Project Summaries
To Apply:
- Review Project Summaries below. Detailed Project Proposals can be found by scrolling through to the bottom of the page in the attached document. Project proposals can also be found in the Student-Scholar Partnership binder at the Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC) or at the Women’s Studies Program Lounge in Rabb 120.
- Submit two copies of complete application (application form, sheet with answers to ADDITIONAL INFORMATION questions, a writing sample and a resume) for each project for which you would like to be considered for.
- You may apply for a maximum of two projects although each student may work for only one project at a time. Scholars/Faculty will contact candidates for an interview directly if they appear to be a match.
- Turn applications in as soon as possible to Kristen Mullin, SSP Coordinator, at the WSRC. Early applications are encouraged as applications will be distributed and hiring decisions will be made on an on-going, rolling basis.
Note: Only sophomore, junior and senior undergraduate students are eligible to participate in this program. Students in all disciplines are welcome to apply.
For more information contact the Student-Scholar Partnership Coordinator by e-mail or in person at the Women’s Studies Research Center/Epstein Building
Title of Project: Gender & Leadership in Science
Field(s) of Research: Women’s Studies, Science, History, Sociology, Policy studies
Project Description:
The 2008-09 SSP project explores the careers of womenscientists in the context of woman-led research groups, in three leadingscientific countries: The US, UK, and Israel. The project seeks to assess whether women scientistsexperience less obstruction in their careers, when they benefit from womenmentors, or rather, are spared the problems associated with cross-genderoppression, problems that reached a crisis in 2005 with the public debate onthe under-representation of women in science. (for details of this debate, andthe response to it by women scientists, among other groups, see button “SGER”at above website)
The project is part of the Scholar’s long term and ongoingresearch on the role of women and gender in the molecular revolution inbiology, especially her work on the research group of Nobel Laureate DorothyHodgkin, (1910-1994) leader of groups with a criticalmass of women, whodiscoverered the structures of key biomedical compounds, such as penicillin,vitamin B-12, and insulin.
The project focuses on the experience of “gender &Leadership” by generations of women scientists who are inducted into science inlaboratories run by women leaders.
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Rosalind C. Barnett
Title ofProject: AnnualAnn Richards’ Journalism-Work-Family Roundtable: Older Workers
Field(s) of Research: Psychology,Gerontology, Organizational Studies
Project Description:
I have received a gift that will enable me to run an annualinvitational small-scale conference around important and timely topics. Myfirst conference will be held on October 24, 2008, here at Brandeis around thetheme of older workers. I will be inviting social science researchers andjournalist interested in this topic. My overall aim is to improve media coverof this issue by encouraging dialogue between academics and representatives ofthe media (i.e., print, radio, TV, internet, etc.).
Thereis much research be done to prepare a successful conference. I have collectedsome of scholarly material, but much more needs to be gathered. I sorely needthe help of a student to gather the relevant information and summarize it forme. The student will also work with me to digest the material, summarize thematerial, and discuss with me the strongest points to be made. The student will also help me organizethe flow of the conference.
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Mary G. Berg
Title of Project: Edition of 1909 account of travelto Europe by Clorinda Matto de Turner (Peru 1852- Argentina, 1909); the purpose of the journey was toinvestigate women’s professional education. What is most interesting is hercritical commentary on the role of women in European society.
Field(s) of Research: Latin American literature.
Project Description:
Burned in effigy, excommunicated, the presses of herprinting shop smashed and her manuscripts burned by mobs just before her hastyflight from Lima in 1895, Clorinda Matto de Turner (1852-1909) was and is oneof the most controversial 10th century Latin American writers. Inexile in Argentina after 1895, she continued to write prolifically. In 1908,the Argentine Consejo Nacional de Mujeres sent her to Europe to evaluateeducation for women. Her travel diary is a lovely collection of reactions anddescriptions.
This fall, our project will be to prepare this exceptionallyinteresting travel book,Viaje de recreo,for publication by Stockcero, a Spanish-language publisher based in Buenos Aires(www.stockcero.com). We will start by assembling the text (I have a scannedversion, but it has many errors in it that need to be corrected). The next stepwill involve close reading and research for a preface that describes the authorand the historical contexts of the book, as well as discussing the major issuesaddressed by the text, and including an up-to-date bibliography. The text willbe extensively annotated, which will also involve decision making and research.It will involve several rounds of proofreading.
