Volume 301 | February 21, 2025

Upcoming WGSS Events

"What Heels Chicana/o/x/e Masculinity"

Thursday, February 27th | 4pm

Elliott School, room 212 (1957 E Street)

RSVP

Join Professor Francisco Galarte for a talk on Chicano fashion designer Willy Chavarria, whose Chicano-inspired clothing has garnered him the honor of CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year. Dr. Galarte engages in a case study of Chavarria’s first shoe design, the “Jalisco,” and argues that Chavarria’s Chicano-inspired designs challenge and redefine masculinity while exploring the intersections of race, sexuality, gender, and identity. He proposes that Chavarria's designs celebrate the heritage of Chicano fashion, promoting a radical politics of style that transcends conventional boundaries and encourages new expressions of cultural identity and Chicanx/o/a/e aesthetics.

This event is presented by the Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute and the GW GSEHD Intersectional Masculinities. It is co-sponsored by the CCAS Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, the Graduate School of Education & Human Development, GW WGSS Program, the Department of Sociology Department, the Department of Romance, Germanic, and Slavic Studies, the Department of English, and the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.

A WGSS Presentation and Publishing Panel

February 27th |6-7:15pm

Duques Hall, Room 151

RSVP via email

Join your WGSS MA peers for a publications event this Thursday, February 27th from 6-7:15pm in Duques Hall, Room 151. This event will take place during the WGSS Capstone Seminar class and is open to first year WGSS MA students. The panelists are as follows:

Gail Weiss will share how to submit papers and abstracts for conference presentations and will discuss the importance of attending professional conferences for networking opprtunities.

Lauryn King will discuss publishing on policy and in policy-related venues.

Becca Longtin will address academic publishing drawing on her experience both as a published author and Palgrave Gender Studies editor.

Shweta Krishnan will speak on publishing in nonacademic formats such as fiction, memoirs, op-eds, graphic novels, etc.

Write to the WGSS Program with any questions about this event!

“Seeing, Sensing, Feeling: Representing Puta Life”

featuring Juana María Rodríguez

The Textile Museum, Myers Room | 3:00PM EST

Drawing on the publication of her recent book, Puta Life: Seeing Latinas, Working Sex (Duke UP, 2023), this talk will explore how different genres of representation–from graphic narratives and oral histories to documentary films and social-media selfies–shape the life stories we consume. As a rumination on the limits and possibilities of representation, it probes the queer things that words do to images and that images do to words in order to confront the ethical quandaries posed by our role as authors and academics in representing the sexual lives of others.

About the Speaker

Juana María Rodríguez is a cultural critic, public speaker, and award-winning author who writes about sexual cultures, racial politics, and the many tangled expressions of Latina identity. A Professor of Ethnic Studies and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley, she is the author of Puta Life: Seeing Latinas, Working Sex (Duke UP 2023); Sexual Futures, Queer Gestures, and Other Latina Longings (NYU Press 2014); and Queer Latinidad: Identity Practices, Discursive Spaces (NYU Press, 2003).

WGSS Yulee Lecture

Monday, March 31st | 3:00-5:00pm | University Student Center, Room 310

RSVP Required

Join the WGSS community on Monday, March 31st for our annual Yulee Lecture. We are excited to feature two groundbreaking scholars: Professor Lisa Guenther and Professor E. Ornelas.

Professor Guenther will share her research on "Unsettling Perception: A Critical Phenomenology of Settler Colonial Body Schemas." Colonial power shapes the everyday lives of settlers in ways we often overlook. It structures our habits of thought and perception, our desires and fears, our knowledge and ignorance. How do we disrupt these colonial structures, such that they no longer function as common sense but become legible as harmful patterns that remain open to transformation? Professor Guenther engages with this question through a reading of Susanna Moodie’s 1852 colonial narrative, Roughing it in the Bush, and Margaret Atwood’s 1970 poems, The Journals of Susanna Moodie, in dialogue with Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of the body schema.

Professor Ornelas will share their research on “Speculative Fiction, Abolition, and the Limits of the Settler Colonial Imaginary" and will address the presumed impossibility of abolition and what that says about the constraints around imagining otherwise.

