Gay and Lesbian Studies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources in the Library | Subject Specialists in the Library | Other Libraries and Archival Resources in Chicago | Some Starting Points on the Web |
Selected Online Magazines and News | Academic Programs and Organizations at the University of Chicago
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources in the Library
GLBT Life with Full Text. (To access, click on this link, then "EBSCOhost Databases Available," and then select GLBT Life.) The database includes comprehensive indexing and abstract coverage of popular as well as scholarly print, electronic, and Internet publications of the GLBT press. Most topics of interest to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community are covered in depth. Includes full text from 50 of the most important and historically significant GLBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers, including The Advocate, Gay Parent Magazine, Girlfriends, GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian & Gay Studies, James White Review, ISNA News, Ladder, Lesbian Tide, New York Blade, ONE, Tangents, Washington Blade, and many more, as well as dozens of full text monographs.
Guide to Gay and Lesbian Resources in the University of Chicago Library
Contemporary Literary Authors of Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Interest Writing in Western European Languages
The Library is building a strong research collection of works by these authors.
Also see the Women's Studies page.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject Specialists in the Library
Frank Conaway
Social Sciences Bibliographer
Office: Regenstein Library 261
Phone: 702-8454
E-mail: febc@midway.uchicago.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Library and Archival Resources in Chicago
Gerber/Hart Library
1127 W. Granville Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60660
773-381-8039
info@gerberhart.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some Starting Points on the Web
Gay and Lesbian Studies: A Research Guide.
New York Public Library Center for the Humanities.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Resources.
Bobst Library, New York University
a well-organized collection of web links.
Studies on Gay & Lesbian Language: A Partial Bibliography
Compiled by Gregory Ward, Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University
Sexuality, Gender, and the Law: National and International
a guide to electronic and print sources maintained by Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Foreign and International Law Librarian, D'Angelo Law Library, University of Chicago
Queer Resources Directory.
broad-ranging links to information and organizations on the Web.
People with A History.
an online guide to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people.
QAR: Queer Arts Resource.
an art and art history site.
Sexbiblio: bibliography of the history of Western sexuality / 1700-1945 (Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Vienna)
The bibliography contains non-belletristic primary and secondary literature of the history of sexuality in Europe, the U.S. and Canada from 1700 to 1945.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Selected Online Magazines and News
The Advocate Internet
The Electronic Gay Community Magazine
Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review
ILGA Euroletter, newsletter of the European Region of the International Lesbian and Gay Association.
The International Journal of Transgenderism
Masque: A New Queer Literary and Art Magazine (Stanford)
Planet Out
sapphic ink: a lesbian literary journal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Academic Programs and Organizations at the University of Chicago
The Center for Gender Studies
Lesbian and Gay Studies Project
University of Chicago Queers & Associates
Resources for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Students in the College
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suggestions · University Home Page · University Library Home Page · Questions and comments about this page?
The University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street Chicago Illinois 60637
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX
Tel : +44 (0)1784 443086/443791/443311; Fax: +44 (0)1784 433032
MA Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (V105PM)
This is a federal University of London programme taught jointly with King’s College London (KCL) and with the participation of other Colleges, especially University College and Birkbeck College. Taught over one year (full-time) or two years (part-time), it is designed especially for those who are interested in progressing to doctoral research in Byzantine studies, especially in the middle and later period, and particularly in reading and editing Byzantine texts from manuscripts. It also aims to relate Byzantine history to the wider world.
The Programme is composed of four elements.
1. Greek language, at Beginners', Intermediate or Advanced Level
RHUL students must attend one of the following three compulsory courses:
K005/CL5001A Greek for Beginners
An introductory course to the Greek language for complete beginners, designed to bring students to a point where they can read simple texts in Greek. Assessment by one three-hour unseen written examination in May, including prepared translation, unprepared translation, English to Greek, and grammatical analysis
or
KO15/CL5002A Intermediate Greek
A course for students who have completed a beginners' course in Greek, designed to extend their knowledge of the language to the point where they are ready to read substantial texts. Assessment by one three-hour unseen written examination in May, including prepared translation, unprepared translation, English to Greek, and grammatical analysis
or
MB02/HS5122A Byzantine Greek II
The aim of this course is to provide students who arrive with a reasonable knowledge of Classical or Byzantine Greek with a wide experience of reading and translating Byzantine authors. Over the year, students will read extensive passages from at least four different authors. Students will be expected to prepare written translations each week. Assessment by one three-hour written examination in May.
2. Methods and Techniques
Students must attend (a) and (b):
(a) MB03.i Introduction to Byzantium Seminar
A two-hour Topics Seminar in the first seven weeks of the first semester, where a variety of experts provide an introduction to their own subject. In early June, the Seminar is reconvened, and students are expected to make their own presentations of their dissertation topics. There is no assessed work.
(b) RHUL Students must attend one of the following two compulsory courses
M380/HS5124A Greek Palaeography
The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the main forms taken by Greek books and Greek handwriting from the Hellenistic period to the fifteenth century AD, and to give them the ability to read new samples from any point within this timespan with confidence. The first five weeks of the first term are devoted to developments between the third century BC and the eighth century AD, including the transition from roll to codex form; the rest of the first term and the second term consider developments from the emergence of minuscule as a book-hand to the production of the first fonts for printed Greek. The course develops a practical skill valuable both in itself, as training in scholarly habits of precise observation and accurate description, and as a tool for the production of critical editions of Greek texts. At the same time, it increases students' knowledge of an important aspect of the transmission of classical literature, and of the cultural history both of classical antiquity and of the Byzantine era.
Assessment by four written assignments of 3,000 words each.
or
MB23/HS5123A Elementary Greek Palaeography
The course concentrates on the minuscule script from the 9th-15th centuries. It aims to bring students up to a level where they would be able to transcribe texts from facsimiles of Greek manuscripts, and distinguish different styles. The material is adapted each time to the level of the class. In general, the course covers simpler minuscule literary hands, nomina sacra, ligatures, abbreviations and symbols. The course involves 40-60 hours of teaching and coursework, mainly transcribing texts from facsimiles of manuscripts and commenting on the layout of the text and on the script, either in class or individually. This course may be taken by students who are starting to learn Greek. Assessment by one three-hour examination in May.
3. A course option
One course must be selected from the following list. The courses marked with an asterisk are those which are likely to be available in the next academic year (for descriptions of courses, please click here):
CLAFG500 Philosophy under the Roman Empire*
91AHG026 Codes and Practice: the World of Roman Law from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages*
HICL079P Language and Power in the later Roman Empire
HICL004P Ancient Political Thought and its Medieval Legacy (0.5)
Code (tbc) The Mediaeval Mediterranean (0.5)
CL5314 The Late Roman and Early Byzantine City
MB06 Constantinople and its Descriptions*
M590 Byzantine Egypt
MB10 Living in Byzantium: Material culture and built environment (ca. AD 300-1500)*
MB07 The Reign of Constantine I
M720 The Christianisation of the Roman World: from Constantine to Justinian
MB03 Byzantium and the West, AD 843-1002
HS5219 Byzantium and the First Crusade (0.5)*
HS5220 Byzantium and the Fourth Crusade (0.5)*
K866 Gender from Antiquity to Byzantium
AB/MA26 The Greek Novel and Its Influence (1st to 21st Centuries)*
MB09 Byzantine Hagiography
HS5128 Byzantine Autographs of the Palaeologan Period (13th-15th century)
HS5127 Greek Hands of the Palaeologan Period (13th-15th century)*
4. MA dissertation of 10,500-12,000 words on an approved subject, under the supervision of a member of the staff.
Studentships, bursaries and awards: A number of Studentships are available at the History Department, RHUL. UK/EU applicants for this MA are eligible also for the following Hellenic Institute studentships:
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies
The Nikolaos Oikonomides Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies
The Panagiotis and Eleni Xenou Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies
The Charalambos and Eleni Pelendrides Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies.
All studentships cover the annual tuition fees. Candidates who are not awarded any of these studentships may apply for a George of Cyprus bursary, from a fund donated by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, to meet general expenses of studying.
