Constance Curry, Writer, Activist, and Fellow at the Institute for Women's

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WOST core faculty member Dr. DeAnne K. Hilfinger Messias has received a grant for $250,000 from Constance Curry, writer, activist, and the Centers for Medicare and Med- fellow at the Institute for Women's stud- icaid Services to conduct a two-year ies, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, study on improving access to health- will present the keynote address for the care through a language education 17th Annual Women's Studies Conference curriculum. Dr. Messias holds a joint "Gender, Race and Uberation in the 21st appointment in the College of Nursing. Century." on Thursday, February 26, at 5: 30 p.m., in the Moore School of Business , A co-investigator on the study is Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina, also a WOST Belk Auditorium. The title of her lecture core faculty member who holds a joint is "We Who Believe in Freedom." appointment with the School of Pul>- Curry has a BA from Agnes Scott Col- lic Health. lege and a J.D. from Woodrow Wilson Col- The researchers will develop lege. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the and test a community-based edu- University of Bordeaux in France and a ConstanceCurry cational program aimed at improv- fellow at the University of Virginia's Cart - ing the capacity of recent Hispanic er G. Woodson Institute, Center for Civ- struggle for education in Sunflower Coun- immigrants to access and navigate il Rights. ty, Mississippi. The Carters were Mis- the formal U.S. healthcare system. Curry is the author of several works, sissippi Delta sharecroppers living on This project is especially critical for including her award-winning book, Silver a cotton plantation in the 19605 when Hispanic women, who typically bear Rights (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, they dared to send seven of their 13 chil- the burden of ensuring the health of 1995; paperback Harcourt Brace, 1996), dren to desegregate an all-white school all family members. which won the Ullian Smith Book Award system in 1965 after the passage of the The educational program, enti- for nonfiction in 1996; was a finalist Civil Rights Act of 1964. Curry's book pro- tled "Navigating the U.S. Healthcare for the 1996 Robert F. Kennedy Book vides much insight into the family's deter- System," will be delivered through Award; was recommended by the New mination to obtain an education for their English-As-A-Second-Language classes York Times for summer reading in 1996; children. Her most recent book is Missis- offered by local adult education and and was named "outstanding book" on sippi Hannony with Winson Hudson, pub- lished fall 2002 by Palgrave/St, Martin's community-based programs. Expect- the subject of Human Rights in North ed outcomes include improved knowl- America by the Gustavus Myers Cen- Press. Mississippi Hannony tells the life edge of the local healthcare system ter for the Study of Human Rights. With story of Mrs. Winson a civil rights lead- and available healthcare resources, an introduction by Marian Wright Edel- er from Leake County, Mississippi, who man, Silver Rights tells the true story of also challenged segregation in the 19605. Grantscontinued on page7 Mrs. Mae Bertha Carter and her family's Curry continued on page 7 of Americans today. We used the term lexicon, social inequalities are simply "liberation" as a reminder that societies individual differences in distributions of are not naturally inclined to grant and to resources and options-some people protect the freedoms of their citizens- have more education, income, wealth, that freedom is not given: it is won in the status, and prestige than others. The ongoing act of democratic participation. fact that certain groups may have less of And while the great social movements eachof thesevalued resourceshas only to of the recent past-women's, labor, gay do with the characteristics of the groups and lesbian,black, Latino, or PanAsian- themselves-they are collectively less have not achieved their goals of "liberat- ambitious, intelligent, and hardworking; ing" America from unjust constraints on have entered the country recently; prefer these groups, the languageof liberation less rewarding occupations,etc. In short, and freedom is no longer even associat- the wealth, health, and prestige of those ed with them. who are disadvantagedare in no way con- Today,we are likely to hear freedom nected to the power, resources,and con- Dr. Lynn Weber, WOSTdirector spoken of in its individual, consumerist trol of the privileged. This ideology is the sense-as when George Bush advised reason that the concepts of race, gender, Feminism and Freedom in after 9/11 that our collective response, sexual orientation, and class are typical- indeed responsibility, was to shop- Iy equated with people of color, women, the Twenty-First Century because we can. Or freedom is simply gays and lesbians,and the working class- What is freedom? Most people think proclaimed to be a characteristic that is es and with the deficits they are believed of freedom as the power to act, speak, owned by the United Statesand that sep- to embody. or think without externally imposed arates us from the rest of the world. Free. In contrast, feminist scholarship restraints.In the United Statesat the dawn dom is American. Freedom is the Ameri- examining