More About the Speakers

Professor Lisa Guenther is Queen’s National Scholar in Political Philosophy and Critical Prison Studies at Queen’s University in Canada. She is the author of Solitary Confinement: Social Death and its Afterlives and co-editor of Death and Other Penalties: Philosophy in a Time of Mass Incarceration. Guenther teaches philosophy classes at Collins Bay Institution through the Walls to Bridges Program, and she is a member of the P4W Memorial Collective Advisory Board, which supports women who were incarcerated at the Kingston Prison for Women to create a memorial garden on former prison grounds. She is currently completing a book called No Prisons on Stolen Land: A Critical Phenomenology of the Carceral-Colonial World.

Professor E. Ornelas (they/them) is an Assistant Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies. They teach/have taught courses on "Women and the Arts," "Queer Theory," "Chicana/Latina Cultural Studies," and "Gender, Power, and Everyday Life." They specialize in critical pedagogies, violence, critical race and ethnic studies, feminisms of color, and prisons and policing. They have published on the following topics: "Existence as Resistance: A Report on WisCon 46" (2023), "Pedagogies of Refusal: Opportunities and Obstacles to Anarcha-Feminism in Contemporary US Academia," and "Telling ‘Our’ Stories: Black & Indigenous Abolitionists (De)Narrativizing the Carceral State," which appeared in Surviving the Future: Abolitionist Queer Strategies (2022). Professor Ornelas was the Co-Chair of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Workshop from 2022-2023. They are also the recipient of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (2023-2024).

Upcoming GW Events

Mocktails and Mock Interviews

Monday, February 24th | 6:30pm–7:30pm

Monroe Hall

Swing Left GWU is hosting a night of mock-tails and interview prep. Attendees will practice answering interview questions in an informal peer-to-peer setting and receive constructive feedback on their responses.

RSVP today!

Repro-Right Trivia: Sex, Rights, and Everything in Between

Monday, February 24th | 6:30pm–7:30pm

Fulbright, Basement Lounge

Get ready for a night of laughs, learning, and a little bit of friendly competition! Repro-Right Trivia will test your knowledge on everything from reproductive rights and sexual health to pop culture moments and myths.

Come with friends (or come solo and make new ones!), grab some free snacks, and show off your knowledge of reproductive justice, rights, and all things sex-ed. You’ll leave with a better understanding of the issues, a bunch of new fun facts, and maybe even a prize!

RSVP today!

CCAS DEI Lunch & Learn

Wednesday, February 26th | 11:30am – 1pm

Phillips Hall, Room 411

This exciting book launch is being hosted by CCAS-DEI for Professor Quito J. Swan (Professor of History and Africana Studies and Director of the Africana Studies Program). This event will celebrate his latest monograph, Born a Sufferah: Dancehall Music's Insurgent Soundscapes (Bloomsbury, 2025).

Please RSVP to help with the food order and to capture your dietary restrictions for lunch.

A Brown Bag Lecture with Professor Chris Wilson

Friday, February 28th | 12:00 PM

Smith 106

Join an engaging session as Professor Wilson presents Towards Creating a Trans & Queer Canon of Baroque Art, along with complimentary coffee, bagels, and fruit in Smith 106 at 12pm on February 28th!

"Off-Duty Laudatory Conduct and Employment"

February 28th at 12:30pm

RSVP is required

The Philosophy Department invites you to a talk on February 28th at 12:30pm featuring Professor Vivek Bhargava, "Off-Duty Laudatory Conduct and Employment."

Professor Bhargava's Abstract:

"When an employee's off-duty misconduct generates mass social media outrage, it excites vigorous debate about the ethics of firing the employee. Some have argued that firing the employee would subject them to excessive, undeserved, blame. Others claim that firing the employee is required to show that the employer does not condone the wrongdoing. Whatever one thinks about the ethics of these firings, a parallel issue has largely been overlooked: Should an employee's off-duty laudatory conduct be considered in employment decisions about bonuses, promotions, and hiring? For example, should the fact that an employee volunteers at a soup kitchen or donates their income to charity matter in decisions about whom to award a bonus or to promote? This question has significant implications for our understanding of the nature of employment. Answering it affirmatively would yield a radically revisionary view of employment, while answering it negatively suggests an asymmetry that demands explanation. I defend the view that it is permissible for employers to consider off-duty laudatory conduct in decisions about bonuses, promotions, and hiring."