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Ann W. Caldwell
Title of Project: Mr. Filene’s Daughter: A Biography of Catherine FileneShouse 1896-1994
Field(s) of Research: Women’s careers and roles 1918-1926;Women in politics, 1920’s, 1930’s;
Project Description:
Catherine Filene Shouse, known asKay, lived virtually the entire twentieth century and, though she was adaughter of one of Boston’s most prominent and wealthy mercantile families, shelived her entire adult life quite independently in the nation’s capital - whereshe was on a first name basis with every U.S. President from Calvin Coolidge toWilliam Jefferson Clinton.
Whatled young Kay Shouse to strike out for Washington and over a long lifetimecreate an identity for herself quite apart from the conventional aspirations ofher family, which her only sister largely fulfilled? What drove her to use her wealth and her contacts, both ofwhich were nearly as formidable as her personality, to create new roles forherself and ultimately new institutions for others? How did she amass the power and influence which shedisplayed at a very young age and wielded for over six decades? Her rolodex, if she had one, was filledwith the most famous people of the 20th century. Senators and presidents, kings and mayors all counted heramong those who could be counted on to tackle an important project.
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Paula Doress-Worters
Title of Project: Ernestine Rose Society bookpromotion, web presence, planning public event for bicentennial celebration ofErnestine Rose birthday, January 13, 1810 – January 13, 2010.
Field(s) of Research: Basic field of research is 19thcentury reform movements. Howeverthis phase of the project is post-publication outreach and promotion.Researching possible locations for giving talks, and for the 2010celebration(s) of the 200th anniversary of Rose’s birth. Researchlocations and venues such as National Park Service sites, cultural sites in NewYork city and state, other locales where Rose spoke. Web and blog skills wouldbe especially helpful
Project Description:
My project as a Scholar at the Women’s Studies ResearchCenter has been researching and reviving the legacy of Ernestine L. Rose (1810to 1892) a founding leader in the fight for women’s rights in the United Statesand internationally. In her time Rose was the best known and most admired ofthe women’s rights orators, one who began her advocacy before the better knownactivists of that period. Yet the history of her contribution has beenunder-recognized. My plan for the next two years is to focus on publicity andpromotion of my book as an important next step in renewing the legacy ofErnestine Rose.
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Schuster Institute of Investigative Journalism
Title of Project: Reporting and research support for The Schuster Institute forInvestigative Journalism
Field(s) of Research: Journalism, especially investigativereporting; politics, social issues, gender, legal issues, especially InnocenceProject; Criminal justice/journalism; Violence against women, sexdiscrimination, international adoption, politics, media coverage of women,constitutional law, and other gender-related issues.
The precise nature of the projects will shift withdeadlines, editors’ interests, current events, and breaking news; studentresearch partners should be flexible and willing to work where needed.Depending on deadlines and the stage of the projects, examples of some past andpresent projects are:
1. Sexual harassment of teens in the workplace.
2. Stalking and violence against women generally.
3. Child trafficking in international adoption.
4. Misleading media coverage of working mothers’ issues, thewage gap, sex discrimination, and women’s lives, and how such coverage distortspublic policy debate.
3. Other gender injustices, as they come to our notice.
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Margaret Morganroth Gullette
Title of Project:Analyzing Ageism
Project Description:
Background in social construction of self/society (coursesin soc, anthro, history can provide good background). Background inanti-sexism, anti-racism, anti-ageism helpful. Being at least a junior, withtwo years of course work behind you, is useful.
From the Feminist Country of Later Life tries to make clearthat ageism is getting worse in American culture-- in many different areas(menopause, midlife job discrimination, the attack on Social Security, theduty-to-die). The Student Partner will be involved in cutting-edge work that isimportant historically, theoretically, practically, and politically. Most ofthe essays are written and need to be updated and revised to fit within thebook. The Partner would be researching topics and editing my pieces. I alsowelcome ideas from the Partner. Students benefit from interpreting with me atour weekly meetings the material they collect, learning to be skeptical aboutwhat they read, learning the languages of contemporary ageism and figuring outwith me how to resist them.