social inequalities has come of the twenty-first century, the abstract can flag. Freedomis what makesAmerica to see that they are relational-they notion of freedom is typically called on morally superior to other nations. Free- are power relations. The resources and to mean one of two things: dom is what we have to give the world. options availableto privileged groups are And our moral superiority is what justi- possiblebecause those sameoptions and .the powers that individuals have ties whatever actions we choose to take resources have been restricted for oth- to choose freely among a variety of against other nations in the name of free. ers. Men's dominance in the workplace, options for meeting our needs and dom. for example, is made possible by wom- satisfying our wants-e.g., the free- To me and to many feministsand oth- en's care for families in the home, and dom to choose a school, a physician, ers who have worked their lives in and white's dominance in the economy and a diet, a career-to consume for justice movements, this shift in lan- in the political sphere is made possible .the quality of societies or nations in guage-from the association of freedom by limiting access for people of color to which individual freedoms are guar- with liberation movements for justice to decent educations, jobs, and full partic- anteed and protected by the state- the rationale for war-is deeply disturb- ipation in the democratic state. When a "free society." ing. We need to understand how such a we recognize that there is a relationship shift happened and what can be done between power and privilege on the one When the women's studies facul- both to reclaim the concept and to fur- hand and disempowerment and disad- ty decided on the theme for this year's ther the cause of justice. vantage on the other, we have laid the women's studies annual conference, Sincefreedom is about power,insight groundwork for reclaiming freedom. We "Race, Class, Gender, and Liberation in into the shift can be seen in the differing can expand freedom from the individual the Twenty-First Century," we wanted ways in which the dominant ideology right to consume to the collective possi- to encourage people to think about the and feminist scholarship treat power bility for voice and participation in the everyday reality of freedom in the lives and social in equality. In the dominant democratic state. When citizenship is about individual con- are out of our hands and are individually pro- Mark your calendar now sumerism, we have been reduced as a nation duced, leave us collectively in a position of for Women's Studies 30th to a point where we collectively don't exist. vulnerability to a language of fear and to sim- anniversary celebration We are told that we are a nation of individu- plistic explanations that blame others for our to be held on Thursday, als. Yet we are collectively suffering from war plight. We have been brought to a crisis point September 30, 2004! and loss, radical economic inequalities, and a in our nation-divided against each other and Members of the Wom- top-notch health care system only the few can the world around us-bya set of arguments en's Studies Partnership afford. And perhaps most significantly,we are that tells us that freedom is about individual Council, in collaboration a people disenfranchisedin a political system choice, that our choices have no consequence with faculty and staff that does not include our voices (e.g., neither for others, that our power cannot be connect- of the Women's stud- Clinton nor Bush receivedthe votes of over 75 ed to others' misfortunes. Feminist scholar- ies Program, are making percent of adults in the nation). ship and that of other movements for libera- plans for an exciting day Individualism, its attendant social isola- tion have shown us that these arguments are to mark three decades of tion, and the sense that social inequalities Commentscontinued on page7 the program's constant- ly increasing growth and service. The day-Iong event will include panels, sym- posia, and lunch with a Spring2004 Pedagogy speaker, and will culmi- BrownbagTeaching Series: Receptionfollowing lectures nate with an evening pre- Teachingfor Social Justice "Girls, Math, and School Tracking" . sentation by a nation- ally renowned figure of "The Thursday,)anuary 22, 2004, 3:30 p.m. Gambrell Hall, Room 429 prominence in the arena Speakers: Lala Carr Steelman, Ph.D., of women's issues. irtment of Sociology; Lynn Mulkey, The planning committee, chaired by Marie- Facilitator: Becci iJh.Dc'iJ)epartment of Sociology, Louise Ranlsdale, is com- Progressive Network an c prised of the entire WOST "Shldei Partnership Council. In Thursday, February addition to Ramsdale, lQrc council members include Facilitator: SI Ruth Abramson, Keller Barron, Sally Boyd, Clau- "Gen( ~r ana Communication in dia Smith Brinson, Judy !ring S IIdent Workgroups: Davis, Victoria Esling- er, Loretta Felder, Eliza- 102 ASil dy of l !itiation Devices" Gay,March 17,2004, 3:30 p.m. beth Todd Heckel, Beebe (iambrell Hall, Room 152 James, Katherine Wyly , Department Mille, Alicia de Myhrer, Sanluel Tenenbaum, Mary Baskin Waters, and Caro- lyn West. . March is University-wide Women's History Month, coordinated by the Women's Studies Pro. gram and the Officeof Multicultural StudentAffairs. ti you are sponsoringan event and/or would like to sponsor an event, pleasee-mail RosaThorn: [email protected].

