NOV 15, 2012: "THE POLITICS OF A QUEER HABITUS IN BEIRUT"—A TALK BY DR. SOFIAN MERABET
This lecture analyzed the politics of a queer habitus as critical of wider class and gender relations in Beirut. While Sofian Merabet situated the social formations of dissident sexualities in urban Lebanon as a crucial locus for reconsidering conventional understandings of ethics, culture and citizenship in the Arab world, he provided a brief ethnographic sketch of the urban landscape through intimate practices on its margins, and paid close attention to the genealogy of contemporary constructions of norms and forms of social exclusion in Beirut. In particular, the talk attempted to develop a critical case in point for the study of sexuality and the city that examined the formations of Lebanese queer identities in relation to global processes of circulation and translation of gender models and ideas. Furthermore, it positioned the importance of gender and sexual habitus at the center of an often over-simplified political understanding of the notion of identity in Lebanon that, traditionally, has been defined on the exclusive basis of sectarian affiliation.

OCT 23, 2012: GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES READING GROUP
GWST reading group events are open to all faculty, staff, and students (undergrad and grad) who are interested in reading and talking more about gender-related issues. You don't have to be affiliated with the GWST program to participate; this is a way for you to explore issues and get to know other people on campus with similar interests. During this meeting, we discussed The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot.
About the book: From a single, abbreviated life grew a seemingly immortal line of cells that made some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible. And from that same life, and those cells, Rebecca Skloot has fashioned in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks a fascinating and moving story of medicine and family, of how life is sustained in laboratories and in memory. Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five in Baltimore, a poor African American migrant from the tobacco farms of Virginia, who died from a cruelly aggressive cancer at the age of 30 in 1951. A sample of her cancerous tissue, taken without her knowledge or consent, as was the custom then, turned out to provide one of the holy grails of mid-century biology: human cells that could survive—even thrive—in the lab. Known as HeLa cells, their stunning potency gave scientists a building block for countless breakthroughs, beginning with the cure for polio. Meanwhile, Henrietta's family continued to live in poverty and frequently poor health, and their discovery decades later of her unknowing contribution—and her cells' strange survival—left them full of pride, anger and suspicion. For a decade, Skloot doggedly but compassionately gathered the threads of these stories, slowly gaining the trust of the family while helping them learn the truth about Henrietta, and with their aid she tells a rich and haunting story that asks the questions, "Who owns our bodies?" And "Who carries our memories?"
— Tom Nissley, Amazon.com

OCT 22, 2012: DANIEL MATT TEXT STUDY SEMINAR: "SHEKHINAH: THE FEMININE HALF OF GOD" 
The Center for Judaic Studies hosted this text study seminar with Kabbalah expert, Daniel Matt.

JAN 17, 2013: "GLITZ, GLAMOUR, BLOCKS AND BRUISES: GENDER PERFORMANCE IN ROLLER DERBY" — A RESEARCH PRESENTATION BY MARGARET MILLER  
Can you think of any other sport that masquerades in masculinity, but is widely understood solely as a women's sport? Roller derby is a sport for women and by women. This talk will discuss Ms. Miller's undergraduate ethnographic research conducted with the Denver Roller Dolls and the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls. It will emphasize the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) and how this association has created a space for women to construct new identities as players. The language, the gear, and the hierarchy and community structures perform and reconstruct the gender binary as an entity less about inequitable power dynamics and more about the strategic and empowering uses of masculinity and femininity. The bouts, the blocks, and the bruises represent players' continued battle for an identity completely founded in themselves. 

Margaret Miller received her BA in Anthropology and English, with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in Gender and Women's Studies, from the University of Denver last year. She is currently a first-year MFA candidate in fiction at Mills College. 

Please join us in the Humanities Institute Room (Sturm 286) at 4pm for this exciting event! 

JAN 24, 2013: GENDER AND WOMEN'S STUDIES READING GROUP -- WINTER DISCUSSION OF MIDDLESEX
We will be discussing Middlesex, a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, at our winter meeting on Thursday, January 24th. Join us for book discussion and dinner at Kaos Pizzeria on S. Pearl, with dinner starting at 6pm and discussion beginning around 6:30pm. Pizza will be provided by the GWST Program. RSVP to katie.riddle@du.edu if you plan to attend! GWST reading group events are open to all DU faculty, students (undergrad and grad), and staff. You don't have to be affiliated with the GWST program to participate; this is a way for you to explore gender-related texts and issues, as well as to get to know other people on campus with similar interests.

About the book:  Middlesex tells the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family, who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of 1967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic. (from the back cover)

Feel free to email katie.riddle@du.edu with any questions!

FEB 13, 2013: "MODEST RESISTANCE: MUSLIM AMERICAN WOMEN'S HIJAB NARRATIVES" — A RESEARCH PRESENTATION BY DR. CHRISTINE SHEIKH
We are excited to announce that Dr. Christine Sheikh, Assistant Professor of Sociology and member of the GWST Executive Committee, will discuss her current research on Muslim American women's negotiation of the headscarf. Please join us at 4pm on February 13th in Chambers 160 for Dr. Sheikh's presentation, to be followed by Q&A/discussion. 

FEB 28, 2013: "PIONEERING FEMALE EDUCATION: THE ALLIANCE ISREALITE UNIVERSELLE'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN BAGHDAD IN THE 1890S" — A RESEARCH PRESENTATION BY DR. JONATHAN SCIARCON
You're invited to join Jonathan Sciarcon, Assistant Professor of History and Judaic Studies, for a discussion of his current research on the Alliance Israelite Universelle's first school for Jewish girls in Baghdad in the 1890s. The event will take place on Thursday, February 28th at 12pm in Chambers 160.

MARCH 7, 2013: A CONVERSATION WITH DACIA MARAINI
Dacia Maraini is one of the most influential contemporary Italian authors. A committed activist, Maraini has fought against gender roles that repress women and render them vulnerable to abuse and violence throughout her artistic career. Her first two novels, The Holiday and The Age of Indifference, were instant international successes: the latter received the editors' international Formentor Prize and was instantly translated into twelve languages. In 1990 Maraini sealed her international success with the publication of the novel The Silent Duchess, which was on Italy's bestseller list for almost two years, won the prestigious Campiello Prize, and was translated into fourteen languages. Several of her books have been made into films, and she has also written screenplays. We hope you'll join us for this exciting opportunity to hear from Ms. Maraini. This event is being hosted by Professor Gian Maria Annovi of DU's Department of Languages and Literatures, and is co-sponsored by the Marsico Visiting Scholars Program, the Italian Program, the Amici of DU, Club Italia, and the Gender and Women's Studies Program.