GWST - Events

GWST reading group events are open to all faculty, staff, and students (grad and undergrad) 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.

We will discuss Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein at our Spring session on Wednesday, April 11th.

Book discussion will be held at Geoffrey Bateman's house, 3220 Vallejo St., Denver, 80211. The event begins at 6:30 p.m., with discussion, led by Dr. Lindsey Feitz, Postdoctoral Lecturer for the Gender and Women's Studies Program, beginning around 7:00 p.m. Light dinner will be provided.

RSVP to Kristy.bertrand@du.edu if you would like to attend. Copies of the book are available through Penrose and Prospector, and they can also be purchased from Amazon.com.

From the Author: "As a mom, I admit, I was initially tempted to give the new culture of pink and pretty a pass. . . So my daughter slept in a Cinderella gown for a few years. Girls will be girls, right? They will—and that is exactly why we need to pay more, rather than less, attention to what's happening in their world. According to the American Psychological Association, the emphasis on beauty and play-sexiness at ever-younger ages is increasing girls' vulnerability to the pitfalls that most concern parents: eating disorders, negative body image, depression, risky sexual behavior. Yet here we are with nearly half of six-year-old girls regularly using lipstick or lip gloss. . . Meanwhile, the marketing of pink, pretty, and "sassy" has become a gigantic business: the Disney Princesses alone are pulling in four BILLION dollars in revenue annually. . . So much is at stake, for mothers with girls of all ages: How do we define girlhood? What about femininity? Beauty? Sexuality? Our choices will tell our girls how we see them, who we want them to be, our values, expectations, hopes, and dreams. Do we want them to be judged by the content of their character or the color of their lip gloss? I'm the first to admit that I do not have all the answers. Who could? But as a mother who also happens to be a journalist (or perhaps vice versa), I wanted to lay out the context—the marketing, science, history, culture—in which we make our choices, to provide information and insight that might help parents, educators, and all of us who care about girls guide them toward their true happily-ever-afters."

GWST is proud to offer a new reading group! The events will be open to all faculty, staff, and students (grad and undergrad) 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.

We will discuss Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario at our first session on Monday, October 10.

Book discussion will be held at Geoffrey Bateman's house, 3220 Vallejo St., Denver, 80211. The event begins at 6:30 p.m., with discussion, lead by Dr. Lisa Martinez, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, beginning around 7:00 p.m. Light dinner will be provided.

RSVP to kristy.bertrand@du.edu for a FREE copy of the book (books reserved for reading group attendees). You can pick up your copy from the GWST office (Sturm 419).

About the book: "Soon to be turned into an HBO dramatic series, Nazario's account of a 17-year-old boy's harrowing attempt to find his mother in America won two Pulitzer Prizes when it first came out in the Los Angeles Times. Greatly expanded with fresh research, the story also makes a gripping book, one that viscerally conveys the experience of illegal immigration from Central America. Enrique's mother, Lourdes, left him in Honduras when he was five years old because she could barely afford to feed him and his sister, much less send them to school. Her plan was to sneak into the United States for a few years, work hard, send and save money, then move back to Honduras to be with her children. But 12 years later, she was still living in the U.S. and wiring money home. That's when Enrique became one of the thousands of children and teens who try to enter the U.S. illegally each year. Riding on the tops of freight trains through Mexico, these young migrants are preyed upon by gangsters and corrupt government officials. Many of them are mutilated by the journey; some go crazy. The breadth and depth of Nazario's research into this phenomenon is astounding, and she has crafted her findings into a story that is at once moving and polemical." (Publisher's Weekly)

This quarter, we are proud to announce that the GWST Reading Group is co-sponsored by the DU Latino Center for Community Engagement and Scholarship. Many thanks to DULCCES for its support!

Fall 2010 Events:

Wednesday September 12, 2010-- CANCELLED

"Working with Men: How Women and Transgender Colleagues Can Partner" (ACPA Webinar) Driscoll Center 1864

Bring a lunch and join us for this brown bag career/professional development opportunity, a 90 minute webinar and post-discussion about more successfully engaging men in positive and productive ways. "The ACPA Higher Education Webinar Series provides quality professional development opportunities for student affair professionals, faculty and graduate students. This webinar will utilize sociological and psychological literature on gender and educational theories of development, to address the necessity and impact of promoting positive and healthy male engagement and development on campuses for all student affairs staff, regardless of one’s gender identity. The facilitators will specifically address the challenges to doing this work for those who do not identify as men, particularly, engaging in this work in an authentic way without compromising one's identity or perspective. This session will give practical tools for those who interact with men on a regular basis, and will provide a starting place for further conversations about how to foster men's learning and development in ways that promote responsibility, healthy leadership, positive community building, and work towards equal, equitable, and socially just campus environment(s).

Seating is limited; advance RSVP is strongly suggested to lgbtiqa@du.edu .

Tuesday September 28, 2010

Julie Krow, M.A.; L.P.C
"The Haven: Putting Lives Back on Track and Keeping Families Together"
Chambers Center Garden Room, 6pm

Julie Krow (formerly Miller) is a Senior Instructor with the University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Division of Substance Dependence, Addiction Research and Treatment Services (ARTS). She holds a Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. Julie’s responsibilities include a range of senior executive duties within a framework of four primary areas: Women’s Treatment Services, Operations, Development, and Community Relations in support of ARTS clinical programs. Julie provides gender-specific program consultation ARTS-wide. She participates in teaching opportunities including lecturing to medical students and psychiatric residents, providing community education, media relations, and publications.

