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Women Shaping Georgia Politics
T his weekend brings the third incarnation of the
Women and Girls in Georgia (WAGG) Conference, a
jam-packed day (Saturday, Oct. 2) of presentations
and discussions at the Paul D. Coverdell Center for
Biomedical and Health Sciences on challenges and issues faced
by its subject. This year's theme is politics, an appropriate one
in an election year, and while many of the speakers have an
expected academic bent, the Institute for Women's Studies at
UGA, which serves as host and organizer, wants to emphasize
that it's not just a resume-builder. In fact, academics and
professionals pay S25 to get in, while locals and UGA staff are
required to pony up only $10. UGA students get in free.
The conference was established in 2007 to highlight and
encourage cutting-edge research by, for and about women and
girls in Georgia, which is a large and multifaceted mission, but
in practice the event hasn't seemed scattered. Previous themes
included violence, health and well-being, and the conference
gathers leading researchers, teachers, activists and community
members to share their expertise,
network and strategize for positive
social change, both within the
state and beyond.
Chris Cuomo, co-chair of
this year's conference planning
committee and a core faculty
member in Women's Studies and
Philosophy, said, when asked how
the conference has changed and
grown since its first year, "We
have growing participation from
students from UGA and other cam
puses across Georgia, and because
we work with a different topic
each year, every conference draws
a new audience and builds on the
conversation from the following
year. This year we made a commit
ment to make the conference free
for students and very inexpensive
for community^members, which
is enafiled by support from our
donors, and so we hope to see
our greatest turnout yet." Those
donors include Ike & Jane, The
National and Mama's Boy, as well
as everyone who donated to the
Women and Girts in Georgia fund.
Rather than the usual key
note speaker, this year's WAGG
conference will have a panel discussion for its keynote event,
which takes place from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 'Speaking from
Experience: Women Shaping Georgia Politics* will feature Jane
Kidd, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia; Amy Morton,
chair of Georgia's WIN List (a political action committee dedi
cated to changing the face of power in Georgia politics by
supporting and electing progressive Democratic women across
the state); Stacey Abrams, state representative of the 84th
House District; and Bobbie Paul, executive director of Georgia
WAND (Women's Action for New Directions, an independent
grassroots, woman-led, community-based organization founded
in 1982 that seeks to direct women's voices into a powerful
movement for change). Jill Severn, of UGA, will moderate.
So, why have a panel rather than a single speaker? Cuomo
said, 'Because this year's conference is on politics, and it
occurs just a month before election day, we wanted the key
note event to be something that might inspire participation
and involvement at various levels. There is an incredible, if
too often overlooked, history of women's political involvement
in Georgia, from the women of the Civil Rights Movement who
came from locations across the state, to the many women who
worked for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Georgia,
to Shirley Franklin's role as the mayor of Atlanta.'' She contin
ued, "We wanted to highlight this history but also put people
Jane Kidd
in touch with the work that women are doing to foster progres
sive change in Georgia today, including Jane Kidd's current role
as head of the Democratic party in Georgia, and the work of
Georgia's WIN List."
When asked if there were any sessions she thought were
particularly noteworthy, Cuomo focused on research from stu
dents: "We are always thrilled to have girls and young women
participating in the conference, and this year students from
Coile Middle School will be presenting their research on Latina
girls speaking out for undocumented Latino communities."
That presentation occurs during the 3:30-4:45 p.m. block
of sessions, in the one devoted to "Gender Studies: In the
Classroom and Beyond," which also includes papers on "Jane
Eyre" studies, creating a major in gender and women's stud
ies, and feminist body pedagogy in teacher education. Cuomo
also called attention to "our presentation of the Trailblazer for
Women's Equality award to Lorena Weeks, whose groundbreak
ing legal victory against gender discrimination in the work-
place in 1972 established that it
■ was a violation of civil rights to
keep women out of higher-paying
positions simply due to their sex."
The award to Weeks will take place
concurrently with a screening of
Russell Library's recorded interview
with her, during lunch.
Teri Hatfield, events and
administrative coordinator for the
Institute for Women's Studies, also
called attention to "the Georgia's
WIN List mini-workshop for young
women interested in getting
involved in politics on a local,
state and/or national level" and
said she is "particularly excited
about the Puiymaking for Girls
presentation during the 'Gender
and Justice' session. Playmaking
for Girls is a community out
reach program developed by the
Synchronicity Performance Group,
a not-for-profit theatre company
in Atlanta. The program works
with the juvenile justice system in
Georgia and is dedicated to engag
ing young women who have gone
through the juvenile justice sys
tem in Georgia in some way in the
creation of theatre as a tool for
creative expression, community healing and personal growth."
She mentioned, too, that 'many of the Rogpokfs readers may
be interested in the 'Gender Roles, Political Culture and Social
Movements' session, which indudes presentations on many
local political social movements including the Newtown Florist
Club, Helen Dortch Longstreet and the Conservation Battle for
Tallulah Falls in 1912-13, and the Athens Woman's Club and
their work promoting music in Northeast Georgia during the
Progressive Era (1896-1920).'
Other presentation topics include women as policy makers;
political policy and identity; intersectionatity; law; discourse,
politics and education; and reproductive justice/freedom/
policy. Even if you can't attend, WAGG has a valuable website
(http://uga.edu/iws/WAGG/index.htinl), which Cuomo calls 'a
repository of all sorts of research and data on issues related to
gender in Georgia * She said, 'we hope to bring more attention
to that important resource. But more broadly our intention is
to help generate new research that will be useful in directing
policy in ways that improve the lives of women and girls in our
state, especially low-income women and others whose interests
are too often overlooked by policy makers.' Mote information
can be found at www.uga.edu/tws or by calling 706-542-2846.
Hillary
r
BELTING
Eat. Drink, Listen Cfosety,
POINT
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
Terrapin Bluegrass Series featuring
BLUEBILLYGRIT
S3 Admission * S2 Terrapin Pints At! Nicnt)
£ n
THE MANTRAS
DANK SINATRA CAPSULE CORP
Tickets S5
I THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
TONY JOE WHITE
CLAY LEVERETT
Tickets S10 aciv. • $15 ct the doer
MAMtsinm
' 1 H GRA+NS OF SAND
T-cke-ts 58 acv • 510 o?Sjie door
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2
Night otlcTin >u7l. Safsc and
Afro-Cot ibbecfTazz footyr ng
GROGUS
T«W?& So cdv. • S 10 at the doc?
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5
CROOKED
Tkkats $10 odv. • $12 at th« door
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6
TRUCE
9 ERICTESSMER BAND
I FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8
STEWART & WINFIELD
ERIC CULBERSON
ON THE HORIZON
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19
RAILROAD EARTH
Tkfceta $16 adv. • $22 atd»door • $15 wW» UGADaft<
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21