Three New Working Groups at CSSD Launching Fall 2020
Black Atlantic Ecologies, Insurgent Domesticities, and Motherhood and Technology working groups to launch this year.
Three new working groups, coming from a highly competitive selection process, will be launching at the Center for the Study of Social Difference (CSSD) in the 2020-2021 academic year. CSSD projects address gender, race, sexuality, and other forms of inequality to foster ethical and progressive social change.
Black Atlantic Ecologies
The Black Atlantic Ecologies group supports and elaborates scholarship that centers the enduring effects of coloniality and the dynamic power of protest in African diasporic confrontations with environmental crisis. Taking as their provocation the refiguring of human and nonhuman ecologies occasioned by the transatlantic slave trade, the Black Atlantic Ecologies working group seeks to understand what Nadia Ellis has called, riffing on José Muñoz, “the queer work of raced survival” as they come to grips with contemporary dimensions of anthropogenic climate change. As inspiration for the work that they undertake, they ask after visions for survival and justice that are grounded in Black queer, Black feminist, and antiracist responses to the subjugation of the earth as well as to human and nonhuman cotravelers.
This group is supported via CSSD’s partnership with Columbia’s Earth Institute.
Project Directors:
Vanessa Agard-Jones Professor of Anthropology, Columbia University
Marisa Solomon Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Barnard College
Insurgent Domesticities
Insurgent Domesticities is a platform that interrogates the politics of ‘home’ through histories of solidarity, disobedience, stealth, and militancy, from the scale of the clothesline to that of the state. These bring into view the fine-grained intricacies and intimacies of ‘home’ as constituted through insurgent objects and practices. The Insurgent Domesticities working group seeks liberatory historiographical approaches existing within and between territories and institutions, within the present worldwide protectionist climate, in which ‘home’ is still a fiercely pursued, maintained, and guarded space.
Project Director:
Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture, and affiliated faculty, Department of Art History, Barnard College, Columbia University
Motherhood and Technology
Utilizing interdisciplinary membership, this CSSD working group will engage in a global examination of how medical technologies have changed and have been changed by the experience of motherhood. In particular, the Motherhood and Technology working group will explore some of the problems and dilemmas within the following areas, among others: rapid advances in cryogenics, surrogacy as a mainstream technology, the circulation of new genomic techniques worldwide, and advanced reproductive technologies (ART). In exploring these issues, the Motherhood and Technology working group is guided by the interdisciplinary approach of the medical humanities.
Project Directors:
Rishi Goyal Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine; Director, Medicine, Literature and Society, Columbia University
Arden Hegele Medical Humanities Fellow, Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities; Lecturer, English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
Upcoming Event Cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Social Difference
Art in Our Moment will be taking place Thursday, July 9, 2020. Email irwgs@columbia.edu to rsvp.
Mona Sinha Joins Forces with Gloria Steinem in Letter Responding to Trump’s New Rule on Transgender Rights
This piece was published by The New York Times on June 15, 2020.
CSSD Women Creating Change Leadership Council (WCCLC) member Mona Sinha’s op-ed, “Trump and Transgender Rights,” was published by The New York Times as a response to their news article, “White House Eliminates Transgender Civil Rights Protections in Medical Care.” Mona and co-author Gloria Steinem condemn the administration’s decision on transgender rights, asserting that it “erases trans people’s civil right to health care.”
For the full letter, read here.
To read more about WCCLC, read here.
Menstrual Health and Gender Justice Fellow Marni Sommer Co-Authors Article for Devex
The opinion piece is titled “Creating a more equal post Covid-19 world for people who menstruate.”
Marni Sommer, Associate Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and Menstrual Health and Gender Justice working group fellow, recently co-wrote an opinion piece for Devex titled “Creating a more equal post Covid-19 world for people who menstruate.” Fellow co-authors of the piece include Virginia Kamowa and Therese Mahon.
Click here to read the full article.
On the Frontlines Coordinator Receives Award from the School of General Studies
Jeremy Orloff won the Change Agent Award at the first-ever Academic Prizes and Student Leadership Awards Virtual Ceremony.
Jeremy Orloff, postbac premed student at the School of General Studies and coordinator for the On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics working group, received the Change Agent Award at the first-ever Academic Prizes and Student Leadership Awards Virtual Ceremony, held Tuesday, May 19, 2020.
Click here for a list of all awards and recipients and to watch the award ceremony.
