal and Professional Experiences
Moderator: Daena Goldsmith, L&C Professor of Rhetoric and Media Studies
Rev. Marilyn Sewell, Unitarian Universalist minister
Rabbi Debra Kolodny, P’nai Or of Portland
Rev. Katie Pate, pastor, Milwaukie Presbyterian Church
Rev. Lynne Smouse Lopez, pastor, Ainsworth United Church of Christ
3:30-5:00 pm, Stamm
Writing Our Own Religions
Moderator: Philippe Brand, L&C Assistant Professor of French
Susanna Morrill, L&C Associate Professor of Religious Studies, “The Promised Land or Godless Frontier: Women’s Gendered Conceptions of the West in the Nineteenth Century”
Claire Askew, L&C ’13, “The Sacred and the Self in Virginia Woolf’s Works”
McKenzie Phelan, L&C ’13, “L’Enfant de Sable (Sand Child): Using Language to Illustrate a Divided Identity”
► Keynote Event
We Make This Bridge By Walking It: Muslim Women and Authority in Islam
Amina Wadud, scholar of Islamic studies
Introduced by Oren Kosansky, L&C Associate Professor of Anthropology
View a video presentation by Amina Wadud here.Friday, March 15
9:00 am-4:00 pm, Gregg Pavilion
Labyrinth walk
The labyrinth walk is a meditative exercise of deliberate movement intended to center the mind through the physical act of circling the labyrinth. As an intentional practice, it is designed to allow one to focus or let go of their thoughts and to be present within their body. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth is not a puzzle to be solved; instead it is a path to follow and experience. Wheelchair accessible. Special thanks to First Unitarian Church of Portland for loaning us the labyrinth canvas.
9:30-11:00 am, Stamm
Church and State: Controversies in Contemporary U.S. Politics
Moderator: Reiko Hillyer, L&C Assistant Professor of History, with term
Isaac Olson, student, University of Puget Sound, “The Retreat of American Evangelicals from Partisan Politics: An Examination of the Impact on Gender Politics in the United States”
Jeffrey A. Gauthier, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Portland, “Religious Liberty and Sex Discrimination”
Anya Callahan, freelance writer, University of Puget Sound ’12, “How the Contemporary Institution of Marriage in America Continues to Impede Women’s Autonomy”
Cassidy Cook, L&C ’15, “Rape Cannot Cause Pregnancy But Virgins Can Give Birth: Moral Panics Surrounding Todd Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment and Social Media as Subversion”
9:30-11:00 am, Council Chamber
Reclaiming the Feminine: Goddesses and Spirituality
John Kellermeier, Professor of Mathematics, Tacoma Community College, “How Menstruation Created Mathematics”
Hildy Miller, Professor of English, Portland State University, “Performance, Spirituality, and Women Mediums Past and Present”
Anne Meneakis, LCSW, “Reclaiming the Feminine Side of the Divine: Healing Our Relationship to Our Bodies”
Frodo Okulam, Portland State University, “Earth Reconnect: Ecofeminist Spirituality and Relational Sustainability”
11:30 am-1:00 pm, Thayer
Workshop: Weaving Your Thread Through The Tapestry of Religious History
Facilitated by Linda Kay Klein, feminist activist, writer, and speaker
What has been your experience with gender and religion? And do you see a story like your own represented in the tapestry of religious history? In this workshop we will dive deep into our own personal journeys, and explore how they intersect with those of others. In order for the tapestry of religious history to be pulled apart and woven through with the uniquely colored threads of individuals, we must begin by uncovering and sharing our own stories.
1:45-3:15 pm, Stamm
Masculinity and Faith
Moderator: Susanna Morrill, L&C Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Ron Clark, D. Min., Agape Church of Christ, “Am I Sleeping With The Enemy? Redefining Masculinity in the Evangelical Faith Community”
Judith Card, MA Candidate, Washington State University, “’We Get To Be Like Him’: Evangelicals’ Negotiation and Subversion of Patriarchal Structures through Conservative Religious Gender Ideology”
Jennifer Simon, MTS, independent consultant and author, “The Public Policy Implications of Theologically Derived Gender Expectations”
1:45-3:15 pm, Council Chamber
Contexts: New Imaginings, Old Stories
Moderator: Jerry Harp, L&C Director of Academic Advising and Associate Professor with Term
Michael Thomas Taylor, Assistant Professor of German, Reed College, “Radical Religion and Sexual Heterodoxy: The Case of Moravian ‘Marriage Theology’”
Gordon Kelly, L&C Associate Professor with term, “Agrippina the Elder and Other Transgressive Women in the Works of Tacitus”
Aimee Upjohn Light, Assistant Professor of Theology, Duquesne University, “Gendering Interreligious Work: Identity and the Problem of Religious Difference”
3:30-5:00 pm, Council Chamber
► Keynote Event
Queer Rituals
Moderator: Kimberly Brodkin, Symposium Faculty Director and Assistant Professor with Term
Melissa M. Wilcox, Associate Professor and Chair of Religion and Director of Gender Studies, Whitman College, “Serious Parody: Religion and Politics in the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence”
Rev. Dr. Patrick S. Cheng, Associate Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, Episcopal Divinity School, “Rainbow Theology: Bridging Race, Sexuality, and Spirit”
Noach Dzmura, rabbinical pastor and director, “Buried Real: The Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society) and the Gender-Variant Meit/ah (deceased)”
►