Julie has experience in the areas of Child Welfare, Mental Health Substance Abuse Treatments, Developmental Disabilities, and Criminal Justice.

Tuesday October 5, 2010

Johanna Leal and Nicole Lewis
"Working with Women Offenders"
Chambers Center Garden Room, 6pm

Johanna Leal began working with the criminal justice system in 1999 and has developed curriculum and piloted programs in correctional facilities, community based organizations, community colleges and government agencies in Colorado, California, Illinois, Guatemala and Mexico.

As an Offender Workforce Development Specialist and a Global Career Development Facilitator, Johanna has worked extensively with employers and community partners to develop innovative job training programs and viable career opportunities for former offenders and the under employed. In the past, she has focused on such projects as working with women and youth entering non-traditional careers in the construction industry. Johanna is currently involved in the on-going design, implementation and supervision of Pre-Release programming in 19 correctional facilities in the State of Colorado as the Pre-Release Program Work Lead with the Division of Adult Parole, Community Corrections, and YOS. Her work on that project earned her the 2009 Excellence in Criminal Justice Award by the Colorado Criminal Justice Association.

Johanna received her B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Education from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and her M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Nicole M. Lewis worked with Offenders with Serious Mental Illness (OSMI) in Community Re-Entry at the John Inmann Work and Family Center in 2002 and later was employed by the Center on the ‘Motherhood project,’ working with incarcerated and paroled mothers with children under the age of 18. Nicole has also worked as a Community Re-entry specialist handling a special population case load of Sex Offenders and Sexually Violent Predators. She has been a Community Re-Entry Work Leader, supervising 15 of Community Re-Entry Specialists throughout the state of Colorado for the Division of Adult Parole.

Nicole Lewis has also worked in private industry in the Information Technology arena for almost 20 years. In that time, she has helped to develop requirements for large scale Telecommunications systems for North America and Europe. Nicole has worked with special populations in the past. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and Computer Information Systems from the College of St. Elizabeth in Madison, New Jersey and has a Master of Forensic Science Degree from National University in La Jolla, California

Tuesday October 19th, 2010

"A Unique Approach to Juvenile Crim: Colorado's Youthful Offender System"
Chambers Center Garden Room, 6pm

The Youthful Offender System (YOS) was created following the 1993 "summer of violence" in Denver, which included several highly publicized crimes and the spread of street gang activity to middle-class neighborhoods. A special legislative session was called by Govenor Roy Romer; one of the outcomes was the creation of YOS.

YOS is based on the belief that youthful offenders can be habilitated, that their past criminal behaviors can be reversed, and that their futures can be positive and productive. Its mission is to provide a controlled, regimented and secure environment that affirms the dignity of self and others. YOS promotes the values of education, work, and self-discipline, and develops inmates' pro-social skills and abilities through an individualized phased program that includes supportive aftercare. The program is tailored to meet youths' individual needs and help them successfully reintegrate into society, while providing for public safety throughout the YOS commitment.

Please join us to hear professionals working in the Youthful Offender System describe Colorado's unique approach to juvenile crime.

Tuesday October 26th, 2010
"EPIC: Transforming Our Criminal Justice System"
Cara Wagner, EPIC Project Coordinator
Chambers Center Garden Room, 6pm

The multi-million dollar federal EPIC grant is a collaborative effort to bring five criminal justice agencies in three geographic areas to Evidenced-Based Practices for Implementation Capacity through training in Motivational Interviewing (MI), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI).

Cara Wagner is the Project Coordinator for the EPIC grant. She has experience working with both juvenile and adult populations. Cara has developed and facilitated a jvenile girls' group, worked with a collaborative team to offer services to victims of sexual assaults, and co-facilitated client groups of newly sentenced sex offenders. Cara has supervised both male and female adult sex offenders, as well as regular adult populations of both males and females. She began her career as a probation officer with Jefferson County in 1996. She worked there for the last 14 years prior to taking a position with Colorado Department of Public Safety. Cara will discuss the EPIC project and its potential to transform our criminal justice system.

Tuesday November 2nd, 2010
"The Transformational Process of Motivational Interviewing"
David Bonaiuto & Chad Dilworth
Chambers Center Garden Room, 6pm

David Bonaiuto is a Multi-Agency Training Coordinator with the Colorado Department of Public Safety. As an experienced trainer with correctional agencies nationwide, Mr. Bonaiuto assists in the implementation of Evidence-Based Practices (EBP), training officers in risk/need assessment, Motivational Interviewing, and case planning. Mr. Bonaiuto has conducted workshops for corrections departments in the Level of Service Inventory-Revised, the Youth Level-of-Service/Case Management Inventory, the Colorado Juvenile Risk Assessment, the Risk and Resiliency CheckUp, as well as Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Training, and contingency management. In addition to his work as a trainer, David also provides EBP coaching to criminal justice professionals and day reporting staff throughout the U.S.

Chad Dilworth has a Bachelor of Science degree is Psychology and a minor in Criminology from CSU, as well as a Master of Science degree in Forensic Psychology, and spent three years as a deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Chad currently works with offenders, utilizing his education and professional experience to work with offenders released on parole, and educating parole staff in Motivational Interviewing.