Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Dec. 5, 1991, edition 1 / Page 4
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Features The Blue Banner ThurSj^ea5^9&^ New Program Focuses On Women's Studies And Issues Connie Craig Staff Writer The UNCA Women’s Studies pro gram will offer a senior seminar class for the spring semester, according to Pamela Nickless, directorof Women’s Studies. Nickless said that because the Women’s Studies program was new, this will be the first time they have offered the class. Cathy Mitchell of the mass commu nication department will teach the seminar, which is open to Honors program students and students mi- noringin Women’s Studies. The semi nar will deal with issues of pornogra phy, multiculturalism, the objectivity of science, differing rhetoricalstances, and homophobia. According to Nickless, UNCA stu dents and faculty have shown interest in the Women’s Studies program. “I feel like I’m running to keep up with the program,” said Nickless. “Every time I turn around, someone whom I didn’t think was interested is saying, ‘Do you think a course like this would be a good idea?”’ Nickless said the program has two major purposes. “One is to provide class rooms in which the focus is on women, instead of treating women as special cases or special topics,” said Nickless. The second purpose, said Nickless, is, “to provide information about new research and about what is going on in research on women.” Nickless said there is so much research on women in a variety of fields that it is hard to stay informed. “Since the late 1960s, there has been an explosion of scholarship on the subject of women,” said Nickless. “One of the things we try to do is make recent research available.” According to Nickless, the program is not only important to students, but faculty as well. “Many of us got our doctorates in the mid-70s and in that time period, in almost all our disciplines, there was very little work being done in the area of women’s studies,” said Nickless. “We find ourselves in a si tuation where we are playing catch-up and that is very difficult to do.” Nickless said the Women’s Studies program helps the faculty stay current with all the research on women. “We canhelp our colleagues integrate some of the material and help them keep tqj,” said Nickless. Nickless said before the late 60s, disciplines usually did not study women or minorities because they did not consider them the creators of culture and history. “Most disciplines had defined them selves so that they studied primarily the activities of white men,” said Nickless. “So it wasn’t just women that had been left out of the studies. It was also the contributions of African- Americans and other immigrates.” Nickless said the program is inter disciplinary and therefore important to a liberal arts university like UNCA. Nickless said the core purposes of a liberal arts curriculum were to teach students to integrate methods from other disciplines, think critically, and look at previous research and evalu ate it by their own standards. “That is why we do well at liberal arts colleges and that is what we what to teach our students,” said Nickless. According to Nickless, other North Carolina universities that offer a Women’s Studies program includes UNC-Greetisboro, UNO Charlotte, UNOWilmington, Duke, and UNC- Chapel Hill. According to Nickless, UNC-Chapel Hill hopes toofferamajorin Women’s Studies next year. Nickless said Women’s Studies courses were often available at col leges that did not offer a formal pro gram. “Many of theschools who don’t have formal programs, offer Women’s Studies classes through various de partments,” said Nickless. Nickless said UNCA got started late, compared to the other universities, because no one was aware of an inter est in the area of Women’s Studies. “We just never perceived an interest until we started having a steady stream of students coming in saying, ‘Will you do an independent study with me?”’ said Nickless. Nickless said the program started about a year ago when Dr. Larry Wil son, vice chancellor for academic af fairs, set up a task force to look at the possibilities of creating a Women’s Studies minor. According to Nickless, the faculty never thought there was a demand for a Women’s Studies program until the past two or three years. “The main push for the program really came from the students,” said Nickless. “We began to have more and more students who were wanting special courses, special topics courses, or independent studies on women’s issues and on the new research on women.” According to Nickless, students can minor in Women’s Studies by taking the 100 level “Introduction to Women’s Studies” and the “Senior Seminar in Women’s Studies” along with 12 hours of electives from other departments or special topics courses. The departments that offer Women’s Studies electives are literature, psy chology, sociology, philosophy and mass communicatiorL The Women’s Studies program will offer two additional courses in litera ture and a course in history for the spring semester. The literature classes are “Women in 20th Century Literature” and “Ma jor Black Writers; African-American Autobiography.” The history course is “European Women: 1700-Present” Nickless said it is too soon to tell how effective the program would be at UNCA, but they have been effec tive in getting the course taught in other departments. “I think there is a lot of excitement among the faculty about teaching these courses,” said Nickless. Women's Collective Aims To Expand Resources Adeline Chung Staff Writer The UNCA Women’s Collective aims to achieve a greater awareness of the needs of women at UNCA, according to Michelle Smith, student leader of the group. “It (the Women’s Collective) started out several semesters ago as a group of women who got together to read poetry and literature writtenby women because we noticed a severe lack of writing by women in the literature and humanities curriculum,” Smith said. According to Smith, the members will bring articles, works of literature and anything new about women’s achievements to the meetings. “A lot of that is just getting together and just sharing whatwe’ve learned,” she said. “We have a lot of fun.” Smith said faculty members encour aged them to start a women’s re source center. “In order to do that we had to become an officially recog nized organization on campus,” she said. “This semester, the Women’s Col lective is