About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2011)
UGA Women’s Studies Hosts WAGG Conference The University of Georgia Institute of Women's Studies will convene its fifth annual Women and Girls in Georgia Conference (WAGG) Saturday, Oct. 8. The theme of this year's conference is "Women and the Economic Crisis: Responding to Tough Times." Since 2007, the women's studies program has brought together speakers, activists and citizens—both from other state academic pro grams and from various organizations informed by feminist concerns—to encourage research and discussion about the diverse group of females who face the challenges of living in Georgia and the United States today. Each year, the WAGG Conference has focused upon a social issue of importance to this group of people whose needs or concerns are often marginalized. The conference's goal this year, as always, is to promote active engagement with such issues by those who attend. The conference is an all-day event at the UGA Miller Learning Center, with a broad selection of sessions for attendees to choose from. Because of the event's structure, with sessions offering simultaneous choices between presentations of research papers, panels and workshops, organizers recommend participants download a program of the day's schedule—available at www.uga.edu/iws/ WAGG—before attending. The conference's keynote speaker will be Kim Bobo, the author of Wage Theft in America: Why Millions of Working Americans Are Not Getting Paid and What You Can Do About It. Bobo is also the executive director and founder of Interfaith Worker Justice, a Chicago nonprofit advocacy group, and has been involved in community organizing since A Ro^NjO TOiUM i cu^r to a we ddimg THIS uJEEUewi) i kj (0»WTER\/|CL E TWEV HAO A KEG OP T€KRAPiU AND TMe fNE. ANC> TEnJ CATERED graduating from college with a B.A. in religion and realizing that such a path could exist. "I wanted to help people," Bobo says. After 10 years with a Christian hunger-fighting organization, Bread for the World, she became an instructor at a community organizing train ing institute in Chicago. A turning point for her came in 1989, when she came in contact with strikers who walked to support retired or disabled coal miners—or their widows— whose health benefits were terminated by the Pittston Coal Company in Pennsylvania. Bobo was startled to find that few, if any, religious organizations had ties with labor groups. Bobo began to organize influential religious figures in Chicago into committees for social justice. By 2005, the newly named Interfaith Worker Justice organization had become a net work spread across the United States. In addi tion to workers' rights, Bobo also promotes low-income housing initiatives and notes that private-sector job creation is vital. While her personal religious faith inspires and informs her work in social and economic justice—as it does her books, articles and public speaking—there is no expressed doc trinal agenda nor exclusion coming from Interfaith Worker Justice. "We will never take positions on such matters," Bobo says. "We only take positions related to workers' rights. It's practical. That's what we know." Following her keynote address, Bobo will join local activists in a roundtable discussion, "Mobilizing for Economic Justice," on how the economic crisis directly affects Georgia, and the means to effect change. Participating community activists include representatives from of the Economic Justice Coalition, the Georgia Undocumented Youth Alliance, UGA Campus Kitchen, the Interfaith Hospitality Network, Bread for Life and Project Safe. Deb Chasteen UJEODIMG IMG Twe CJEOD'MG WAS AT WOODLA^lD GAEDeMS, A lOCAl OR6ANK AwO TV4C PACK WAV HAMDt-E. BAND PRQVJ(Q€D THS PAMCfc Pa RTy Salt's. fTASTE A lor INDIA I , PI.Mi INDIAN cuisine ^ ] fuycH 'Butrer MON-FRI 11 :30am-2:30pm $7.95 SAT&SUN 12PM-3PM $8.95 Dinner: Mon-Son Spm-lOpm Open 7 Days * 131B East Broad Si. 706-550-0000 • wrwwJndiaalhens.com Cillies Athens now has Super Cool Feather Hair Extensions!!! Come {Check f; Out Ail Our Colors 706*369-7418 175 E. Clayton St 11-8pm Mon-Sat /M™ The Town & Gown Players 20H-2012 Season Performing at the Athens Community Theater • IIS Grady Ave. Just in time for Halloween, our Season Opens with: October 7-16 2011 December 2-11, 2011 T .PcBoma GOPotictt, lo OOOOOO OO OOOOOOOO Ol l ■ ■ LJ ■ ■ ■ - OOP OOOOOO OOOOOO pool February 10-19, 2012 June 8-17, 2012 April 13-22, 2012 August 3-12, 2012 Season Tickets are ON SALE NOW! Get: 6 MAINSTAGE SHOWS FOR THE PRICE OF 5 • SECOND STAGE SHOWS FREE • SPECIAL EVENTS Respect and Love from GA’s Oldest Continuously Operating Community Theater For more Season Ticket information, visit: WWW.TOWNANDGOWNPLAYERS.ORG Call (706) 208-TOWN (8696) for Reservations ♦ > ' • DAvtD YV)AcU rrloijue.'*' FaJ&edh .fOET OCTOBER 5, 2011 • FLA6POLE.COM 5