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Trisha Gura
Title of Project: Eating Disorders: Web 2.0
Field(s) of Research: Psychology, English, Journalism,Eating Disorders, and Obesity
Project Description:
After publishing two books, dozens of articles and hundredsof blog pieces on body image and eating disorders, I would like to make use ofthe web to explore, write and blog about related topics. I blog regularly forHuffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trisha-gura), Gurze News, aneating disordered related site (http://www.eatingdisordersblogs.com/) as wellas my own blog (http://www.trishagura.com/blog/). I also write a biannualmultimedia newsletter sent out to all the radio, TV and print outlets,including Oprah’s satellite radio, which interviewed me and asked to be on mylist (see attached newsletter). Finally, I write many magazine articles aboutbody and weight including more recent articles in Scientific American Mind, Prevention and Alternative Medicine.
I would like to take this work on the web one step farther.For example, working with a multimedia organization, I came up with a publicservice announcement about diabulimia, now posted on YouTube. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OKeI2EoAJA).It provides a visual depiction of diabulimia in which diabetics forego theirinsulin in order to lose weight. I am further interested in exploring“drunkorexia,” in which individuals binge drink and don’t eat to conservecalories, chewing and spitting, in which people chew food and spit it outwithout swallowing in an attempt to not gain weight and “orthorexia,” in whicha person only eats organic and very healthy food to the point of obsession. Iam very interested in males with eating disorders and males who partner up withgirls who are suffering.
My idea is to explore all facets of eating and body imagethrough a package of blog entries and multimedia pieces. I already have thevenues to post. For example, Huffington Post, for whom I blog regularly,reaches a million readers each day. If an idea takes off, I would spin it intoan article in publications such as Heath, Prevention or Alternative Medicine, for example.
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Hilda Kahne
Title of Project:Studying Socio-Economic Status ofSingle Mothers
Project Description:
I want to begin to exploreinitiating one of two possible newprojects and these would involve partner research. The first is to expand on the potential, successes andproblems of community colleges (using Boston area as focus) that are discussed briefly in ouroverview paper. This would involve us in both a literature search (knowledge ofhow to develop a "reading" bibliography on the computer and inlibrary) and design an approach (e.g. literature? visit and evaluation withnearby community college? C.C.have been a major source for improving skills, credentials, (both liberal artsand vocational). But C.C. alsohave problems in the help they offer that are not unrelated. Many students have trouble completingtheir course of study and the college preparation is only helpful in improvingskills and earnings (not unrelated) when course design is completed and degree in hand. What help can be provided? What have been outcomes?If we go thisroute for next project focus will be still on single mother economic improvement.
3. Theother possible research I am considering is a study of what educated women undertake to doprofessionally (job or volunteer) when they retire from paid work. This would involve design of new study,identification of a group to be studied, preliminary conversations with womento get ideas about issues involved, etc. This project grows both out of my own experience as well as a conferenceon aging sponsored by Lasell College last June and underwritten by International Sociology Assoc Some research reported on had to dowith grandparent/family roles-- related but not the same. This would require literature search and also perhaps joining me in someinterviews.
I am interested in both of these topics, but obviouslyI will undertake only one of them.
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Lisa Lynch
Title of Project: The First Annual WSRC ArtAuction. Assistance with WSRC exhibitions may also be needed on occasion
Field(s) of Research: This position will appeal to studentswith an interest in contemporary art; project management; event planning;fundraising; and other non-profit work.
Project Description:
The Arts Program at the Women's Studies Research Center ishome to the Kniznick Gallery, the only exhibition space in New England devotedto the display of women's art and/or art about gender. Exhibition themesare linked to the scholarly research being conducted at the WSRC, and the arton display is a vehicle through which the Center seeks to promote dialogueabout important issues and address the ever-changing challenges related towomen and gender. Related events further explore issues addressed in WSRCart exhibitions.
On April 4, 2009, the WSRC willhost its first annual Art Auction. The auction will be a silent auction and isexpected to include 2- and 3-dimensional works of fine art, as well as finecraft. The evening will include cocktails and hors d’eouvres during the biddingperiod, followed by a live musical performance.
Thegoals of the auction are to raise funds to support the Arts Program and toincrease the Center’s visibility within the community. At present, the ArtsProgram receives funding through endowments, gifts from individuals andcorporations, and grants. First and foremost a fundraising event, the firstannual Art Auction will enable the Arts Program to begin to operate via its ownsustainable income. Works of art, donated by artists or collectors who want tosupport the WSRC, will be juried by the Auction Committee, a group comprised ofWSRC Scholars and board members.