The lecture location will be determined by the number of RSVPs received.

The Inner Life of Race, Book Talk

Professor Leerom Medovoi

Thursday, March 20, 2025; 4:00 PM EST

Hall of Government, Room 104

Join the American Studies and English Departments for a Book Talk on The Inner Life of Race with Prof. Leerom Medovi! Calling into question accounts of race as a politics of embodiment, this talk approaches race instead as a biopolitics of populational threat that relies on a longstanding dialectic of body and soul. While the body can be seen and marked, the soul signals potentially threatening interiorities: dangerous intentions, beliefs, or desires. This talk approaches race as the power-effect of reading and securing the body in order to police the political threat of inner life.

RSVP is required.

Veteran Day of Service

Saturday, March 22nd | 10:15AM-4PM

Veteran Day of Service brings together military-affiliated and civilian populations to serve those who have served, connect GW students, faculty, and staff with the larger community, and elevate communities across the DC Metro region. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members can all participate as part of a group or as individuals. Veteran Day of Service (VDoS) will take place on Saturday, March 22nd from 10:15 AM-4 PM. Lunch and transportation for off-campus projects will be provided. Check out Nashman Center website to learn more and to sign up by Tuesday, March 18th.

"Feminist Psychology: One Method of Liberatory and Decolonial Practice."

Tuesday, March 25th | 4-6pm

1957 E St NW, Room 113

Join the Professional Psychology Program to hear from Laura Brown, PhD, ABPP on the topic of "Feminist Psychology: One Method of Liberatory and Decolonial Practice." RSVP is not required. To learn more about this topic, check out Dr. Brown's article on Decolonial, Intersectional Feminist Therapy.

On The Promise of Beauty

Tuesday, April 15th | 4:00-5:30 PM

Corcoran Hall, Room 204

The historical present is often perceived through the presence or absence of beauty, such that distinct personal, social, and political projects unfold through disputes about the beauty we deserve – which is to say, the life worth living. How might affective and aesthetic responses to scarcity, precarity, and uncertainty, drawn from the crises of war and colonial and capital dispossession, help us to understand the promise of beauty as a world-building engagement? This lecture will consider how the promise of beauty is so usable across a spectrum of political claims, whether imperial or insurgent, and how these claims delineate what forms of life are valuable, and for whom.

The Promise of Beauty is available via Duke University Press.

Against Confinement: Spring 2025 Mellon Student Showcase

Featuring Keynote Speakers Marchell Taylor and Dr. Kim Gorgens

Tuesday, April 22nd | 3:00-7:15pm

Wednesday, April 23rd | 2:00-5:30pm

1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052

Join the Department of English for its Spring 2025 Mellon Student Showcase featuring keynote speakers Marchell Taylor and Dr. Kim Gorgens. This event is the culmination of a two-year Mellon Disability Justice initiative, which promotes authentic, public-facing storytelling that illuminates the nexus between disability and targeted incarceration. The showcase highlights undergraduate and graduate scholarship related to these issues.

WGSS-related Events in the DMV

Empowering Women in a Changing World Saturday, March 8th | 1-2:30pm

Meditation Museum (9525 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD)

Join the Meditation Museum for this International Women’s Day event celebrating women’s resilience, leadership, and contributions to communities and beyond. This is a unique opportunity to connect with leaders, change-makers, and professionals dedicated to fostering empowerment and unity. This transformative event will feature:

Keynote by Maryland’s Lt. Governor Aruna Miller – Breaking barriers in leadership and public service
Fireside chat with Sister Dr. Jenna and Lt. Gov. Miller – Wisdom from a global spiritual mentor and a pioneering political leader
Insights on mental health and self-care – Strategies for balancing professional & personal life
Youth perspectives on respect & gender equality

Call for Submissions

Gnovicon 25 – Poster Session (March 17, 2025 | Georgetown University)

2025 marks 25 years since the launch of gnovis, Georgetown University’s only student-run academic journal dedicated to graduate research on technology and society. For our milestone Spring 2025 conference, gnovis welcomes poster submissions from graduate students across all disciplines that examine the nexus of communication, culture, and technology, or intersections between any two of these areas. Authors are encouraged to submit posters of completed or ongoing research representing a diversity of topics.