The Hellenic Institute is also offering The Joan Mervyn Hussey Prize in Byzantine Studies in memory of the eminent Byzantine scholar and teacher J.M.Hussey (1907-2006), Emeritus Professor of History in the University of London and former Head of the History Department at Royal Holloway College. The Prize is awarded to Hellenic Institute students who complete the MA in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies with the mark of distinction. For further information on the studentship and bursaries, please click here.
Legal Disclaimer: The information on this web site is accurate at the time of being uploaded, but tutors may be changed and/or courses may be withdrawn in the light of tutor availability and student numbers. While the Hellenic Institute makes every effort to run all listed courses, it cannot guarantee the availability of every course throughout the duration of each student's time on the MA course. In the event of unavoidable changes to the programme students may still be enabled to study their chosen themes by special arrangements within the broad ambit of some of the MA programmes - via choice of topics for essays, Skills Project or Dissertation, in consultation with the Programme Director.
For further information please contact the Programme Director, Dr Charalambos Dendrinos, The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
Tel. +44 (0)1784 443791/443086/443311
Fax +44 (0)1784 433032
Tel : +44 (0)1784 443086/443791/443311; Fax: +44 (0)1784 433032
MA Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (V105PM)
This is a federal University of London programme taught jointly with King’s College London (KCL) and with the participation of other Colleges, especially University College and Birkbeck College. Taught over one year (full-time) or two years (part-time), it is designed especially for those who are interested in progressing to doctoral research in Byzantine studies, especially in the middle and later period, and particularly in reading and editing Byzantine texts from manuscripts. It also aims to relate Byzantine history to the wider world.
The Programme is composed of four elements.
1. Greek language, at Beginners', Intermediate or Advanced Level
RHUL students must attend one of the following three compulsory courses:
K005/CL5001A Greek for Beginners
An introductory course to the Greek language for complete beginners, designed to bring students to a point where they can read simple texts in Greek. Assessment by one three-hour unseen written examination in May, including prepared translation, unprepared translation, English to Greek, and grammatical analysis
or
KO15/CL5002A Intermediate Greek
A course for students who have completed a beginners' course in Greek, designed to extend their knowledge of the language to the point where they are ready to read substantial texts. Assessment by one three-hour unseen written examination in May, including prepared translation, unprepared translation, English to Greek, and grammatical analysis
or
MB02/HS5122A Byzantine Greek II
The aim of this course is to provide students who arrive with a reasonable knowledge of Classical or Byzantine Greek with a wide experience of reading and translating Byzantine authors. Over the year, students will read extensive passages from at least four different authors. Students will be expected to prepare written translations each week. Assessment by one three-hour written examination in May.
2. Methods and Techniques
Students must attend (a) and (b):
(a) MB03.i Introduction to Byzantium Seminar
A two-hour Topics Seminar in the first seven weeks of the first semester, where a variety of experts provide an introduction to their own subject. In early June, the Seminar is reconvened, and students are expected to make their own presentations of their dissertation topics. There is no assessed work.
(b) RHUL Students must attend one of the following two compulsory courses
M380/HS5124A Greek Palaeography
The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the main forms taken by Greek books and Greek handwriting from the Hellenistic period to the fifteenth century AD, and to give them the ability to read new samples from any point within this timespan with confidence. The first five weeks of the first term are devoted to developments between the third century BC and the eighth century AD, including the transition from roll to codex form; the rest of the first term and the second term consider developments from the emergence of minuscule as a book-hand to the production of the first fonts for printed Greek. The course develops a practical skill valuable both in itself, as training in scholarly habits of precise observation and accurate description, and as a tool for the production of critical editions of Greek texts. At the same time, it increases students' knowledge of an important aspect of the transmission of classical literature, and of the cultural history both of classical antiquity and of the Byzantine era.
Assessment by four written assignments of 3,000 words each.
or
MB23/HS5123A Elementary Greek Palaeography
The course concentrates on the minuscule script from the 9th-15th centuries. It aims to bring students up to a level where they would be able to transcribe texts from facsimiles of Greek manuscripts, and distinguish different styles. The material is adapted each time to the level of the class. In general, the course covers simpler minuscule literary hands, nomina sacra, ligatures, abbreviations and symbols. The course involves 40-60 hours of teaching and coursework, mainly transcribing texts from facsimiles of manuscripts and commenting on the layout of the text and on the script, either in class or individually. This course may be taken by students who are starting to learn Greek. Assessment by one three-hour examination in May.
3. A course option
One course must be selected from the following list. The courses marked with an asterisk are those which are likely to be available in the next academic year (for descriptions of courses, please click here):
CLAFG500 Philosophy under the Roman Empire*
91AHG026 Codes and Practice: the World of Roman Law from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages*
HICL079P Language and Power in the later Roman Empire
HICL004P Ancient Political Thought and its Medieval Legacy (0.5)
Code (tbc) The Mediaeval Mediterranean (0.5)
CL5314 The Late Roman and Early Byzantine City
MB06 Constantinople and its Descriptions*
M590 Byzantine Egypt
MB10 Living in Byzantium: Material culture and built environment (ca. AD 300-1500)*
MB07 The Reign of Constantine I
M720 The Christianisation of the Roman World: from Constantine to Justinian
MB03 Byzantium and the West, AD 843-1002
HS5219 Byzantium and the First Crusade (0.5)*
HS5220 Byzantium and the Fourth Crusade (0.5)*
K866 Gender from Antiquity to Byzantium
AB/MA26 The Greek Novel and Its Influence (1st to 21st Centuries)*
MB09 Byzantine Hagiography
HS5128 Byzantine Autographs of the Palaeologan Period (13th-15th century)
HS5127 Greek Hands of the Palaeologan Period (13th-15th century)*
4. MA dissertation of 10,500-12,000 words on an approved subject, under the supervision of a member of the staff.
Studentships, bursaries and awards: A number of Studentships are available at the History Department, RHUL. UK/EU applicants for this MA are eligible also for the following Hellenic Institute studentships:
The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies
The Nikolaos Oikonomides Postgraduate Studentship in Byzantine Studies
The Panagiotis and Eleni Xenou Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies
The Charalambos and Eleni Pelendrides Postgraduate Studentship in Hellenic and Byzantine Studies.
All studentships cover the annual tuition fees. Candidates who are not awarded any of these studentships may apply for a George of Cyprus bursary, from a fund donated by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, to meet general expenses of studying.
The Hellenic Institute is also offering The Joan Mervyn Hussey Prize in Byzantine Studies in memory of the eminent Byzantine scholar and teacher J.M.Hussey (1907-2006), Emeritus Professor of History in the University of London and former Head of the History Department at Royal Holloway College. The Prize is awarded to Hellenic Institute students who complete the MA in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies with the mark of distinction. For further information on the studentship and bursaries, please click here.
Legal Disclaimer: The information on this web site is accurate at the time of being uploaded, but tutors may be changed and/or courses may be withdrawn in the light of tutor availability and student numbers. While the Hellenic Institute makes every effort to run all listed courses, it cannot guarantee the availability of every course throughout the duration of each student's time on the MA course. In the event of unavoidable changes to the programme students may still be enabled to study their chosen themes by special arrangements within the broad ambit of some of the MA programmes - via choice of topics for essays, Skills Project or Dissertation, in consultation with the Programme Director.
For further information please contact the Programme Director, Dr Charalambos Dendrinos, The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
Tel. +44 (0)1784 443791/443086/443311
Fax +44 (0)1784 433032
Jewish Studies
Academic Jewish Studies Internet Directory
The Academic Jewish Studies Internet Directory is the prime gateway to 504 high quality resources for the study of Judaism, including access to library catalogs and to databases like "RAMBI - Index of Articles in Jewish Studies".
