THE CENTER FOR

wountiseeee Newsletter

The City University Graduate Center

33 West 42 Street, New York City 10036 212 790-4435

Volume IV, No. 1 Sept.- Oct. 1982

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN

On May 7-8, 1982, representatives from women's research centers across
the country convened in Washington, D.C. for the first annual meeting of
the National Council for Research on Women. The Council, which unites
university affiliated research centers with each other, as well as with
independent, free-standing centers, seeks to create solid channels of
communication among the centers to allow them to coordinate vital activities.
These include: research endeavors; publication and information dissemination;
efforts to secure funding; national and international scholarly exchange;
political action; and strategies to influence public policy.

The National Council for Research on Women grew out of a meeting held
on November 19-21, 1981 at the Seaman's Institute in Manhattan that was
sponsored by the Institute for Research in History and funded by the Ford
Foundation. Recognizing the need for collaboration on projects of concern to
all centers for research on women, the participants established the Council,
designated Mariam Chamberlain, Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation,
as its chair, and formed an ad hoc steering committee to prepare working
papers to guide the development and clarify the purpose of the Council.

At the May 7th meeting in Washington, which was subsidized by the Carnegie
Foundation, Council members formally approved the constitution and elected
officers. They elected Myra Strober, Director of Stanford University's Center
for Research on Women, Chair of the Board of Directors, and Cynthia Fuchs Epstein,
Co-Director of C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center's Program on Women and Work, Vice Chair.
Mary Parlee, Director of the Center for the Study of Women and Society, was designated
as one of the Board representatives to the Executive Committee. Task force
committees presented reports and the Council members defined committees and
appointed chairs. Committees will focus on coordinating the following areas:
educational programs; publication, communication and dissemination; collaborative
research; data needs; public policy and political action; and membership.

The Council will engage in activities to facilitate contact among
the centers as well as between member centers and other kinds of organizations
and professionals. The Council hopes to provide some mailing services to the
centers. It will centralize mailing lists to optimize use of combined center
resources and will explore the possibility of handling some of the centers' direct
mail activities. In addition, the Council seeks to facilitate scholarly exchange
by centralizing information about scholars, and providing access to information
about centers for those who wish to visit from other regions, as well as from
other nations. In the area of publications, the Council plans to create a


master listing of all center publications, and to the greatest possible

extent, collect copies of everything produced by the centers. The Council
plans also to maintain a file of consultants, including experts in a variety

of academic disciplines, as well as those with expertise in the areas of
finances, management, and program development. The Council also will provide
information about funding opportunities and trends. By sharing proposals

of member centers, the Council could help prevent duplication and encourage
collaboration on research projects. The Council might also act as a sponsor

of meetings between research centers and representatives from the corporate

or public sector. By encouraging collaborative research among the centers,

the Council hopes to enhance the activities of the individual centers. Overall,
the Council may be able to suggest a research agenda for the coming years which
will help provide direction and coherence for the development of women's studies.

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The Council will be based at Roosevelt House, Hunter College,
47-49 East 65th Street, New York, N.Y. 10021, in space donated by Donna
Shalala, President of Hunter College.
-Lisa Master

NATIONAL WOMEN'S MAILING LIST

The National Women's Mailing List, a computerized data bank, is
an alternative news source about events and issues, on both the
community and national level, of interest to women. "The
National Women's Mailing List is a project of the Women's Infor-
mation Exchange. Formed by grass-roots feminists, the Women's
Information Exchange is dedicated to putting information tech-
nology to use in facilitating outreach, networking, and resource
sharing among women. The goal of the organization is to provide
computer technology at the lowest possible cost, to support the
efforts of women's projects throughout the country." (National
Women's Mailing List brochure) Individuals and organizations
may choose which types of organizations may have access to their
names, and may join the mailing list for no charge, though the
project needs financial support. To receive a brochure with
registration form or for information aobut how to publicize
events and issues through the National Women's Mailing List,
write or call, National Women's Mailing List, Women's Informa-
tion Exchange, 1195 Valencia Street, San Francisco, California,
94110, 415/824-6800.

Readers wishing to send ideas and announcements for future issues,
or to respond to items appearing in the Newsletter, are encouraged to do so.
Decisions about publication will be made on the basis of space considerations.
Please submit all materials for the November-December issue no later than
October 5th and mail to: Center for the Study of Women and Society Newsletter,
CUNY Graduate Center, 33 West 42 St., New York, NY 10036, Att: Lisa Master, Editor.


Announcements

TAKE BACK THE NIGHT!, a march and rally sponsored and endorsed by more
than twenty women's groups, will take place on Sunday, September 12th at
7:30 p.m. at Columbia University on Broadway at 116th Street. The march
aims to bring public attention to the issue of violence against women
in our society. For more information, call 212/477-0819 or 212/777-4000.