To submit, please email extended abstract and author bio by Friday, February 21. Review a list of possible topics and detailed submission guidelines.

About Gnovicon

Gnovicon is an annual academic conference held on the Georgetown University campus showcasing graduate student research published in the latest volume of the Gnovis Journal. We are excited to celebrate our 25th anniversary on March 17, 2025, which will additionally bring together students, faculty, and professionals to reflect and discuss the role of interdisciplinary research in the midst of today’s tech revolution.

Black Women in Africa and the Diaspora at Work

Department of English and Language Arts at Morgan State University

Submissions due February 28, 2025

The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Morgan State University invites paper submissions for its Graduate Symposium "'Big Wheel Keep on Turnin' Black Women in Africa and the Diaspora at Work." The Symposium will take place on April 3, 2025 from 8am-6pm at The National Treasure, Morgan State University.

This symposium aims to explore the profound intersections of African Americans and labor from historical perspectives to the challenges and triumphs of the 21st century. Submissions should offer social, political, cultural, postcolonial, and other literary and theoretical views, with a specific focus on issues related to women, gender, race, and activism in labor. The 2025 WGSS-GS theme “Black Women in Africa and the Diaspora at Work” intends to encourage broad reflections on intersections between black people’s work and their workplaces.

Submit abstracts via email and for inquiries, email the organizing committee.

The Student Consortium on Women, Peace and Security's first-ever Atrium Exhibit will celebrate International Women’s Day by showcasing diverse artistic visions of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS). Students and artists are invited to submit photographs that reflect their unique interpretations of WPS—whether personal, historical, or community-driven. This exhibit aims to uplift the message of WPS by emphasizing the power of imagery and individual artistic expression.

Selected photos will be displayed in the Elliott School of International Affairs, 2nd-floor hallway, from February 27 to March 27. A launch event will be held on February 28, from 4–6 PM, to highlight and celebrate the chosen works.

Submit photos here.

Master's of Science in Gender Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Royal Holloway University of London is pleased to offer a nine-month Master of Science in Gender Studies, one of the few interdisciplinary gender studies masters programs in the UK. The program is housed in their Gender Institute, a hub of interdisciplinary research and teaching on their campus.

Their first cohort will graduate this Spring, and they would be thrilled to welcome US students to join the 2025-2026 cohort. Their program and the university are truly unique.

What makes Royal Holloway University of London’s MSc Gender Studies stand out?

The interdisciplinary nature of the programme enables students to work with a range of subjects and departments across the university, including pathways in politics, international relations, philosophy, and history.

The Gender Institute showcases a breadth of gender research being undertaken across the University: Gender Institute People page.

The history of Royal Holloway University of London, which formed by combining two of the very first women’s colleges in the UK (Bedford Women’s College 1849 and Royal Holloway College 1887). College alumnae played essential roles in the fight for women’s education, entry into the professions and suffrage.

Our beautiful campus, set in 95 acres combining stunning Victorian architecture with modern state of the art facilities such as the Emily Wilding-Davison Library and Omnidrone Centre. Our campus has great links to London together with a Central London facility, The Senate House and 11 Bedford Square.

Please find summary details of the MSc Programme in Gender Studies in the attached document and do not hesitate to contact them with any questions.

Student Job Opportunities

The Honey W Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service

The Honey W Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service at GW is hiring FWS students and volunteers. Apply for Math Matters, Jumpstart, engageDC, and SMARTDC tutoring and leadership open positions at the Nashman Center. Work directly with DC Public Schools and community organizations, making a real impact in the community.

Read full job descriptions and apply online. Contact the Nashman Center via email with any questions.