just now getting its organi zational feet on the ground. We still want a women’s resource center,” Smith said. “Hopefully, the center will be a reference point for people who want to know about community places, such as a rape crisis center, when dealing with women’s issues.” Smith said the resource center will be on campus. “Hopefully, there will be a person who can staff the resource center on a part-time basis,” she said. “We ’re looking for funding from dif ferent places and we really want UNCA to take some responsibilities for making it happen.” According to Smith, the resource center will also serve as a meeting place to have workshops on different topics such as child care and self- defense. “That’s the big visionfor the women’s resource center that we’re still working on,” she said. Smith said Student Government Association (SGA) is doing a good job getting a daycare center started. “It was an idea we worked on and did some research with and the SGA just picked it right up,” she said. Smith said she was very excited about the program that’s being offered at UNCA. “I think we’ve got some great things happening and more people are interested in getting involved,” she said. “I’m really pleased with it (the program).” Smith said the Women’s Collective has sponsored lunch seminars. The seminars offered a panel discussion on violence against women and chil dren; Judith Bennet, a woman histo rian; and a concert by Musica Femina. /OUIID /HOP. Cassettes, Compact Discs ^Acccs^ones BiltPiore Square 665-1694 Jingle Bell A FEATunes. X SEXUAiriY fp- ACaOEMT WATTING TO HAPPEN YOU WOKE UP UY NEIGHBOURHOOD Ask About Our One Year Tape Guarantee! Astrology 20 page Computerized Birth Chart with complete interpretation $20 and 20% UNCA discount Makes a great Christmas gift 251-2511 PRO BIKES ASHEVILLE, N C PROFESSIONAL BICYCLES 342 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville. NC 28801 Home of: Luid of Racing Team Smokey Mountain Touiing Co. REASONABLEST RATES Phone 704/253-2800 UNCA Organization Promotes Programs For African American Students Adeline Chung Staff Writer The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs was established to promote international and African American student development, according to Carolyn Briggs, program coordinator. “We plan spiritual, educational and social programs that will help enhance the academic life for both international and African American students,” Brig^ said. The office welcomes international students once they have been accepted by UNCA. “My office will send a letter and tell them the kinds of things they would need to bring,” Briggs said. “I also offer to pick them up at the airport upon their arrival and try to get them settled in. “We try to get in touch with them before they get here and tell them thatwe’ll do whateverwe canto make them feel at home,” Briggs said. Briggs said the office also organizes an orientation program for the African American students who are new to the school. According to Briggs, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs also works with other student organizations. “We have the African Ameri can Student Association (AASA), International Student Association (ISA) African American Women United, Ebony Ensemble and Project We Hear You Mentor Program,” she said. Briggs also said students are currently working on “In My Black Hands,” an African American publication that will be printed this semester. “It will talk about issues confronting African Americans, not only in UNCA and Asheville, but throughout the world,” she said. According to Briggs, there is some kind of overlap between the activities planned by both, AASA and ISA. “What we’re trying to do this year is to bring both groups together,” she said. “Last year, we had a picnic for both the international and African American students. “This year, we’re going to continue that kind of communication,” Briggs said. “There are going to work together for the Spring Fling, which is a combination of the International Festival and RockmonL” Briggs said AASA is in the process of planning for the Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration and African American Heritage Month, while the international students have planned a food festival, Spring Fling and a host family program. Briggs said the host family program will involve faculty and staff being matched with international students. “The program is for the host family to get together with the interna tional smdent, not necessarily only during the holidays, but also during the semester, to have limch, go to a movie or just to come over to the faculty or staff’s house,” she said. Pisgah Players To Present Hopes' Version Of Paradise Lost The music of Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson and the Rolling Stones provide the backdrop for the Pisgah Players’ performance of Paradise Lost, David Hopes’ original stage adaptation of the Milton classic. Designed for speakers and dancers. Paradise Lost is a multimedia show choreographed by Ann Durm. Local artist Connie Bostic is designing the tree of knowledge for the production. Paradise Lost is the story of Satan’s rebellion against God, his fall and subsequent determination to undermine God’s creation, culminating in the temptation of Eve and the fall of man. Performances will be held in Lipinsky Auditorium at 8 p.m. Dec. 5 through 7. An additional performance will be held at All Souls Church Parish Hall in Biltmore on Dec. 18. Tickets for the performances are $5. Reminder: The deadline for the Dec. 12 edition of The Blue Banner\s Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. Remember, the Dec. 12 edition will be our final issue of the semester. “Normally, adjusting to new assignments isn’t easy. But the help ! receive from the staff at Uniforce removes most of my anxiety." —Uniforce Temporary Employee \ynirorce temporary services Asheville: 254-7009 COLD FEET? Don't get cold feet-about a pelvic exam. Call Planned Parenthood- We know from personal experience that pehics are necessary, but not exactly the high point of your j day. We will take the time to answer your questions and treat you like a person. Your complete exam is only $40. If you're a student, $25.^ You don’t have to get cold* feet about your health.... or take out a loan. J'A$f£aU Planned Parenthood. 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Dec. 5, 1991, edition 1
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