Jewish Studies at Universities : Israel
Bar-Ilan University - Faculty of Jewish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1749)
Bar-Ilan University - Rena Costa Center for Yiddish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1160)
Hebrew University - Institute of Jewish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 2010)
Hebrew University - Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1148)
Tel Aviv University - Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1763)
Research Institutes : Israel
Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
(Added: 20-Mar-2001 Hits: 1229)
Center for Jewish Art
(Added: 20-Mar-2001 Hits: 697)
Center for Research on Dutch Jewry
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 666)
Cherrick Center for the Study of Zionism, the Yishuv & the State of Israel
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 767)
Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 852)
Franz Rosenzweig Centre for German-Jewish Literature and Cultural History - Hebrew University
(Added: 27-Dec-2001 Hits: 703)
Goldstein Goren International Center for Jewish Thought
(Added: 1-Aug-2004 Hits: 488)
Institute for Advanced Studies - Hebrew University
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 877)
International Institute for Jewish Genealogy
(Added: 2-Mar-2007 Hits: 290)
Jewish Music Research Centre
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 742)
Leo Baeck Institute
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 757)
Misgav Yerushalayim - Center for Research and Study of the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 694)
Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 752)
The Israel Democracy Institute
(Added: 5-Jan-2007 Hits: 314)
The Research Center for Italian Jewish Studies
(Added: 9-Jun-2002 Hits: 625)
University of Haifa - Bucerius Institute for Research of Contemporary German History and Society
(Added: 6-Feb-2007 Hits: 327)
Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 741)
Yad Ben Zvi
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 828)
Yad Vashem - International Institute for Holocaust Research
(Added: 9-Jul-2001 Hits: 825)
Academic Associations : International
Association for Israel Studies
(Added: 5-May-2004 Hits: 924)
Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry
(Added: 27-Jan-2003 Hits: 977)
China Judaic Studies Association
(Added: 13-Mar-2001 Hits: 1094)
Latin American Jewish Studies Association
(Added: 13-Mar-2001 Hits: 1135)
World Union of Jewish Studies
(Added: 3-Mar-2001 Hits: 2058)
The Academic Jewish Studies Internet Directory is the prime gateway to 504 high quality resources for the study of Judaism, including access to library catalogs and to databases like "RAMBI - Index of Articles in Jewish Studies".
Jewish Studies at Universities : Israel
Bar-Ilan University - Faculty of Jewish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1749)
Bar-Ilan University - Rena Costa Center for Yiddish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1160)
Hebrew University - Institute of Jewish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 2010)
Hebrew University - Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1148)
Tel Aviv University - Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies
(Added: 18-Mar-2001 Hits: 1763)
Research Institutes : Israel
Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
(Added: 20-Mar-2001 Hits: 1229)
Center for Jewish Art
(Added: 20-Mar-2001 Hits: 697)
Center for Research on Dutch Jewry
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 666)
Cherrick Center for the Study of Zionism, the Yishuv & the State of Israel
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 767)
Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 852)
Franz Rosenzweig Centre for German-Jewish Literature and Cultural History - Hebrew University
(Added: 27-Dec-2001 Hits: 703)
Goldstein Goren International Center for Jewish Thought
(Added: 1-Aug-2004 Hits: 488)
Institute for Advanced Studies - Hebrew University
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 877)
International Institute for Jewish Genealogy
(Added: 2-Mar-2007 Hits: 290)
Jewish Music Research Centre
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 742)
Leo Baeck Institute
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 757)
Misgav Yerushalayim - Center for Research and Study of the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 694)
Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 752)
The Israel Democracy Institute
(Added: 5-Jan-2007 Hits: 314)
The Research Center for Italian Jewish Studies
(Added: 9-Jun-2002 Hits: 625)
University of Haifa - Bucerius Institute for Research of Contemporary German History and Society
(Added: 6-Feb-2007 Hits: 327)
Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 741)
Yad Ben Zvi
(Added: 21-Mar-2001 Hits: 828)
Yad Vashem - International Institute for Holocaust Research
(Added: 9-Jul-2001 Hits: 825)
Academic Associations : International
Association for Israel Studies
(Added: 5-May-2004 Hits: 924)
Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry
(Added: 27-Jan-2003 Hits: 977)
China Judaic Studies Association
(Added: 13-Mar-2001 Hits: 1094)
Latin American Jewish Studies Association
(Added: 13-Mar-2001 Hits: 1135)
World Union of Jewish Studies
(Added: 3-Mar-2001 Hits: 2058)
Human Rights
Why the Student World Assembly?
The Student World Assembly engages students from around the world in critical reflection and innovative thinking. Students deliberate on significant global issues that are pertinent to their school, their community, and the world at large. Modeled as a representative democracy, SWA’s philosophy is “Promoting Global Democracy, One Student at a Time,” making it a unique member-based global organization, dedicated to global democracy, human rights, and preparing students to be the leaders of the next generation.
In accordance with its philosophy, SWA provides a venue for students to address many vital social and political issues affecting our global future. It is a way for students to express themselves as effective global citizens. Consistent with its purpose, SWA has formulated the following goals for its members:
Promoting global democracy
Supporting human rights
Encouraging grassroots learning, action and participation forums
Developing leadership skills through hands-on organizing and advocacy for pressing global issues
Voting, deliberation and action on current pressing issues-locally and globally
Bridging the digital divide by connecting students around the world and through subsidizing access to technology
Networking through local and international meetings
To unite all students and encourage them to become agents of change on important global issues
To foster leadership skills by introducing or reinforcing democracy through practical experience
Maintaining member participation after graduation, thus allowing the SWA to grow into an elected World Assembly that derives its moral power from its representation of all people individually
SWA is one of many active student and youth-run organizations in existence today. Though many of these groups focus on similar issues of democracy, human rights, environmental preservation and world peace, SWA stands out as a unique force amongst them with its encompassing and open-ended qualities.
Everything is run democratically here at SWA. Students may raise any issue to be discussed, in the same way that they may propose ways for a problem to be solved. There is no specific agenda involved with SWA. Every student gets a chance to express their opinion, and all views are accepted. To help students establish an informed opinion, SWA tries to educate members as thoroughly and unbiased as possible. An extensive list of suggested readings, educational links, and downloads is available to assist SWA members on their path to spreading global democracy.
The online discussion forum is a unique aspect of SWA. Free speech, an essential part of democracy, is practiced in full. Students can discuss pressing global issues at length without fear of censorship and propaganda. Every voice is heard and informed dialogue commences. Through the discussion forums, every member is provided the opportunity to speak his or her opinion, thus helping to educate one another from any part of the world.
SWA elections allow for global representation and provide leadership skills as well. Students are given the opportunity to represent SWA as Chapter Officers (on a local level), International Officers, and Committee Chairs. Students learn exactly how the democratic election process works, how to campaign for elected positions, as well as how to run a governing body. These steps provide SWA youth with the necessary skills they need to succeed as effective leaders in the future.
The annual International Convention provides another medium through which students can take part in a worldwide pure democratic voting process. A proxy voting system has been put into place so that every single SWA member has the chance to cast a vote, regardless of whether or not they can attend the annual International Convention. Members select a delegate whose views they agree with the most, and choose them to cast their vote while at the Convention. Voting is based on beliefs and ideas, rather than geographic location, nationality, fear or any other factors that inhibit a democratic vote.
The annual International Convention is the high-point of SWA activities throughout the year. It is a time where all three themes of the Student World Assembly are put into place at one time. Students will educate (and be educated), participate and take action on a pressing global issue chosen by the entire student-member base throughout the year. The Student World Assembly encourages its members to approach and combat pressing global issues, as well as important issues that arise on a local level. Our belief is that “together, we can make a difference, one student at a time.”
For more information, please visit: SWA's Concept of Global Democracy
The Student World Assembly engages students from around the world in critical reflection and innovative thinking. Students deliberate on significant global issues that are pertinent to their school, their community, and the world at large. Modeled as a representative democracy, SWA’s philosophy is “Promoting Global Democracy, One Student at a Time,” making it a unique member-based global organization, dedicated to global democracy, human rights, and preparing students to be the leaders of the next generation.