There is an AmeriCorps service year opportunity for students, caring for infants and children up to age six who are at risk for abuse and neglect in Houston, TX. Hands of Hope AmeriCorps Members will serve these vulnerable children throughout a 12-month commitment, living in a private, gated community (at no cost) and receiving a living allowance.

Hands of Hope AmeriCorps Members will work collaboratively with other AmeriCorps Members in the home to ensure that children’s physical, emotional, and mental needs are met. While the commitment to our organization is only one year, the impact AmeriCorps Members have on the children in their care is lifelong. In turn, the children’s strength, resilience, and love will also make a lifelong impact on them.

They are currently accepting applications for the September 2025-August 2026 service year.

Apply now!

Are you a GW student seeking funding for a project that addresses a community need? Do you have an idea that combines service with action? Or maybe you just want to help people but not sure how and where to start?

The Nashman Center is committed to connecting you with the community that surrounds us. If you’re interested in learning something new, developing or executing your specific skills, or simply ready to engage with DC, join us! Our workshops are always a great place to work on your ideas, access resources, and connect with fellow impacters. All GW students are welcome.

If you have an established project, a social issue you feel strongly about, or an idea you need help with, GWupstart is a great place to start! Check out the dates below,

3/19: COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL INNOVATION

4/16: HOW TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS

Contact upstart@gwu.edu with questions, ideas, thoughts, or an application.

Support for GW LGBTQ+ Students

QT Club (@qtclub.dc) is a community-based free school that explores the understanding that radical, liberatory knowledge is lived, and not just learned. Every meeting, guided readings of queer & feminist texts will help explore the importance of theory for our current movements. Through written and creative exercises, attendees will collectively do the work of raising consciousness about our lives. Discussions are grounded in the belief that conversations from and across different experiences enables us to better understand how to organize in vulnerable, intimate, and powerful ways.

Workshop Guidelines

UniQue Voices: Mental Health for the GW LGBTQ+ Community

This supportive therapy group is tailored specifically for LGBTQIA+ students, providing a safe and inclusive space to share experiences, explore identities, and enhance mental well-being.

Sexual Assault Survivors Group

A support and healing space for femme/female-identifying individuals who have experienced sexual assault. This group offers a collaborative space to learn about trauma, process complex emotions, and integrate the experience into a healthier self.

Healthy Relationships Group

A processing space to help students gain insight and tools to improve all types of relationships.

Save Foreign Assistance from Cuts

CARE is a humanitarian organization that fights global poverty empowers women and girls around the world. This organization is asking individuals to call elected officials and share support for foreign assistance, knowing just how much these critical investments save lives and promote U.S. and global stability, peace, and prosperity.

Individuals can make a phone call and connect to members of Congress. This organization has included four main points below to make this as quick and easy as possible:

I am a constituent, and I strongly support U.S investments in foreign assistance.
U.S. foreign assistance saves lives and promotes U.S. and global stability, peace, and prosperity.
The consequences of cutting foreign assistance will be devastating – and in some cases deadly – for millions of people worldwide while also jeopardizing American progress.
Supporting foreign assistance does not come at the expense of domestic priorities. U.S. leadership can do both, it’s not an either or.

If interested, call using this form.

Research Study

Researchers invite you to participate in a research study in Washington, D.C. in February 2025. These researchers are from Christopher Newport University, Georgetown University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and this study is part of a broader research project on public opinion in the United States.

Participating in this study will require up to three hours of your time, spread out over six months, most of which is done through online surveys. You will also be asked to visit one museum on the National Mall. You can receive up to $50 in Amazon gift cards and a chance to win one of ten (10) iPads in a raffle throughout the course of the study.

If interested in participating, please fill out this form to provide some information about yourself. More details on the study will follow.

The Developmental Social Neuroscience Lab is recruiting adults aged 18-40 to participate in a paid research study! This study includes one online portion (1 hour) and one in-person visit to their lab at George Washington University (3 hours). You can make up to $80 ($20/hr) for completing online surveys and in-person computer games at GW. Please go to their website or email them for more information.