Jennifer Dohrn Leads Discussion on the Public Health Crisis of Police Violence Against Black Americans
Professor Dohrn’s 208 person class held signs in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Jennifer Dohrn, co-director of the On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics working group and Associate Professor at Columbia Nursing, held a discussion with her Global Health Equity and the Responsibility of the Nursing Profession class on the public health crisis of police violence against Black Americans on #BlackOutTuesday, June 2, 2020. The 208 students also made signs in to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
A picture of the students and their signs can be viewed here.
Vicky Murillo Interviewed on CNN en Español
The Environmental Justice working group co-director discusses the protests following the death of George Floyd and President Trump's response.
Vicky Murillo, co-director of the Environmental Justice, Belief Systems, and Aesthetic Experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean and Director of Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS), discussed her views on the recent protests that followed the death of George Floyd as well as President Donald Trump’s response. Professor Murillo also addressed the country’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic and how all of this will affect the presidential election.
To view the interview click here.
On the Frontlines Co-Director to Teach New Week-long ISERP Course
Wilmot James will co-lead Executive Education in the Social Sciences, a new course on pandemics.
Wilmot G. James, Visiting Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and co-director of the On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics working group will lead a new course on pandemics from the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP). This week-long course beginning June 8th, 2020, will also be led by Lawrence R. Stanberry of Columbia University, and feature speakers from the health, private/commercial and government sectors.
Full details on the course and information on registration can be found here.
Register here.
Farah Griffin Pens Piece for the Boston Review
Professor Griffin’s forum response is titled “Teaching African American Literature During Covid-19.”
Farah Griffin, Chair of African-American & African Diaspora Studies and former co-director of the Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women working group, recently published a forum response in the Boston Review. In her piece, entitled “Teaching African American Literature During Covid-19,” Professor Griffin reflects on the effects of the current pandemic on her classroom and how it has changed her Introduction to African American Literature course.
Menstrual Health & Gender Justice Working Group Recognizes Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020
Working groups fellows and students of this semester’s course taught by working group fellows have authored a series of articles and reflections on the topic of menstrual health. .
The Menstrual Health and Gender Justice working group has released a series of op-ed’s, articles, and reflections related to the themes of menstrual health and gender justice just in time for Menstrual Health Day 2020.
Students from the Menstrual Health course “Menstruation Gender & Rights” penned op-ed’s drawing attention to various facets of menstruation neglected in mainstream discourse. Working group director, Inga Winkler, also discusses what she’s learned from her students regarding the menstrual movement. The Spring 2020 “Menstruation Gender & Rights” course was taught by working group fellows Inga Winkler, Noémie Elhadad, Lauren Houghton, Anja Benshaul-Tolonen, and Chris Bobel and was funded by the Provost’s Interdisciplinary Teaching Award.
Course instructor and working group fellow Noémie Elhadad also recently co-authored the article “Characterizing physiological and symptomatic variation in menstrual cycles using self-tracked mobile-health data.”
Below is a full list of recent articles from the Menstrual Health working group. Be sure to also check out their blog, Periods at Columbia, for regular updates and posts from the group.
The default body is extinct. Today’s bodies menstruate., by Alexis Buncich
Characterizing physiological and symptomatic variation in menstrual cycles using self-tracked mobile-health data, by Noémie Elhadad
The COVID-19 ‘Baby Boom,’ Contraception and Why I Could Not Wait for my First ‘Quarantine Period, by Nay Elhelhou
Menstrual stigma has stained society, and schools have done nothing to stop the leak, by Ilana Hammer
Bleeding While Competing, by Julia Kepczynska
Red-Colored Cushions, by Sonya Yoonah Kim
Getting Off Red Handed: The Taboo-busting Power of Menstrual Masturbation, by Rowena Kosher
Unraveling the Menstrual Concealment Myth, by Mary Olson
A Call for Body Positive Menstrual Activism, by Lucie Paradis
The upsides of the forbidden birth control pill for unmarried women and girls, by Tasnia Shahjahan
#EmergingMenstrualVoices call for a bolder menstrual movement that’s radical, political, and holistic, by Inga Winkler
Reconsidering What is Essential: Pads Behind Bars, by Lauren Winters
Jean Howard Receives the 2020 Presidential Teaching Award
The former CSSD director and current CSSD Executive Committee member is honored for outstanding teaching by faculty.
Jean Howard, George Delacorte Professor in the Humanities and former director of the Center for the Study of Social Difference (CSSD) has been selected for the 2020 Presidential Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching by Faculty. The honor is reflective of a commitment to excellent and innovative teaching as recognized by the entire Columbia community.