In accordance with its philosophy, SWA provides a venue for students to address many vital social and political issues affecting our global future. It is a way for students to express themselves as effective global citizens. Consistent with its purpose, SWA has formulated the following goals for its members:
Promoting global democracy
Supporting human rights
Encouraging grassroots learning, action and participation forums
Developing leadership skills through hands-on organizing and advocacy for pressing global issues
Voting, deliberation and action on current pressing issues-locally and globally
Bridging the digital divide by connecting students around the world and through subsidizing access to technology
Networking through local and international meetings
To unite all students and encourage them to become agents of change on important global issues
To foster leadership skills by introducing or reinforcing democracy through practical experience
Maintaining member participation after graduation, thus allowing the SWA to grow into an elected World Assembly that derives its moral power from its representation of all people individually
SWA is one of many active student and youth-run organizations in existence today. Though many of these groups focus on similar issues of democracy, human rights, environmental preservation and world peace, SWA stands out as a unique force amongst them with its encompassing and open-ended qualities.
Everything is run democratically here at SWA. Students may raise any issue to be discussed, in the same way that they may propose ways for a problem to be solved. There is no specific agenda involved with SWA. Every student gets a chance to express their opinion, and all views are accepted. To help students establish an informed opinion, SWA tries to educate members as thoroughly and unbiased as possible. An extensive list of suggested readings, educational links, and downloads is available to assist SWA members on their path to spreading global democracy.
The online discussion forum is a unique aspect of SWA. Free speech, an essential part of democracy, is practiced in full. Students can discuss pressing global issues at length without fear of censorship and propaganda. Every voice is heard and informed dialogue commences. Through the discussion forums, every member is provided the opportunity to speak his or her opinion, thus helping to educate one another from any part of the world.
SWA elections allow for global representation and provide leadership skills as well. Students are given the opportunity to represent SWA as Chapter Officers (on a local level), International Officers, and Committee Chairs. Students learn exactly how the democratic election process works, how to campaign for elected positions, as well as how to run a governing body. These steps provide SWA youth with the necessary skills they need to succeed as effective leaders in the future.
The annual International Convention provides another medium through which students can take part in a worldwide pure democratic voting process. A proxy voting system has been put into place so that every single SWA member has the chance to cast a vote, regardless of whether or not they can attend the annual International Convention. Members select a delegate whose views they agree with the most, and choose them to cast their vote while at the Convention. Voting is based on beliefs and ideas, rather than geographic location, nationality, fear or any other factors that inhibit a democratic vote.
The annual International Convention is the high-point of SWA activities throughout the year. It is a time where all three themes of the Student World Assembly are put into place at one time. Students will educate (and be educated), participate and take action on a pressing global issue chosen by the entire student-member base throughout the year. The Student World Assembly encourages its members to approach and combat pressing global issues, as well as important issues that arise on a local level. Our belief is that “together, we can make a difference, one student at a time.”
For more information, please visit: SWA's Concept of Global Democracy
History and Philosophy of Science
UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
About the Department
The largest university department of its kind in the UK, the Department of History and Philosophy of Science has an outstanding international reputation. It is a vigorous and expanding centre of teaching and research, as recognised by the award of the highest grade of 5* in the 2001 HEFCE national Research Assessment Exercise.
The Department is based in the centre of Cambridge, in the old physical chemistry laboratory on Free School Lane. At its heart is the Whipple Museum, a world-class collection of scientific instruments and models. As well as being open to the public, it is regularly used by the Department's staff and students for teaching and research. The museum is named after Robert Whipple, who presented his unique collection of scientific instruments to the University in 1944.
Next to the museum is the Department's library, the Whipple Library, which was founded on Robert Whipple's collection of rare scientific books. The library has extensive holdings in all areas of the history, philosophy and sociology of science, technology and medicine, making it the largest library in the UK specialising in this field.
There are eleven established University Teaching Officers in the Department, including six Professors and one Reader. Around 100-140 undergraduate students are taught by the Department as part of the Natural Sciences Tripos. The Department offers an MPhil in History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science, Technology and Medicine, with approximately 25 students per year. PhD students at any one time total approximately 45. There are also a number of Research Fellows and Visiting Scholars attached to the Department.
Research seminars are held in the Department throughout the academic year. At the weekly departmental seminar, papers are given by invited speakers from across the field of history and philosophy of science and medicine. In addition, there are regular specialist seminars, reading groups and workshops on a variety of subjects.
The Department is a major centre for teaching and research in history of medicine. Expertise in this field covers an exceptionally wide range, from antiquity to the present, from the medieval universities to the postwar laboratory sciences, from anatomy to psychoanalysis. The Department's programme in history of medicine has been recognised by an enhancement award from the Wellcome Trust.
About the Department
The largest university department of its kind in the UK, the Department of History and Philosophy of Science has an outstanding international reputation. It is a vigorous and expanding centre of teaching and research, as recognised by the award of the highest grade of 5* in the 2001 HEFCE national Research Assessment Exercise.
The Department is based in the centre of Cambridge, in the old physical chemistry laboratory on Free School Lane. At its heart is the Whipple Museum, a world-class collection of scientific instruments and models. As well as being open to the public, it is regularly used by the Department's staff and students for teaching and research. The museum is named after Robert Whipple, who presented his unique collection of scientific instruments to the University in 1944.
Next to the museum is the Department's library, the Whipple Library, which was founded on Robert Whipple's collection of rare scientific books. The library has extensive holdings in all areas of the history, philosophy and sociology of science, technology and medicine, making it the largest library in the UK specialising in this field.
There are eleven established University Teaching Officers in the Department, including six Professors and one Reader. Around 100-140 undergraduate students are taught by the Department as part of the Natural Sciences Tripos. The Department offers an MPhil in History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science, Technology and Medicine, with approximately 25 students per year. PhD students at any one time total approximately 45. There are also a number of Research Fellows and Visiting Scholars attached to the Department.
Research seminars are held in the Department throughout the academic year. At the weekly departmental seminar, papers are given by invited speakers from across the field of history and philosophy of science and medicine. In addition, there are regular specialist seminars, reading groups and workshops on a variety of subjects.
The Department is a major centre for teaching and research in history of medicine. Expertise in this field covers an exceptionally wide range, from antiquity to the present, from the medieval universities to the postwar laboratory sciences, from anatomy to psychoanalysis. The Department's programme in history of medicine has been recognised by an enhancement award from the Wellcome Trust.
Gender and Society
GENDER AND SOCIETY
"Men have always been afraid that women could get along without them."
--Margaret Mead
In addition to age, gender is one of the universal dimensions on which status differences are based. Unlike sex, which is a biological concept, gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow. According to Gerda Lerner in The Creation of Patriarchy, gender is the "costume, a mask, a straitjacket in which men and women dance their unequal dance" (p.238). As Alan Wolfe observed in "The Gender Question" (The New Republic, June 6:27-34), "of all the ways that one group has systematically mistreated another, none is more deeply rooted than the way men have subordinated women. All other discriminations pale by contrast." Lerner argues that the subordination of women preceded all other subordinations and that to rid ourselves of all of those other "isms"--racism, classism, ageism, etc.--it is sexism that must first be eradicated. For some specifics, see B. Deutsch's "The Male Privilege Checklist" and Nijole Benokraitis & Joe Feagin's "Overt/Subtle/Covert Sex Discrimination: An Overview."
Women have always had lower status than men, but the extent of the gap between the sexes varies across cultures and time (some arguing that it is inversely related to social evolution). In 1980, the United Nations summed up the burden of this inequality: Women, who comprise half the world's population, do two thirds of the world's work, earn one tenth of the world's income and own one hundredth of the world's property. In Leviticus, God told Moses that a man is worth 50 sheikels and a woman worth 30--approximately the contemporary salary differentials of the sexes in the United States. (Actually, according to one "Current Population Survey" of the US Census Bureau, American women in 1999 earned approximately 77% of what men made, in 2000, according to the Department of Labor, their median weekly earnings were 76% of the male median.) What might be the socio-cultural implications if men were to also be the child bearers? Follow the first human male pregnancy (well, not really) at www.malepregnancy.com.
And the significance of the stamps above? A recent U.S. Postal Service publication, "Women on Stamps", holds some interesting methodological possibilities. Putting a deceased individual's likeness on a stamp is one way by which political immortality is conferred. Of the hundreds of Americans so immortalized only a handful are women: 16, to be precise, through 1960; 19 through 1970; and 29 through 1980 (any connection between this 50% increase with the ERA movement of the seventies?). An enterprising student may wish to investigate and compare how this female proportion of immortalized citizens varies across countries and time.
