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Presenters
For more information, contact Kathleen Carot at kcarot@oakton.edu or 847.376.7061. |
Oakton Students Oakton’s Women’s and Gender Studies program is partially funded by the Board of Student Affairs and the Oakton Educational Foundation. The Women’s and Gender Studies Steering Committee |
Veronica Arreola is director of the Women in Science and Engineering program and assistant director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Veronica is a long-time member of the Chicago feminist community, devoting her time to such causes as the Chicago Abortion Fund and Women In Media & News. A veteran blogger, she can be heard online at Work It, Mom!, Chicago Parent and Viva La Feminista (to name a few) and is a frequent speaker on all things feminist. Kalisha Buckhanon writes novels, plays and short stories. Her first novel, Upstate (St Martin’s Press, January 2005), won the 2006 American Library Association’s ALEX Award and was nominated for the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award in the category of Debut Fiction. The Upstate Audio CD won the 2006 Audie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literary Fiction. Terry McMillan selected Kalisha to receive the first Terry McMillan Young Author Award in 2006. A recipient of a 2001 Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship and an Andrew Mellon Fellow, Kalisha frequently teaches writing and speaks throughout the country. Her second novel, Conception, was published in the U.S. in February 2008. Catherine Caporusso is an attorney who represents plaintiffs in employment and civil rights cases. Catherine is president of the Northwest Suburban chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), as well as a member of the board of Women Employed, the Illinois chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, and National NOW's Mothers and Caregivers Rights Committee. She is a frequently invited lecturer on employment law issues, and blogs for Work It, Mom!, a Web site devoted to working mothers. Kevin W. Cates is a graduate student in the Women's and Gender Studies department at Roosevelt University. His research interests include race, gender, sexuality, criminality and deviance, HIV/AIDS, and space/time as refracted through the lenses of identity and identification. Ann Christophersen is co-founder and co-owner of Women and Children First, one of the country’s preeminent feminist bookstores. She served on the board of the American Booksellers Association from 1996-2002, the last two years as president. For many years she wrote for a national feminist publication, the Feminist Bookstore News and contributed book reviews to an online publication, More Books for Women. She was been recognized for her work in the Chicago community over the past 25 years with a number of honors, including induction into the Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, the Ron Sable Award for social justice work, and inclusion in The Full Circle Monuments to Women installation. Felicia M. Elias (also known as Jawhara), is an educator, performer, and the artistic director of "Anwaar El Sharq,” a dance company bringing entertainment and education to audiences with dances of the near/middle east, the Arabian/Persian Gulf, the Maghreb (North Africa), and Turkey. Felicia is a member of the adjunct faculty at Elmhurst College, where she teaches the course, "Middle Eastern Dance through History to Today." She has her B.A. in Psychology and Family Life Education and her Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources/Labor. For almost 30 years Felicia has studied Raqs Sharqi with some of the discipline’s most notable educators and practitioners from the U.S. and the Middle East, and has been teaching, researching and writing since 1988. Lauren Feldman is completing her Master’s in Social Work at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and is currently a therapy intern at CWHC. Joanna Gardner-Huggett is an associate professor of art history and an affiliated member of the Women’s and Gender Studies Faculty at DePaul University, as well as co-editor of the art history journal Aurora (see aurorajournal.org). Most recently she authored “Ritual, Refuge, and Intervention: Ginny Sykes’s ‘Divided Beauty’” for the exhibition catalogue documenting Ginny Sykes’s exhibition at Woman Made Gallery in October 2008. She also served as juror for the exhibition “Feminist Interrogations” at A.R.C. Gallery in Chicago (2008) and the curator of “Julia Thecla: Undiscovered Worlds” at the DePaul University Art Museum (2006). Gardner-Huggett is very interested in the intersection between feminism, art and activism and is currently writing the book Subversive Sisterhood: Artemisia and A.R.C. Galleries (1973-2003), which examines the history of two of Chicago’s best-known alternative spaces dedicated to the promotion of women artists. Maria Gaspar is an interdisciplinary artist and currently an M.F.A. candidate in the Studio Arts Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her B.F.A. in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. As a performance artist, she has presented her work at the Athenaeum Theater in Chicago, the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio, Texas, and the Chicago Cultural Center. She received an Artist Residency Award, along with a Friendship Award through the Ragdale Foundation, and has exhibited and lectured on her artwork at Northeastern University, Polvo Gallery, the Hyde Park Art Center, The National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago Museum. A core artist with the Chicago Public Art Group and an Illinois Arts Council Artist, she has led mosaic murals and other permanent work around Chicago, including the Garfield Park Conservatory, Marwen Foundation and Paderewski School. She received the Sor Juana Young Visionary Award through the National Museum of Mexican Art in 2007, after which she completed a collaborative installation piece at the National Museum of Mexican Art entitled, “Dialógo.” Angelique Grady is a 2008 graduate of Roosevelt University with a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Professional Psychology and a graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies. She became interested in pursuing further education in the area of women’s and gender studies after realizing that the classes for her graduate degree did not adequately address important issues. Angelique is a strong proponent of the need to educate therapists on the issues that members of the LGBTIQQ community may face. She conceptualizes mental health concerns from a community psychology viewpoint, which allows for a more nuanced understanding of mental health concerns, since it an approach that is empowering, participatory, and utilizes an ecological focus. Holly Graff was a member of the University of Illinois Chicago Chapter of the Chicago Women’s Liberation Union. This chapter successfully fought for and then developed the Women’s and Gender Studies program at the university. Holly received her Ph.D. in philosophy from UIC and has taught at many institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh and Loyola University in Chicago. For the last 10 years she has taught at Oakton Community College, where she is professor of philosophy, and chair of the Philosophy and Humanities Department. Diane Horwitz became a member of the CWLU in 1970. She began in a rap group called the Midwives (of the Revolution) and was also involved with a high school/ community college outreach group that did organizing and education with young women. Liberation School classes and consciousness raising groups were developed at many high schools and colleges throughout the Chicago region. Diane was on the planning committee for the Socialist Feminist National Conference held in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1975, served on the CWLU speakers bureau and steering committee. She is also a long-time activist in community education, public school reform, the anti-war movement, and the civil rights movement. She received her Ph.D. from UIC and taught for 30 years at Moraine Valley Community College where she founded the Returning Women's Program. She currently teaches at DePaul's School of Education. Maria Jenkins is a current graduate student in Women’s and Gender Studies at Roosevelt University. Her research interests include politics and hope in punk rock, and she is involved in Chicago’s local music scene. (maria.jenkins@mymail.roosevelt.edu) Currency Kerndt is a Social Studies Instructor at St. Scholastica Academy for young women in Chicago. She became interested in women’s history when she began collecting autographs of famous women as a child. While doing graduate work, her professor, June Sochen, inspired her lifelong interest in feminism and women’s studies. Currency developed a women’s history class at her own institution, marched in the equal rights parades with her students and today continues teaching about famous women, utilizing her collection of their autographs. Her collection includes the authenticated signatures of over 50 important women, including Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. KT Leuschen is a current graduate student in Women’s and Gender Studies at Roosevelt University. She is a licensed teacher, and her research interests include feminist pedagogy. (Kathleen.Leuschen@mymail.roosevelt.edu) Jamie Moran was raised in Chicago, and completed his undergraduate work in Women’s Studies and American Studies at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Research interests include queer and gender theory. Pam Niesluchowski, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and volunteer counselor and supervisor at the Chicago Women’s Health Center. She is part of a private group therapy practice in Park Ridge, is affiliate faculty at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and is adjunct faculty at Oakton Community College. (pkn@nielsonica.org) Achy Obejas is an awarding winning writer, journalist and translator. Her works include Days of Awe (Ballantine/Random House, 2001), a critically acclaimed novel about the tensions between public and private identities set against the backdrop of the Jewish community in Cuba. During her career, Achy has received a Pulitzer for a Tribune team investigation, the Studs Terkel Journalism Prize, several Peter Lisagor journalism honors, two Lambda Literary awards, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in poetry, and residencies at Yaddo, Ragdale and the Virginia Center for the Arts, among other honors. She has served as the Springer Writer in Residence at the University of Chicago and the Distinguished Writer in Residence at the University of Hawaii and is currently the Sor Juana Visiting Writer at DePaul University in Chicago. Mimi Peterson was born in Chicago and educated at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the National University of Mexico, Mexico City and the University of Madrid, Spain. She is an artist, teacher and art advocate and has worked as a floor covering designer and colorist. For the past 10 years Mimi divided her time freely between Chicago's urban culture and rural Southwest Michigan where her studio had been located. During the process of re-establishing herself in Chicago, she realized that the underlying concept of her work intends to transpose material/object and idea into ambiguous iconography meant to mime our human condition. Rhonda Present is founder and director of ParentsWork, an Illinois parents’ organization. She
started to give voice to the struggles today’s moms and dads face and bring them together to
advocate for change. Most recently, Rhonda led a successful campaign that mobilized over 300
parents in pushing for a more “family-friendly” schedule in the Evanston public schools. Her