To learn more about Jean Howard’s work at CSSD view her past working groups at the Center below:
Reframing Gendered Violence
Engendering the Archive
Women Mobilizing Memory
Frontline Nurses: Leaders in Pandemic Response Video Now Available
The recent On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics working group webinar can now be found on the CSSD YouTube channel.
On May 6, 2020 the On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics working group held their first webinar entitled, “Frontline Nurses: Leaders in Pandemic Response,” where the group discussed the 2014-16 Ebola crisis in the context of the current corona virus pandemic. Speakers included working group members, Mary Marshall Clark, Jennifer Dohrn, Wilmot James, Susan Michaels-Strasser, Annette Mwansa Nkowane, Margaret Loma Phiri, and Victoria Rosner.
Visit the Center for the Study of Social Difference YouTube channel or the Frontline Nurses event page to view the video.
Be sure to subscribe to CSSD’s YouTube channel to stay up to date on more important conversations such as this.
Geographies of Injustice: Gender and the City Co-director Interviewed by MSNBC
Ana Paulina Lee discusses Brazil’s response to the coronavirus.
Ana Paulina Lee, Geographies of Injustice: Gender and the City co-director, was recently interviewed by MSNBC, where she discussed Brazil’s response to the current coronavirus pandemic.
The full MSNBC segment can be viewed here.
Queer Aqui Working Group Fellow Wins Prestigious Award
Camille Robcis has been announced as a recipient of the 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship.
Camille Robcis, Associate Professor of History and French and Queer Aqui working group fellow, has been announced as a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship winner. The fellowship was awarded to Professor Robcis in the field Intellectual & Cultural History.
View the full list of 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship Winners here.
CSSD Project Directors featured in the Notes on Feminism Series
Jack Halberstam and Saidiya Hartman have contributed essays to the Feminist Art Coalition project.
Queer Aqui co-director Jack Halberstam and Engendering the Archive co-director Saidya Hartman have each contributed essays to the Notes on Feminism series from the Feminist Art Coalition.
“Off Manifesto” by Jack Halberstam can be read here.
“The Plot of Her Undoing” by Saidiya Hartman can be read here.
Former CSSD Director receives 2020 Faculty Mentoring Award
Marianne Hirsch is honored for exceptional commitment to faculty mentoring.
Marianne Hirsch, William Peterfield Trent Professor of English and Comparative Literature and former Center for the Study of Social Difference Director, is a recipient of the 2020 Faculty Mentoring Award, which recognizes senior faculty who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to faculty mentoring.
To learn more about the award and other recipients click here.
To learn more about Marianne Hirsch’s work at CSSD check out her past working group pages below:
Lila Abu-Lughod cited by the New York Times Book Review
The former Reframing Gendered Violence co-director’s Do Muslim Women Need Saving? was referenced in a review of a new book on 21 Women Across the History of Islam.
Lila Abu-Lughod, former co-director of the Reframing Gendered Violence working group, had her work Do Muslim Women Need Saving cited in a New York Times book review of Hossein Kamaly’s new book A History of Islam in 21 Women.
Christia Mercer is interviewed in The Harvard Crimson
In the article, the Pedagogies of Dignity co-director discusses the need for university divestment from the private prison industry.
Christia Mercer, Columbia University Philosphy professor and former co-director of the CSSD Pedagogies of Dignity working group, argues for Harvard’s divestment from the private prison industry in The Harvard Crimson article “Harvard and Divestment Advocates Disagree Over How Much the University Puts Into Private Prisons. Here’s Why.”
Pedagogies of Dignity was an interdisciplinary initiative that brought together formerly incarcerated people, activists, faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates from the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Geographies of Injustice co-director pens piece in The Conversation.
Ana Paulina Lee writes about an upcoming Dread Scott documentary on the 1811 German Coast Uprising.
Ana Paulina Lee, co-director of the Geographies of Injustice: Gender and the City working group, writes about a modern day reenactment of the 1811 German Coast uprising slave rebellion and the new Dread Scott documentary on this historical moment for the The Conversation. Her article has been republished in numerous forums including, the San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate, San Antonio Express-News (TX), The Telegraph (Alton, IL), The Raw Story, among others.
Farah Jasmine Griffin, Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women co-director, interviewed for Ms Magazine
The Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies chair discusses the new department and Black feminism in the article.
Farah Jasmine Griffin, former co-director of the Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women working group and inaugural chair of the new Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies was recently interviewed in Ms Magazine. In the article she elaborates on the new department, Black Feminism and her own work.
You can find the full article here.
Visit the Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women page here.