Matters of gender are scattered throughout these pages, including gender differences in household duties, in in voting during the 1996 Presidential election, and in suicide rates cross-nationally. Take advantage of this site's search engine by first entering "gender" and next "sex" as the search words.
The State of the World Population 2000: Lives Together, Worlds Apart--Men and Women in a Time of Change from the United Nations Population Fund
GenderNet from the World Bank. Extensive international datasets
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED?
According to Gallup surveys, in 1946 Americans felt by a margin of 54% to 24% that women live more difficult lives than men. More than one-half century later that margin had increased to 57% to 17%, with most of that change owing to increasing agreement among men (from a 47%-27% margin in 1946 to 52%-19% in 1997).
In the 1930s, 26 of 48 states had laws prohibiting the employment of married women. (It was the midst of the Great Depression and there were not enough jobs to keep the men out of political mischief, so married women had to go.) Click here to see Belief that a woman's place is in the home by cohort and education, 1977-94
The National Women's History Project's "Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement 1848-1998" and its links to resource sites
The Virtual Library on Labour and Business History has a sizable listing of women history journals
National Museum of Women's History, with featured exhibit: "Motherhood, social service and political reform: The political culture and imagery of American suffrage"
Women's History Workshop a collaborative effort of Massachusetts middle school through college teachers
Ken Middleton's American Women's History: A Research Guide
Women in American History--from Encyclopedia Britannica
Diotima: Materials on Women and Gender in the Ancient World includes bibliographical lists on such wide-ranging subjects as athletics, death, rape, ancient medicine, law, prostitution, and magic
ViVa: A Bibliography of Women's History in Historical and Women's Studies Journals
Library of Congress/American Memory's Selections from the National American Women Suffrage Association Collection, 1848-1921
Library of Congress/American Memory's "Votes for Women" Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920
UC Berkeley Library's Suffragists Oral History Project
Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar's Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1775-2000 (SUNY Binghamton project posing questions and providing primary documents to answer them)
Suffragists Oral History Project (UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library)
Duke University's "Women's Studies (R)E-sources on the Web"
From Smith College, the Sophia Smith Collection, "an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history"
Phyllis Holman Weisband's (U. Wisconsin) Selected Women and Gender Resources"
Voice of the Shuttle: Gender Studies Page
University of Maryland (Baltimore County) Women's Studies Homepage: routinely updated links to gender- related websites and electronic forums
Washington Post series "Gender Roles in the '90s"
Internet Resources for Women's Legal and Public Policy Information
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW MUCH CHANGE NEEDS TO BE MADE
The 2006 International Women's Day brought alarming messages from Latin American delegates about the growing rate of "femicide" in their countries. In Guatemala, for instance, more than 2,300 women had been brutally murdered. Observed Indira Lakshmanan in the Boston Globe (March 30, 2006), "Housewives, teenagers, and college students have disappeared and later been found naked, disemboweled, sexually mutilated, beheaded, and dumped in abandoned lots." Similar stories have come from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico.
Prevalence Rates for Female Genital Mutilation, 2001
From Human Rights Watch, "We Want to Live as Humans: Repression of Women and Girls in Western Afghanistan" (Dec. 2002)
Yahoo's collection of Sexual Harassment sites
Rape
History of Rape
WHO's Violence Against Women with national-level statistics on percentage of women physically assaulted by an intimate partner
Men and Domestic Violence Index
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GETTING REALLY HISTORICAL (AND CROSS-CULTURAL)
Chris Witcombe's "Images of Women in Ancient Art: Issues of Interpretation and Identity"
Ken Middleton's American Women's History: A Research Guide
Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt (from University of Michigan's Kelsey Museum)
Universes in Collision: Men and Women in 19th-Century Japanese Prints (University of Virginia)
HERSTORY: RETHINKING HISTORY FROM FEMALES' PERSPECTIVES
National Women's Hall of Fame
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSES
EDUCATION
You've probably read the studies showing how as the proportion of women in an occupational/professional category increases average earnings go down. Well what happens when women become "winners" in that institution that legitimates claims to the best positions in the work world: higher education? According to Business Roundtable (June 2003), in 1999-2000, women received 133 bachelor's degrees for every 100 to men. A decade later, during the 2009-2010 school year, women are projected to receive 142 bachelor's degrees for every 100 for men. What will happen to the "value" of a college degree?
From the National Center for Education Statistics, "Gender Differences in Participation and Completion of Undergraduate Education and How They Have Changed Over Time" (2005)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAMILY
Gender inequalities in family times
The plight of mothers of young children: To work or not to work?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASS MEDIA
Gender biases and stereotypes are amply reinforced in the mass media. In newspapers, for instance, men received three-quarters of the front-page references and appeared in two-thirds of the front-page pictures in the mid-1990s. The United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women included in its Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action the observation how the "continued projection of negative and degrading images of women in media communications - electronic, print, visual and audio - must be changed. Print and electronic media in most countries do not provide a balanced picture of women's diverse lives and contributions to society in a changing world. In addition, violent and degrading or pornographic media products are also negatively affecting women and their participation in society." Mediascope's "Violence, Women and the Media" cites mounting evidence how "negative perceptions of women in entertainment can affect women in real life."
One way, of course, to counter such phenomena is giving women control over media messages. From the University of Maryland comes Women in Broadcasting History. For feminist perspectives on the news:
Feminist.com
Ms. Magazine
Global Women's Issues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORK
Joan Korenman's annotated links (University of Maryland-Baltimore County)
U.S. Department of Labor: Women's Bureau Home Page
International Labour Organization's Gender Web Site
From the Harvard University Library Open Collections Program: Women Working, 1870-1930
Diane Elson and Caroline Wright's Gender Issues in Contemporary Industrialization: An Annotated Bibliography.
Global Women's Rights-- resources on the impact of globalization on women in the developing world
Bill Moyers' NOW's "Rich World, Poor Women" (Fall, 2003)
The Glass Ceiling Commission
University of Maryland's Women's Studies Database and Gender Issues: Women in the Workforce
WOW! Work of Women
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WOMEN IN THE MILITARY: EQUALITY TO KILL (AND TO BE KILLED)
Owing to labor shortages during World War II, all military branches were enlisting women by late 1942. Their entry into these and other supposedly traditional male spheres of life triggered considerable controversy. One church argued that the Women's Army Corps was "intended to break down the traditional American and Christian opposition to removing women from the home…by bringing back the pagan female goddess of de-sexed, lustful sterility."
In the NORC 1982 General Social Survey Americans were asked whether they think a woman should or should not be assigned as a soldier in hand-to-hand combat assuming she is trained to do it (variable FINDLND)?
PERCENT MEN AND WOMEN SAYING WOMEN SHOULD BE ASSIGNED TO COMBAT ROLES
BIRTH COHORT: pre-1910 1910-19 1920-29 1930-39 1949-49 1950 on TOTAL
FEMALE 17% 21% 34% 35% 43% 58% 38%
MALE 22% 15% 17% 34% 36% 36% 30%
In total, observe in the right-most column how women were 8 percentage points more likely than men to believe that women should be assigned to combat roles. This total, however, does not reflect some interesting generational dynamics at work. For men, the big divide is between those born before and after 1930--those roughly older or younger than 50 years of age in 1982, with the latter about twice as likely as their older counterparts to favor such assignment. For women, support consistently decreases with age. Their big generational breaks occur between those born before and after women first exercised their right to vote in 1920, and between those born before and after the Korean War. Finally, observe how the sexes most differ in attitude immediately after these generational divides: among those born in the 1920s and in the 1950s. (Not revealed in this table is how support within both sexes declined between those born in the 1950s and 1960s, with a 9 percentage point decline for women and 4 for men.)
Twelve years after this question was presented to the American public, in 1994, President Bill Clinton signed an order allowing women on combat ships and aircraft. Thirteen servicewomen died during the 1991 Gulf War, four from enemy fire, and 21 were wounded in action. In the 2003 Gulf War, women made up one in seven of the military personnel in Iraq.
POLITICS AND GLOBALIZATION OF GENDER
Institute for Women's Policy Research--"IWPR focuses on issues of poverty and welfare, employment and earnings, work and family issues, health and safety, and women's civic and political participation."