COALITION OF WOMEN IN GERMAN will hold its annual conference from October
13th through 17th on Thompson's Island in Boston Harbor. For additional
information, contact Barbara D. Wright, Conference Coordinator, The
University of Connecticut, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages, Storrs, Connecticut 06268.

BLACK WOMEN AND PUBLIC POLICY: ISSUES FOR THE 1980'S, sponsored by
Spelman College's Women's Research and Resource Center, will take place
from October 21st until 23rd at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sessions include: "Setting a Research Agenda: Black Women in Women's
Research Centers"; "Aging: Special Needs and Concerns of Black Women";
"Violence Against Women"; "Women's Rights/Feminism: A Black Perspective"
and others. For further information, contact: Beverly Guy-Shefthall,
Director, Women's Research and Resource Center, Box 127, Spelman College,
Atlanta, Georgia 30314, 404/681-3643.

WOMEN AND WORK, the fourth national conference sponsored by Women in Crisis,
Inc., will take place from November 10th through 13th at the Sheraton Centre
Hotel in New York. The conference will address issues common to all working
women, whether they work at home or in a formal job environment. Sessions
will focus on the needs, problems and goals of working women in the four
areas of aging; alcohol; drugs and health; and employment resources and
leadership. For further information, contact: Women in Crisis, Inc.,

37 Union Square West, New York, N.Y. 10003, 212/242-3081.

NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS, a conference sponsored jointly by Amherst,
Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachu-
setts, will take place from November 11th through 13th. For further information,
contact Eliana Ortega, Department of Spanish and Italian, Mount Holyoke

College, South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The Association for Women in Psychology requests program proposals for

their Ninth Annual National Conference on Feminist Psychology: Theory,

Research, Practice and Celebration, to be held on March 3rd through 7th,

1983 in Seattle, Washington. The conference theme is Bonding Between Women

and suggested formats include workshops, paper and poster sessions, symposia,
discussions, film, and demonstrations. Proposals must be postmarked by October

1, 1982. For further information, application and proposal submission forms,
contact: Vickie Sears & Ruth Baetz, AWP Program Review Committee, P.O. Box 31449,
Wallingford Station, Seattle, Washington 98103. Contributors need not be

members of AWP.


Feminist Education: Quality and Equality is the theme of the National

Women's Studies Association Fifth Annual Convention to be held June 26th
through 30th, 1983 at The Ohio State University. Proposals for presentations
must be submitted by October 1, 1982 to Marlene Longenecker & Elaine Pugh,
Conference Coordinators, Center for Women's Studies, The Ohio State University,
207 Dulles Hall, 230 West 17th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210, 614/422-1021.

For proposal details, consult the flier in the Center for the Study of Women
and Society, Room M03 at the Graduate Center.

CUNY News

SEMINAR IN SOCIAL ISSUES OF MEDICINE, introduced by the CUNY Graduate
Center Medical Sociology Program in Fall, 1981, will meet in the 1982-
83 academic year on alternate Thursdays from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. at the
CUNY Graduate Center beginning September 23. The interdisciplinary
seminar covers such topics as aspects of traditional medicine, health
care of working women, women physicians, media coverage of medical issues,
and innovative medical care. For further information, contact Judith
Lorber or Marian Smith, Department of Sociology, 212/790-4419 or 4320.

ALERT TO CUNY FACULTY MEMBERS: The deadline for the PSC-CUNY
Research Award Program (open to CUNY faculty only) is October 15, 1982.
Two review panels in this program might be especially appropriate for
research proposals in women's studies: Interdisciplinary Studies and
Ethnic and Area Studies. For information, contact the Grants Officer at
your college or Ms. Brenda Newman at the Research Foundation, 212/840-4553.

WORKSHOP FOR CUNY FEMINIST NETWORK, originally scheduled by the
Feminist Student Organization of the CUNY Graduate Center to take place
on May 1, 1982, has been postponed until November 15. The workshop, which
aims to establish connections and encourage collaboration, among Graduate
Center students and faculty in the branch colleges, will focus on work
that links activism and scholarship addresses how women empower them-—
selves in their neighborhoods, families, and organizations. For further
information, call the Center for the Study of Women and Society office at
212/790-4435 after September 15th.

"THE NEW SCHOLARSHIP ON WOMEN," an article by Mary Parlee, Director of
the Center for the Study of Women and Society, which appears in the Spring,
1982 issue of CUNY Graduate School Magazine, highlights the work of selected
scholars of women's studies in the City University of New York system.
Describing the work of scholars in a variety of disciplines, including
history, art history, sociology, political science, and psychology, the
article demonstrates how inquiries into the experiences of women have
helped transform traditional ways of thinking and have contributed to
the development of a new body of knowledge.