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The Graduate Certificate Program con- be's project "Mythological Inclinations This year's Women's Studies Confer- tinues to emphasize interdisciplinarity. of the Modern Woman's Life and Liter- ence, "Gender, Race and Liberation in The 24 female and male students cur- ature." Designedto assistwith research the 21st Century" builds on the suc- rently enrolled in the program come and professional development, the cess of the conference during the past from nearly every college at the Uni- award is open to students enrolled in 16 years:Continuing our one-and-a-half- versity. With majors in anthropology, Women's Studies Graduate Certificate day format, the conference will include comparative literature, English, politi- courses. Congratulations to these out- four paper sessions; a panel on teaching cal science, psychology, public health, standing students. and learning, and a keynote address. history, education, nursing, and sociol- The Graduate Student Research The first day, Thursday, February ogy, these students make the program Series Panel will be held Wednesday, 26, begins with a concurrent paper ses- one of the most diverse of its kind. March 3, 2004 in Gambrell Hall, Room sion at 1:15 p.m., Daniel Management Many are actively engaged in the pro- 152.The presentations highlight multi- Center, 8th floor, Moore School of Busi- fession. For example, Winifred Thomp- disciplinary researchby the someof the ness, followed at 3 p.m. by a panel dis- son, from public health, co-authored best students in the program.There will cussion about new forms of teaching the article "Personal, Social, and Phys- be a reception following the presenta- and learning led by Dixie Goswami, ical Environmental Correlates of Phys- tions. senior scholar at Clemson's Strom Thur- ical Activity in A£rican-American Wom- The new Graduate Committee mond Institute. The keynote lecture at 5: en in South Carolina," in the American members are professors Carol Harri- 30 p,m., Belk Auditorium, Moore School Journal of Preventive Medicine and Emi- son (history), Nancy Lane (languages, of Business, sponsored by the College ly Aleshire, from comparative literature, literatures, and cultures), Ann Ramsdell of Liberal Arts, features Constance Cur- will be a presenter at the Sixth Annu- (women'sstudies) and SusanSchramm- ry, writer and activist, Emory Universi- al Comparative Literature Conference Pate (education). They will assist with ty, Atlanta, Georgia. this spring. decisions concerning course petitions, The second day of the conference, There were three winners of the fall the selection of graduateassistants and Friday, February 27, includes three paper 2003 Harriott Hampton Faucette Award. award recipients,and revising and rede- sessions beginning at 9 a,m. During the Jessica Forehand used the award to si"gningthe certificate brochure. luncheon, Dr. Juliann Sivulka, College aide in her ongoing research on lynch- For more information about WOST of Mass Communications and Informa- ing. Laura Gambone received funds for awards or about the Graduate Certifi- tion Studies will present the Josephine her project "Getting the Big Picture: Con- cate Program,please contact the Wom- Abney Lecture. Dr. Sivulka's talk presents ceptualizing the Social Experiences of en's Studies Office at 803-777-4007or results from her book project "The Histo- Gay and Lesbian People." The Faucette WandaA. Hendricks, graduate director ry and Agency of Women in the Advertis- Award provided funding for Jessica Lab. of Women'sStudies, at 803-777-4009.. ing Profession" which examines gender representations in advertising messag- esand production. The panel discussion led by Dixie Goswami, and the keynote lecture fea- turing Constance Curry, are free and open to the public. A registration fee is required for conference attendance ($40 general registration; $20 student registration-fee includes materials, lunch and receptions). Registration forms also are available in the Wom- en's Studies Program Office, 201 Flinn Hall and/or the Women's Studies Web site www.cla.sc.edu./wost. For more information, please call the office at 803-777-4007.. Leith Mullings, presidential professor of anthropology graduate center, Right, top: (left to right) Mullings; Adrenee's daughter, Karma Frierson; City University of New York, delivered the 2003 Adrenee Glover Freeman Adrenee's brother, Gregory Glover; and Gregory's wife, Carolyn Sawyer. Memorial Lecture in African American Women's Studies on October 21 , Adrenee's other daughter, Savannah Frierson (not pictured), attends 2003. Harvard University.