WomensNet/IGC
4th WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN site
Women in National Parliaments
Fall 1996 issue of Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies on Feminism and Globalization
UC Davis's Gender and Global Issues Program
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEMINISM AND ITS BACKLASH
Among the questions asked in the NORC 1996 General Social Survey were the following:
Do you think of yourself as a feminist or not? Twelve percent of men and 29% of women responded "yes." Among women, there was no significant difference among age groups; interestingly, women in their fifties and seventy and older were most likely to identify themselves as feminists while those in their thirties and sixties were least likely to do so. Women with four or more years of college were about 40 percent more likely to think of themselves as feminists than those with less education. This relationship, however, varies by race: While increasing education is associated with increasing identification among white women, among African American women the greatest identification was among the least educated (40% of black women who did not graduate from high school considered themselves feminists, as opposed to 19% of white women; among women with four or more years of college, 38% of whites compared to 27% blacks thought of themselves as feminists).
We'd like your views on how the women's movement has affected certain groups. For each group I name, please tell me whether you thing the women's movement has improved their lives, made their lives worse, or had no effect on their lives: homemakers (variable HOMEMAKER), women with working class jobs (WRKCLASS), women with management or professional jobs (MANPROF), men (MEN), children (CHILDREN), your self (YOURSELF).
Below are responses to these questions broken down by sex:
HOMEMAKER WRKCLASS MANPROF MEN CHILDREN YOURSELF
M F M F M F M F M F M F
IMPROVED 43% 42% 79% 80% 85% 88% 32% 32% 41% 46% 28% 47%
NO EFFECT 37 34 14 15 9 8 41 32 23 25 66 49
MADE WORSE 20 24 7 5 6 4 27 36 36 29 6 4
Feminist Majority Foundation
Feminism and Women's Studies links from Carnegie Mellon's English Servers humanities texts online
Kirstin Switala's Feminist Theory Website (Virginia Tech)
Joan Korenman's Women's Studies/Women's Issues Resource Sites (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Feminist resources from WWWomen.Com
Gender-Neutral Pronoun Frequently Asked Questions (John Williams)
The Backlash! Men's issues & fathers' rights
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
Independent Women's Forum "to advance the American spirit of enterprise and self-reliance and to support the principles of political freedom, economic liberty, and personal responsibility among women." Site includes Weird Science and Docket Watches along with SheThinks magazine, which is "by and for college students who feel academically isolated and disenchanted with a feminist movement that seems bent on problems instead of solutions."
National Organization for Women (NOW) Home Page
4th WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN site and a follow up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
In the NORC 1996 General Social Survey Americans were asked "Think about girls growing up today: Do you think their chances for a happy family life will be better than yours, about the same, or worse than yours?" (variable HAPGIRLS) Their predictions were not that rosy: Only 20% thought their chances will be better while 36% thought that they will be worse.
PERCENT OF AMERICANS BELIEVING GIRLS' CHANCES FOR HAPPY FAMILY LIFE
WILL BE WORSE THAN ONE'S OWN, BY SEX, AGE, AND EDUCATION
MEN WOMEN
0-11
YEARS HS
GRAD SOME
POST
SECONDARY 4+ YRS
COLLEGE 0-11
YEARS HS
GRAD SOME
POST
SECONDARY 4+ YRS
COLLEGE TOTAL
18-35 62 25 25 19 46 30 38 26 31
36-45 46 28 38 31 37 40 31 24 33
46-64 39 27 39 38 33 36 43 34 37
65+ 44 47 71 58 54 45 48 46 56
TOTAL 46 30 37 33 44 38 38 29 36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MEN'S STUDIES
XY: Men, Masculinities, and Gender Politics
"Men have always been afraid that women could get along without them."
--Margaret Mead
In addition to age, gender is one of the universal dimensions on which status differences are based. Unlike sex, which is a biological concept, gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow. According to Gerda Lerner in The Creation of Patriarchy, gender is the "costume, a mask, a straitjacket in which men and women dance their unequal dance" (p.238). As Alan Wolfe observed in "The Gender Question" (The New Republic, June 6:27-34), "of all the ways that one group has systematically mistreated another, none is more deeply rooted than the way men have subordinated women. All other discriminations pale by contrast." Lerner argues that the subordination of women preceded all other subordinations and that to rid ourselves of all of those other "isms"--racism, classism, ageism, etc.--it is sexism that must first be eradicated. For some specifics, see B. Deutsch's "The Male Privilege Checklist" and Nijole Benokraitis & Joe Feagin's "Overt/Subtle/Covert Sex Discrimination: An Overview."
Women have always had lower status than men, but the extent of the gap between the sexes varies across cultures and time (some arguing that it is inversely related to social evolution). In 1980, the United Nations summed up the burden of this inequality: Women, who comprise half the world's population, do two thirds of the world's work, earn one tenth of the world's income and own one hundredth of the world's property. In Leviticus, God told Moses that a man is worth 50 sheikels and a woman worth 30--approximately the contemporary salary differentials of the sexes in the United States. (Actually, according to one "Current Population Survey" of the US Census Bureau, American women in 1999 earned approximately 77% of what men made, in 2000, according to the Department of Labor, their median weekly earnings were 76% of the male median.) What might be the socio-cultural implications if men were to also be the child bearers? Follow the first human male pregnancy (well, not really) at www.malepregnancy.com.
And the significance of the stamps above? A recent U.S. Postal Service publication, "Women on Stamps", holds some interesting methodological possibilities. Putting a deceased individual's likeness on a stamp is one way by which political immortality is conferred. Of the hundreds of Americans so immortalized only a handful are women: 16, to be precise, through 1960; 19 through 1970; and 29 through 1980 (any connection between this 50% increase with the ERA movement of the seventies?). An enterprising student may wish to investigate and compare how this female proportion of immortalized citizens varies across countries and time.
Matters of gender are scattered throughout these pages, including gender differences in household duties, in in voting during the 1996 Presidential election, and in suicide rates cross-nationally. Take advantage of this site's search engine by first entering "gender" and next "sex" as the search words.
The State of the World Population 2000: Lives Together, Worlds Apart--Men and Women in a Time of Change from the United Nations Population Fund
GenderNet from the World Bank. Extensive international datasets
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED?
According to Gallup surveys, in 1946 Americans felt by a margin of 54% to 24% that women live more difficult lives than men. More than one-half century later that margin had increased to 57% to 17%, with most of that change owing to increasing agreement among men (from a 47%-27% margin in 1946 to 52%-19% in 1997).
In the 1930s, 26 of 48 states had laws prohibiting the employment of married women. (It was the midst of the Great Depression and there were not enough jobs to keep the men out of political mischief, so married women had to go.) Click here to see Belief that a woman's place is in the home by cohort and education, 1977-94
The National Women's History Project's "Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement 1848-1998" and its links to resource sites
The Virtual Library on Labour and Business History has a sizable listing of women history journals
National Museum of Women's History, with featured exhibit: "Motherhood, social service and political reform: The political culture and imagery of American suffrage"
Women's History Workshop a collaborative effort of Massachusetts middle school through college teachers
Ken Middleton's American Women's History: A Research Guide
Women in American History--from Encyclopedia Britannica
Diotima: Materials on Women and Gender in the Ancient World includes bibliographical lists on such wide-ranging subjects as athletics, death, rape, ancient medicine, law, prostitution, and magic
ViVa: A Bibliography of Women's History in Historical and Women's Studies Journals
Library of Congress/American Memory's Selections from the National American Women Suffrage Association Collection, 1848-1921
Library of Congress/American Memory's "Votes for Women" Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920
UC Berkeley Library's Suffragists Oral History Project
Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar's Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1775-2000 (SUNY Binghamton project posing questions and providing primary documents to answer them)
Suffragists Oral History Project (UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library)
Duke University's "Women's Studies (R)E-sources on the Web"
From Smith College, the Sophia Smith Collection, "an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history"
Phyllis Holman Weisband's (U. Wisconsin) Selected Women and Gender Resources"
Voice of the Shuttle: Gender Studies Page
University of Maryland (Baltimore County) Women's Studies Homepage: routinely updated links to gender- related websites and electronic forums
Washington Post series "Gender Roles in the '90s"
Internet Resources for Women's Legal and Public Policy Information
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW MUCH CHANGE NEEDS TO BE MADE
The 2006 International Women's Day brought alarming messages from Latin American delegates about the growing rate of "femicide" in their countries. In Guatemala, for instance, more than 2,300 women had been brutally murdered. Observed Indira Lakshmanan in the Boston Globe (March 30, 2006), "Housewives, teenagers, and college students have disappeared and later been found naked, disemboweled, sexually mutilated, beheaded, and dumped in abandoned lots." Similar stories have come from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico.