Conferences

2025 National Young Feminist Leadership Conference

March 29–31, 2025 | Doubletree Hotel, Arlington, VA (right outside D.C.)

Early Bird registration is open

NYFLC is a weekend full of learning from truly extraordinary feminists, some who have committed their lives to this work and others who are emerging leaders. NYFLC is a chance to recognize that we are a part of something big, a community of activists working for justice all around the country.

March 29-30th: Saturday and Sunday will be jam-packed with general assemblies featuring national speakers and panels diving deep into feminist issues. You'll learn about current issues and gain new organizing tactics and strategies to mobilize on your campus and in your community. Panels will cover topics ranging from protecting reproductive rights and publishing the Equal Rights Amendment to ending gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

March 31st: Congressional Advocacy Day! After learning about a range of feminist issues facing our country and communities, students take their knowledge, power, and voices to Capitol Hill for a Congressional Advocacy Day where they meet with lawmakers and legislative aides from their home states and districts.

Call for Submissions

Ethics Press is inviting proposals for scholarly books and edited collections in Humanities and Social Sciences, and broader related fields including Life Sciences and Health Sciences. Read the Notes of Guidance and review the Book Proposal Form.

Suitable proposals will be independently reviewed. A completed proposal form, a sample of the proposed book, if available, a CV, is required. You are also welcome to send a summary or abstract first.

Books are published in English, initially in academic hardback and eBook format, with a paperback version released later. The books we select range from 50,000 words to around 150,000 words. There are no charges to publish.

Subject coverage includes:

Philosophy, religion and faith, ethics and morality
Human rights and equality, including indigenous studies and land rights, and race and gender issues
Arts, humanities and social science topics including history, sociology, society and culture, community, anthropology, and language and literature.
Global challenges, including war and conflict, sustainability and climate change, food security, poverty, and technology/AI. Our portfolio on issues and challenges associated with Artificial Intelligence is particularly popular
Applied fields, including all areas of business, management, economics and finance, and decision making, plus bioethics, education, the built environment, and data ethics
Politics and government, both national and regional, from US election politics, to international banking, to global policy issues
Legal and medical issues, covering healthcare, medicine and medical ethics, psychology, counseling, childhood studies, and law
Health sciences and life sciences

Adapted Doctoral Theses and Edited Collections, including adaptations from conferences and symposia will be considered.

Dear Asian Youth at GW is an on-campus organization for Asian youth and non-Asian allies to work together to enact social change and bring awareness to the Asian narrative through our Bi-Annual Literary Arts ZINE.

This organization is seeking submissions and editors for the Spring 2025 edition. The deadline to submit is Friday, February 21 at 11:59 PM. They welcome people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to submit! Submissions can be artwork, poetry, prose, recipes, stories, photography, or any other form of creative or analytical work.

If interested in submitting work for consideration or becoming an editor, apply today!

Resources

GW Mutual Aid Spreadsheet

Created by GW students for GW students, this resource serves as a connecting point for those who are providing or seeking aid. Areas of support include housing, health care, food, transportation, storage, pet/child/plant care, and more.

Online Therapy Resources for the LGBTQ+ Community

Online therapy is a resource that offers a plethora of different types of virtual therapy for the LGBTQ+ community. Online therapy makes it easier to access mental health care and to engage in therapy on your own terms. Find more resources that can be helpful for navigating the coming-out process, strengthening your relationships, and learning how to be true to yourself as an LGBTQ+ individual.

The Sri Lanken Women and their Democratic Revival Edition

Image Caption: Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya at her office.

(Image Credit: The New York Times)

Sri Lanka is currently undergoing a transformative moment for women. The NY Times article "Where a Strongman Failed, Women Are Now Fueling a Democratic Revival" gives an inside look at how the leftist movement in Sri Lanka that took power after an economic collapse is seizing a rare opportunity to rally more women into politics. With a leftist movement now in power, Sri Lanka is embracing a more equal society, creating new opportunities for women. For example, there has been a rise in women in Parliament.

Contribute to the WGSS News Digest

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Submit additions to the digest. We look forward to hearing from you!

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