views have been featured on The Huffington Post and MomsRising.org as well as in the Chicago Robin Randle recently returned to school to study psychology at Northeastern Illinois University. She plans to earn a master’s degree from Columbia College in Dance Movement Therapy and Counseling and eventually wants to facilitate Authentic Movement. A longtime musician, Robyn recorded an album in 2004 titled SomeBody, the title track of which speaks to the heart of her WGS Conference presentation – body image, self-loathing and self-love. Through music, movement and compassion Robyn hopes to help others heal and find happiness. Marketa Sharp is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in spanish at Northern Illinois University. In May 2008, she received her Bachelor of Science in Corporate Communications and certification in Applied Ethics from NIU. Her presentation at the "Chicago Feminisms: Past, Present and Future" conference is based on a paper she wrote for her "History of Women in Art" class in fall 2008. Peggy Shinner is a writer whose fiction and essays have appeared in The Alaska Quarterly Review, TriQuarterly, Western Humanities Review, Another Chicago Magazine, Bloom, the Chicago Reader, Her Face in the Mirror: Jewish Women on Mothers and Daughters, Fourth Genre: Explorations in Non-Fiction, and other publications. She has been awarded several Illinois Arts Council Fellowships, a Pushcart Prize Special Mention, and residencies at the Ucross and Ragdale Foundations. She teaches in the Masters in Creative Writing program at Northwestern University. Dana Sinopoli, M.A., is a fourth year doctoral student at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and is an advanced practicum student at CWHC. Helene Smith-Romer has studied at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago, and holds a B.A. from Columbia College Chicago (1984) and an M.F.A. from The University of Illinois at Chicago (1990). She is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Grant and three Community Arts Assistance Program grants. Smith-Romer's work is in the collections of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York; the Chicago Historical Society; and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Photography. It has also been published in the books Smith-Romer Returns, Helene’s Trip to Mars, and Helene Smith’s Scrapbook. Solo exhibitions of her work include The Space Traveler Triumphantly Returns at Paper Boy Gallery, Confessions of a Dadaist at Prince George College/Marlborough Gallery, and Confessions of a Dadaist – Part 2 at Northern Illinois University Art Museum. Anthony R. Stetina is a career architect, and his avocation is architectural photography. The main focus of his photographic work is the documentation of architectural ornaments and figures found on buildings that predate the modern steel frame and glass structures. This show "Female Iconography: Images of Women in Architecture, Sculpture and Public Art," is one part of a larger photographic project that includes "Male Iconography" and a previously exhibited series, "Native American Images in Architecture and Sculpture." Anthony is a continuing education student at Oakton Community College enrolled in the independent study photography class. Ginny Sykes is a visual and performing artist whose work is included in many collections and has been exhibited in the U.S. and internationally, including Transcultural Exchange’s The Tile Project, 2004-2008, and Pandora Meets Sarajevo, which she co-curated featuring artists from Bosnia, Vietnam and the US. Sykes also curates and performs in her Chicago venue Studio Rose, and other area venues, including Flat File Gallery and Woman Made Gallery. She has completed over 30 public art projects, and her work is included in the publications A Guide to Chicago Murals, Urban Art Chicago, and The Chicago Public Art Guide. Sykes holds a B.F.A. from Washington University, studied art and art history at the Studio Cecil-Graves in Florence, Italy, and at Loyola University in the Women’s Studies program. She has taught in both the Museum and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and as an Illinois Arts Council Artist in Residence. She received an honor award from the Illinois chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and several Ragdale Foundation residencies. Sykes is a member of Pont des Arts Ensemble, and is the Artist Liaison and a core artist with Chicago Public Art Group. Ni’Ja Whitson is a multi-disciplinary performance, dance and visual artist placing theory and contemporary art practices in dialogue with Black and queer performance narratives. Whitson received a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago studying performance, film/video and installation. Whitson recently completed a solo exhibition as a featured artist for Chicago Artist’s Month at the South Side Community Art Center, which included a three-hour durational and collaborative performance. Whitson’s recent work explores theories of violence, surveillance, eroticism, and power via multi-media, writing and performance. Whitson’s awards include a Mellon Research Fellowship, a 2007 Incubation! Chicago Performance Network nomination, and a John G. Curtis Jr. Award. Heather Wilberg is a current graduate student in Women’s and Gender Studies at Roosevelt University. Her research interests include feminism and music, hegemony in video games and feminist theory of evolution. (heather.wilberg@mymail.roosevelt.edu) Amanda S. Williams is currently pursuing a Bachelors of General Studies in Liberal Arts at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. She holds an Associates of Applied Science degree in Paralegal Studies and is a licensed real estate broker. She also has a background in technical writing and as a corporate trainer. She conceptualizes mental health concerns from a community psychology viewpoint, which allows for a more nuanced understanding of mental health concerns, and provides an approach that is empowering, participatory and ecologically focused..Williams lives in Elgin, Illinois, with her husband and two children. Jerri Zbiral is the producer and director of Never Turning Back, The World of Peggy Lipschutz. In her 30-year career as an art dealer, appraiser, educator, artist and filmmaker, she has been widely published and exhibited, and has received numerous grants for art exhibitions and social issue projects. She is co-founder of the Public Art Workshop Photography Center in Chicago and originated the photography program at Uptown Center Hull House, where she pioneered the use of photography with deaf children. Her first film, In the Shadow of Memory, co-produced with Comforty Media Concepts, has received numerous grants and awards. Also see Sara Paretsky. |
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