Prevalence Rates for Female Genital Mutilation, 2001
From Human Rights Watch, "We Want to Live as Humans: Repression of Women and Girls in Western Afghanistan" (Dec. 2002)
Yahoo's collection of Sexual Harassment sites
Rape
History of Rape
WHO's Violence Against Women with national-level statistics on percentage of women physically assaulted by an intimate partner
Men and Domestic Violence Index
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GETTING REALLY HISTORICAL (AND CROSS-CULTURAL)
Chris Witcombe's "Images of Women in Ancient Art: Issues of Interpretation and Identity"
Ken Middleton's American Women's History: A Research Guide
Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt (from University of Michigan's Kelsey Museum)
Universes in Collision: Men and Women in 19th-Century Japanese Prints (University of Virginia)
HERSTORY: RETHINKING HISTORY FROM FEMALES' PERSPECTIVES
National Women's Hall of Fame
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSES
EDUCATION
You've probably read the studies showing how as the proportion of women in an occupational/professional category increases average earnings go down. Well what happens when women become "winners" in that institution that legitimates claims to the best positions in the work world: higher education? According to Business Roundtable (June 2003), in 1999-2000, women received 133 bachelor's degrees for every 100 to men. A decade later, during the 2009-2010 school year, women are projected to receive 142 bachelor's degrees for every 100 for men. What will happen to the "value" of a college degree?
From the National Center for Education Statistics, "Gender Differences in Participation and Completion of Undergraduate Education and How They Have Changed Over Time" (2005)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAMILY
Gender inequalities in family times
The plight of mothers of young children: To work or not to work?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MASS MEDIA
Gender biases and stereotypes are amply reinforced in the mass media. In newspapers, for instance, men received three-quarters of the front-page references and appeared in two-thirds of the front-page pictures in the mid-1990s. The United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women included in its Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action the observation how the "continued projection of negative and degrading images of women in media communications - electronic, print, visual and audio - must be changed. Print and electronic media in most countries do not provide a balanced picture of women's diverse lives and contributions to society in a changing world. In addition, violent and degrading or pornographic media products are also negatively affecting women and their participation in society." Mediascope's "Violence, Women and the Media" cites mounting evidence how "negative perceptions of women in entertainment can affect women in real life."
One way, of course, to counter such phenomena is giving women control over media messages. From the University of Maryland comes Women in Broadcasting History. For feminist perspectives on the news:
Feminist.com
Ms. Magazine
Global Women's Issues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WORK
Joan Korenman's annotated links (University of Maryland-Baltimore County)
U.S. Department of Labor: Women's Bureau Home Page
International Labour Organization's Gender Web Site
From the Harvard University Library Open Collections Program: Women Working, 1870-1930
Diane Elson and Caroline Wright's Gender Issues in Contemporary Industrialization: An Annotated Bibliography.
Global Women's Rights-- resources on the impact of globalization on women in the developing world
Bill Moyers' NOW's "Rich World, Poor Women" (Fall, 2003)
The Glass Ceiling Commission
University of Maryland's Women's Studies Database and Gender Issues: Women in the Workforce
WOW! Work of Women
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WOMEN IN THE MILITARY: EQUALITY TO KILL (AND TO BE KILLED)
Owing to labor shortages during World War II, all military branches were enlisting women by late 1942. Their entry into these and other supposedly traditional male spheres of life triggered considerable controversy. One church argued that the Women's Army Corps was "intended to break down the traditional American and Christian opposition to removing women from the home…by bringing back the pagan female goddess of de-sexed, lustful sterility."
In the NORC 1982 General Social Survey Americans were asked whether they think a woman should or should not be assigned as a soldier in hand-to-hand combat assuming she is trained to do it (variable FINDLND)?
PERCENT MEN AND WOMEN SAYING WOMEN SHOULD BE ASSIGNED TO COMBAT ROLES
BIRTH COHORT: pre-1910 1910-19 1920-29 1930-39 1949-49 1950 on TOTAL
FEMALE 17% 21% 34% 35% 43% 58% 38%
MALE 22% 15% 17% 34% 36% 36% 30%
In total, observe in the right-most column how women were 8 percentage points more likely than men to believe that women should be assigned to combat roles. This total, however, does not reflect some interesting generational dynamics at work. For men, the big divide is between those born before and after 1930--those roughly older or younger than 50 years of age in 1982, with the latter about twice as likely as their older counterparts to favor such assignment. For women, support consistently decreases with age. Their big generational breaks occur between those born before and after women first exercised their right to vote in 1920, and between those born before and after the Korean War. Finally, observe how the sexes most differ in attitude immediately after these generational divides: among those born in the 1920s and in the 1950s. (Not revealed in this table is how support within both sexes declined between those born in the 1950s and 1960s, with a 9 percentage point decline for women and 4 for men.)
Twelve years after this question was presented to the American public, in 1994, President Bill Clinton signed an order allowing women on combat ships and aircraft. Thirteen servicewomen died during the 1991 Gulf War, four from enemy fire, and 21 were wounded in action. In the 2003 Gulf War, women made up one in seven of the military personnel in Iraq.
POLITICS AND GLOBALIZATION OF GENDER
Institute for Women's Policy Research--"IWPR focuses on issues of poverty and welfare, employment and earnings, work and family issues, health and safety, and women's civic and political participation."
WomensNet/IGC
4th WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN site
Women in National Parliaments
Fall 1996 issue of Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies on Feminism and Globalization
UC Davis's Gender and Global Issues Program
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEMINISM AND ITS BACKLASH
Among the questions asked in the NORC 1996 General Social Survey were the following:
Do you think of yourself as a feminist or not? Twelve percent of men and 29% of women responded "yes." Among women, there was no significant difference among age groups; interestingly, women in their fifties and seventy and older were most likely to identify themselves as feminists while those in their thirties and sixties were least likely to do so. Women with four or more years of college were about 40 percent more likely to think of themselves as feminists than those with less education. This relationship, however, varies by race: While increasing education is associated with increasing identification among white women, among African American women the greatest identification was among the least educated (40% of black women who did not graduate from high school considered themselves feminists, as opposed to 19% of white women; among women with four or more years of college, 38% of whites compared to 27% blacks thought of themselves as feminists).
We'd like your views on how the women's movement has affected certain groups. For each group I name, please tell me whether you thing the women's movement has improved their lives, made their lives worse, or had no effect on their lives: homemakers (variable HOMEMAKER), women with working class jobs (WRKCLASS), women with management or professional jobs (MANPROF), men (MEN), children (CHILDREN), your self (YOURSELF).
Below are responses to these questions broken down by sex:
HOMEMAKER WRKCLASS MANPROF MEN CHILDREN YOURSELF
M F M F M F M F M F M F
IMPROVED 43% 42% 79% 80% 85% 88% 32% 32% 41% 46% 28% 47%
NO EFFECT 37 34 14 15 9 8 41 32 23 25 66 49
MADE WORSE 20 24 7 5 6 4 27 36 36 29 6 4
Feminist Majority Foundation
Feminism and Women's Studies links from Carnegie Mellon's English Servers humanities texts online
Kirstin Switala's Feminist Theory Website (Virginia Tech)
Joan Korenman's Women's Studies/Women's Issues Resource Sites (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Feminist resources from WWWomen.Com
Gender-Neutral Pronoun Frequently Asked Questions (John Williams)
The Backlash! Men's issues & fathers' rights
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ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
Independent Women's Forum "to advance the American spirit of enterprise and self-reliance and to support the principles of political freedom, economic liberty, and personal responsibility among women." Site includes Weird Science and Docket Watches along with SheThinks magazine, which is "by and for college students who feel academically isolated and disenchanted with a feminist movement that seems bent on problems instead of solutions."