The WSRC Arts ProgramStudent-Scholar Partner will work directly with the Director of the Arts onvarious facets of the action. Specific duties will vary, but examples includecommunicating with various Brandeis departments, aiding in event set-up andlogistics, creating printed materials, updating the website, and onlineresearch.
AllWSRC art programs are team-oriented, from conception to completion. The SSPoffers a student an opportunity to become a part of the team that makes theseexhibitions happen; student support has an integral part of the planning andpreparation for each exhibition, as it will be for the auction. Through thisposition, the student will learn about arts administration, event planning,exhibition planning, and museum/art education, among others. Working closelywith the WSRC’s Director of the Arts, the student will gain a mentor and anunderstanding of the various components of directing a successful arts program.This partnership will be mutually beneficial, as the participation of motivatedstudents who are eager to learn contributes to the dynamic energy of everyproject.
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Shula Reinharz
Title of Project: A YOUNG GERMAN JEWISH MAN HIDING FROM THENAZIS IN HOLLAND: GERMAN AND DUTCH DOCUMENTS IN NEED OF TRANSLATION
Field(s) of Research: European Jewish history; Holocaust history
Project Description:
The research project, for which I would like to work with astudent, is part of the work I am doing to annotate the memoirs my father wrotein English in 1980. When lookingthrough his papers, I discovered that he also wrote an earlier memoir in 1945(I beliee that’s the date) in German. The later memoir records his life from1921 through 1945. The earlier memoir records his experiences from 1942 through1944, a period in which he was in hiding in Holland trying to escapedeportation by the Nazis.
This summer (2008), I spent 6 weeks in Holland doingresearch about the later memoir, trying to locate the places he describes. Nowthat I have returned, I want to integrate information from the earlier Germanmemoir into my understanding of the later one. To do this, I need helptranslating the earlier one from German into English. I know some German but itis not good enough to enable me to read and understand the manuscript well.
My parents are both alive and live in New Jersey. Ifnecessary, my student-scholar partner and I can ask my father to explain someof the terms that are difficult to understand and to corroborate some of thetranslation. This memoir that needs translation is typed and approximately 100pages.
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Rhoda Unger
Title of Project: Women Leaders in Psychology: AnHistorical Analysis
Field(s) of Research: Women’sstudies, history of psychology, sociology of knowledge
Project Description:
This project is part of an effortto disentangle the complex web of individual, situational, and structuralfactors that influence women’s leadership in professional organizations inorder to understand how these have changed over time. Although much has beenwritten about the contributions of women to psychology, there has been littleattention paid to women’s involvement in the organizational aspects of thefield. This omission is hardly surprising because, until recently, few womenhave been leaders at any level of the American Psychological Association (APA).This project will attempt to fill in some of the gaps through a generationalanalysis of women’s leadership in SPSSI (the Society for the PsychologicalStudy of Social Issues).
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Nance Salzer
Title of Project: My Evacuation Route.
Field(s) of Research: Video documentary production; art; public policy; ‘war on terror’ at thelocal level.
Project Description:
My Evacuation Route would be a low-budget, serio-comic, mixed-format, subjectivedocumentary centered on a mother’s search for very specific information aboutwhere to go in the event a public disaster struck close to home. After all the public attention andtremendous resources arguably spent on “keeping us safe” since 9-11, where arewe? what’s been done on the mostlocal of levels: where would I go? How would I find my son and where would I take him?
Looming in the background are “the war on terror,” color-codedgovernmental warnings about the inevitability of another attack on U.S. soil,the use and politicization of fear, the question: to what extent have theproblems that plagued coordination and rescue efforts in 9-11 and Katrina beenaddressed, and even the war in Iraq.
And the fact that there are so few street signs in metroBoston.
We begin locally, in my hometown of Arlington, inquiring of the school, then town officials, the police, etc. simply asking where wewould go in the event of a terrible event. We would follow the dots to the region of Boston and beyond.Among the people we’d speak with are the ‘first responders,’ as well asdoctors, hospitals, researchers at schools of public health, critics of theplans, and citizens with theories about and experiences with local evacuationroute signs. (Needless to say, most of these stories do not engender confidence in the system).
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Fall 2008 Student-Scholar Partnership (SSP) Detailed Project Summaries: Please scroll through the "DETAILED Fall 08 SSP Proposals" for available opportunities.
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