Conference Explores Sex, Money and Power

April 30, 2015

The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Program hosted its biennial conference, titled “Sex, Money, and Power: A Dialogue Between Feminism and Economics” on Friday, April 17.

SexMoneyPowerStudentPosters — Poster presentations led by students in Professor Edith Kuiper’s “Sex, Money and Power” class kicked off the day-long conference. Pictured (l-r) are: Kayleigh Madorno, Tim Dillinger, Mary O’Rourke, Nicole Ecke, Iman Eltayeb, Kuiper and Becky Hack.

The day-long event began with a poster presentation in the College Terrace of research completed by students in Professor Edith Kuiper’s class of the same name. This was followed by the plenary session in Lecture Center 102, attended by conference participants and students in the “Women: Images and Realities” course. Plenary speakers Rose Brewer (University of Minnesota) and Julie Nelson (University of Massachusetts-Boston) were introduced by College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Laura Barrett, who noted the importance of these interdisciplinary conversations to the college’s mission, and underscored the salience of this year’s conference theme.

SamPanelTwo — Sam La Covara, a Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies junior, speaks during the conference’s faculty/student panel discussion.

The plenary was followed by a panel of responses from students and faculty from diverse disciplines. Faculty panelists included Heather Hewett (WGSS, English), Mona Ali (Economics), Susan Lewis (History) and Melissa Rock (Geography), alongside student respondents Sam La Covara (WGSS) and Emily Vanderpool (Economics).

The final session at the Terrace featured a series of brief presentations by regional organizations and actors dedicated to the theme in a broader sense. Frank Frutal, curator of The Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val Kill, Tamar Khitarishvili from the Levy Institute-Bard College, KT Tobin from the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO), and Katherine Moos, editor of The Lady Economist blog all spoke about their research and activism in the region.

The conference finished with a bus trip across the river to the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic site at Val Kill, where students, faculty and guests were treated to a tour of the new exhibit and dinner at the Val Kill playhouse.

PlenaryAudience — The plenary audience in Lecture Center 102 listens to remarks by Rose Brewer (University of Minnesota) and Julie Nelson (University of Massachusetts-Boston).

Support for the conference was provided by the Departments of History, Economics, Political Science, Campus Auxiliary Services, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Economics Student Club and the Provost’s Special Events Fund.

Planning has already begun in earnest for the April 2017 conference, to be co-hosted with CRREO, celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York State.