National Organization for Women (NOW) Home Page
4th WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN site and a follow up
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EXPECTATIONS FOR THE FUTURE
In the NORC 1996 General Social Survey Americans were asked "Think about girls growing up today: Do you think their chances for a happy family life will be better than yours, about the same, or worse than yours?" (variable HAPGIRLS) Their predictions were not that rosy: Only 20% thought their chances will be better while 36% thought that they will be worse.
PERCENT OF AMERICANS BELIEVING GIRLS' CHANCES FOR HAPPY FAMILY LIFE
WILL BE WORSE THAN ONE'S OWN, BY SEX, AGE, AND EDUCATION
MEN WOMEN
0-11
YEARS HS
GRAD SOME
POST
SECONDARY 4+ YRS
COLLEGE 0-11
YEARS HS
GRAD SOME
POST
SECONDARY 4+ YRS
COLLEGE TOTAL
18-35 62 25 25 19 46 30 38 26 31
36-45 46 28 38 31 37 40 31 24 33
46-64 39 27 39 38 33 36 43 34 37
65+ 44 47 71 58 54 45 48 46 56
TOTAL 46 30 37 33 44 38 38 29 36
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MEN'S STUDIES
XY: Men, Masculinities, and Gender Politics
Gay and Lesbian Studies
Gay and Lesbian Studies
A Guide to the Collections
of The New York Public Library
Gay and lesbian studies is the examination, analysis and interpretation of the phenomenon characterized by romantic and affectional preference by individuals for others of the same sex. It is by nature cross-disciplinary, covering a wide range of intellectual bases: literature, history, religion, psychology, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, medicine, law, fine arts, and others.
Despite the presence of large numbers of homosexuals in New York City and other urban centers in the United States and throughout the world, their history has often been neglected or marginalized, a testimony to the inhibiting factors of legal restrictions on certain forms of sexual conduct, the lack of organization among gay men and lesbians, and the unwillingness of the larger society to recognize the value and merit of different forms of erotic and affectional expression.
These difficulties notwithstanding, certain individuals in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Western societies, such as Karl Ulrichs and Magnus Hirschfeld in Germany and Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds in Britain, began to conceive of themselves as belonging to a discrete group possessing a distinct identity; that this insight was revolutionary is underscored by the fact that no name existed for this body of people who shared similar sexual longings and desires. The term "uranian" was considered, but it failed to find favor and was replaced by words such as "homosexual" and "homophile," arbitrary constructions which, though workable, have been deemed too clinical in some quarters. By the late twentieth century "gay" and "lesbian" had become the recognized terms in scholarly and popular use.
Although these pioneers of the gay rights movement are lauded by civil libertarians and activists for their contribution to the political and social liberation of homosexuals, they are also significant for their concern in recognizing the importance of collecting and preserving materials relating to homosexuals and their vehicles of self-expression and identification. Yet this nascent attempt at identifying and collecting materials relating to the homosexual experience was itself inhibited and circumscribed by the need of many lesbians and gay men to lead hidden lives, fearful that self-disclosure would result in a loss of employment or legal difficulties. Of course, this very secrecy has made research strategies into the area of gay studies problematic, with scholars either attempting to intuit meanings not overtly expressed in historical records or employing materials (such as court or police reports) to identify behavior not discussed in more conventional sources.
Despite these problems The Research Libraries of The New York Public Library have managed, since their beginnings in 1911, to collect materials relating to this large, but submerged, population. Although the subject entries in the Dictionary Catalog of the Research Libraries, 1911-1971, employ terms that appear today to be abstruse or arcane, the very presence of these works, some quite rare, attests to the Library's interest in acquiring in this field. CATNYP, the computer catalog which lists the Library's acquisitions since 1972, reflects the recent expansion of scholarly and popular interest in gay and lesbian studies.
Resources in this subject area may be found in nearly every division of the Research Libraries. While the bulk of the material is available in the General Research Division, other units of the Library possess significant collections; researchers are directed to The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The Photography Collection, the Rare Books Division, the Manuscripts and Archives Division, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
The published materials in the Research Libraries are complemented by manuscript collections reflecting the donation to the Library of various archives, the most significant being that of the International Gay Information Center, the inventory for which is available online. These archives include the records of organizations such as the Gay Activists Alliance and the Mattachine Society; the personal papers of Arthur Bell, Jonathan Katz, and other gay men and lesbians; gay- and lesbian-related periodicals, both domestic and foreign; ephemera such as posters, flyers, announcements, gay comic and coloring books, t-shirts, buttons and games; and audio-visual materials.
If you need further assistance, visit our reference desk, or e-mail us at grdref@nypl.org
A Guide to the Collections
of The New York Public Library
Gay and lesbian studies is the examination, analysis and interpretation of the phenomenon characterized by romantic and affectional preference by individuals for others of the same sex. It is by nature cross-disciplinary, covering a wide range of intellectual bases: literature, history, religion, psychology, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, medicine, law, fine arts, and others.
Despite the presence of large numbers of homosexuals in New York City and other urban centers in the United States and throughout the world, their history has often been neglected or marginalized, a testimony to the inhibiting factors of legal restrictions on certain forms of sexual conduct, the lack of organization among gay men and lesbians, and the unwillingness of the larger society to recognize the value and merit of different forms of erotic and affectional expression.
These difficulties notwithstanding, certain individuals in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Western societies, such as Karl Ulrichs and Magnus Hirschfeld in Germany and Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds in Britain, began to conceive of themselves as belonging to a discrete group possessing a distinct identity; that this insight was revolutionary is underscored by the fact that no name existed for this body of people who shared similar sexual longings and desires. The term "uranian" was considered, but it failed to find favor and was replaced by words such as "homosexual" and "homophile," arbitrary constructions which, though workable, have been deemed too clinical in some quarters. By the late twentieth century "gay" and "lesbian" had become the recognized terms in scholarly and popular use.
Although these pioneers of the gay rights movement are lauded by civil libertarians and activists for their contribution to the political and social liberation of homosexuals, they are also significant for their concern in recognizing the importance of collecting and preserving materials relating to homosexuals and their vehicles of self-expression and identification. Yet this nascent attempt at identifying and collecting materials relating to the homosexual experience was itself inhibited and circumscribed by the need of many lesbians and gay men to lead hidden lives, fearful that self-disclosure would result in a loss of employment or legal difficulties. Of course, this very secrecy has made research strategies into the area of gay studies problematic, with scholars either attempting to intuit meanings not overtly expressed in historical records or employing materials (such as court or police reports) to identify behavior not discussed in more conventional sources.
Despite these problems The Research Libraries of The New York Public Library have managed, since their beginnings in 1911, to collect materials relating to this large, but submerged, population. Although the subject entries in the Dictionary Catalog of the Research Libraries, 1911-1971, employ terms that appear today to be abstruse or arcane, the very presence of these works, some quite rare, attests to the Library's interest in acquiring in this field. CATNYP, the computer catalog which lists the Library's acquisitions since 1972, reflects the recent expansion of scholarly and popular interest in gay and lesbian studies.
Resources in this subject area may be found in nearly every division of the Research Libraries. While the bulk of the material is available in the General Research Division, other units of the Library possess significant collections; researchers are directed to The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The Photography Collection, the Rare Books Division, the Manuscripts and Archives Division, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
The published materials in the Research Libraries are complemented by manuscript collections reflecting the donation to the Library of various archives, the most significant being that of the International Gay Information Center, the inventory for which is available online. These archives include the records of organizations such as the Gay Activists Alliance and the Mattachine Society; the personal papers of Arthur Bell, Jonathan Katz, and other gay men and lesbians; gay- and lesbian-related periodicals, both domestic and foreign; ephemera such as posters, flyers, announcements, gay comic and coloring books, t-shirts, buttons and games; and audio-visual materials.
If you need further assistance, visit our reference desk, or e-mail us at grdref@nypl.org
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