Left, top: Mullings responds to questions from the audience. Right, bottom: Mullings signs book for John Skvoretz, interim dean, College of Liberal Arts, during a book signing after the Freeman Lecture. Left, bottom: DeAnne Messias, joint appointment in the WOST Program and College of Nursing (left); Mullings; and Lynn Weber, director of the WOSTProgram (right). Our students in both the undergraduate area.With recent plant closingsand work- BA program and minor program continue er layoffs in the upstate, the demandsfor to distinguish themselves as campus com- these services and referrals were heavy. munity leaders and scholars. We have 35 Alanna Wendt interned with the Catawba majors and 25 minors. Our alumna pool Indians in the upstate where she worked continues to grow as we award four or with the Catawba Care Coalition to help five BAs in Women's Studies at each com- them with fundraising, grant seeking, mencement. In December of 2003 we had and programming to enhance and pro- a record of seven Women's Studies majors tect the health of Catawba families in all graduating. They were: Dawn Bozard, Car- their diversities. oline Byrd, Jimia McDowell, Melanie Mur- An internship is required for our ry, Meltrece Thomas, Anne Tromsness, HA degree. Students often find their and Sara Wood. placements very rewarding and inspir- Our alumnae continue their work at ing. Over the years the agencies where the intersections of gender, race, class, our students have interned have unani- and sexuality in various domains. For mously praised their work, beggedus for example, Sharon Rachel completed a more interns, and reported that without master's degree in women's studies at these hardworking,intelligent, and devot- Ohio State University and is currently at ed women's studies interns they do not Emory University in their Women's stud- know what they would have done. We are ies Graduate Program. Helen Tecklenburg very proud of our interns. They represent is staff person at the South Carolina Coali- the University and Women'sStudies in the tion Against Domestic Violence and Sexual best way possible. Given the great needs Assault. Martha Wright finished an intern- in our state, our interns help make a dif- ship at The Washington Post. ference in the lives of many people. We In the fall of 2003 we had a busy and thank the interns and the agencies for diversely placed group of Women's stud- these successfulplacements. ies interns. Three students (Carolyn Akers, The Women's Students Association Shalonda Johnson, and Meltrece Thom- and numerous volunteer actresses,pro- as) interned at the USC Offices of Sexual ducers,and directors are goingto perform Health. They worked on World AIDs Day, "The VaginaMonologues" on February 12, the "These Hands Don't Hurt" project, and 13,and 14.The students who worked on nonviolence training for campus groups. the "Monologues"last year and the Wom- Anne Kelly Tromsness worked at the Gov- en's StudentsAssociation won USC'sOut- ernor's School for the Arts in Greenville, standingStudent Organization Award and South Carolina. She focused on the full OutstandingStudent LeadershipAwards. incorporation of girls into the performing The past two performances of "The Vagi- arts, and integration of plays and skits by na Monologues"have raised severalthou- girls and women into the repertoire. sanddollars for antiviolenceorganizations Ivy K Ingram interned at the YMCA of in the community and have raised aware. the Grand Strand helping them with out- ness of the extent and seriousnessof vio- reach to children, adolescent girls, and lence against girls and women through- families concerning safety and health. out our area. Jimia S. McDonald applied her women's WOSTalumnae, please contact us at: studies skills at "Stuff Inc.", a nonprofit [email protected]/or [email protected] clothing, furniture and household items and tell us your news and your accolades collection center and distribution store so we can publish them in future news- for needy families in the Clover-Rock Hill letters. . Curry continuedfrom page 1

Curry also collaborated in and edited Deep in Our Hearts: Grants continued from page 1 Nine White Women in the Freedom Movement (University improved language and communication skills, increased of Georgia Press, 2000) and the book Aaron Henry: the Fire self-efficacy related to access and utilization of healthcare Ever Burning (University Press of Mississippi, 2000). services, and higher levels of satisfaction related to health- From 1957 to 1959,she was national field representative care encounters. of the Collegiate Council for United Nations. From 1960to The researchers also hope to assess the effect of the 1964,she was the director of the Southern Student Human intervention upon actual utilization of primary healthcare Relations Project of U.S.National Student Association, where services and emergency department visits and enrollment she developed programs for black and white college stu- in government-sponsoredhealth Insuranceprograms. These dents to communicate and organize and served as advi- outcomes will be evaluatedby monitoring health utilization sor on the executive committee of the Student Nonviolent data of children living in study participant households.This Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during its campus-based researchbuilds on previous research,funded by the National years. Curry has also served as the Southern field represen- CancerInstitutes, and on Messias'and Para-Medina'sinvolve- tative for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) ment with the South Carolina Hispanic/Latino Health Coali- and from 1975 to 1990 was director of the Office of Human tion. . Services, for city of Atlanta. Curry is the producer of a newly released documentary film entitled "The Intolerable Burden," (winner of the John O'Connor film award, January 2004, from the Ameri- can Historical Association) which is based on her book Sil- false. Freedom depends on our taking collective responsibility ver Rights, but also shows today's resegregation in public for the state of our nation and our world, not simply for our own schools and the fast track to prison for youth of color. As households. Shopping is not the way to freedom. To borrow the activist/participant and writer/intellectual, Connie Curry civil rights movement theme and the title of our conference key- has helped further the cause of justice in the South. There note, "We who believe in freedom. .." cannot rest until we have will be a showing of the documentary film at the Nickel- reclaimedour senseof collective responsibility-our commitment odeon, 937 Main Street, on Thursday night, February 26, to the notion that none of us can be free until we are all free. . at 7 and 9 p.m. .

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