WOMEN WORKING, a one-day conference presented by the Queens College

Continuing Education Program, will take place on Friday, October 29, 9:00 a.m. -
3:30 p.m. The conference will explore specific job and career opportunities

as well as strategies for making decisions and obtaining employment. Registra-
tion is $12.00, including lunch. For further information, contact the
Continuing Education Program at Queens, 212/520-7052 or 520-7056.


Women’s Studies

In the Fall of 1982, Women's Studies courses at the Graduate Center include:

SELECTED TOPICS IN AMERICAN ART: HISTORY OF AMERICAN WOMEN SCULPTORS,
taught by Prof. M. Park, Thursday, 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
This course will treat the history of women sculptors beginning with Patience
Lovell Wright in the late eighteenth century and ending with contemporary
sculptors such as Louise Nevelson. The course will examine the history of
the sculpture medium, including works in wax, marble, bronze and steel. The
course will conclude with an exploration of how the resurgence of the women's
movement in the late 1960s has affected the work of women sculptors during
the last fifteen years.

LABOR ECONOMICS, taught by Prof. L. Edwards, Monday, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Labor Economics ts concerned with the determination of compensation and

employment in labor markets. Topics covered are: derived demand analysis;
derivation of labor supply; analysis of the structure of wages; mobility in

the labor market; labor market imperfections such as minimum wage laws, unions

and occupational licensing; and the relationship between unemployment and inflation.

WOMEN IN AND OF FRENCH LITERATURE, taught by Prof. R. Lamont, Thursday,
4:15 - 6:15 p.m.
This course will examine the manner in which women carve a space for themselves
in society by means of literary expression. The course will deal with what
French feminists call "l'espace feminin" and "l'ecriture feminine," culminating
in an analysis of "l'espace de 1l'Ecriture." Simone DeBeauvoir's Le Deuxieme Sexe
will serve as a base for the exploration. The course will be taught in English
unless everyone in the class speaks fluent French. Students will read the books
in French, or in translation and papers will be accepted in French or English.

SOCIOLOGY OF GENDER STRATIFICATION, taught by Prof. G. Tuchman, Tuesday,
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
This course will examine the most important contemporary sociological and
anthropological theories purporting to explain gender stratification. At
issue will be such questions as whether women are universally socially and
politically subordinated to men, how subordination is related to socio-economic
organization, and how to study empirically gender stratification in the United
States. Special attention will be paid to the contrast between Marxist theories,
particularly the increasingly well-known British works, and American empiricism.
Readings will include Sokoloff's Between Money and Love: Barrett's Woman's
Oppression Today; and DeBeauvoir's The Second Sex.

FEMINIST SOCIAL THEORIES, taught by Prof. C. Muller, Wednesday, 4:15 - 6:15 p.m.

This course will consider some of the major schools of feminist theory and will
attempt to understand them within their social and theoretical context~-from
their inception in the French Revolution to the present. These schools will
be related to the traditions of social philosophy they have both drawn upon and
opposed, including Liberalism, Utopian Socialism, Marxist Socialism, Anarchisn,
Existentialism, and Psychoanalysis. Readings will include Sheila Rowbotham,
Adrienne Rich, Dorothy Dinnerstein, Juliet Mitehell, and their forerunners,
Crystal Eastman, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and others, as well as writings by
Freud, Marx and Engels, Hegel and Sartre to which they are related.


Resources

Women's Organizations: New York City Directory is a 144-page listing
of the more than 340 women's advocacy and professional groups in the New

York City area, including city-based national organizations. The Directory
also includes a sub-directory of 77 professional groups and networks and a
bibliography of related resources. It is available from the New York City
Commission on the Status of Women for $5.95 for single copies or $4.95 for

5 or more copies (postage and handling included). To order, make check
payable to: CSW Fund, Inc. and mail to: Directory, New York City Commission
on the Status of Women, 250 Broadway, Suite 1412, New York, N.Y. 10007.

Ladyslipper, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Women

in the Musical Arts. Their catalog and resource guide contains listings of

use in women's studies, black studies, folklore, musicology, literature, and
anthropology courses. For a copy of their catalog, write to: Ladyslipper, Inc.,
P.O. Box 3124, Durham, North Carolina 27705, or call 919/596-0717.

The Women's History Research Center of Berkeley, California has recently
published their major collections on microfilm. Microfilm sets are available
on WOMEN AND HEALTH/MENTAL HEALTH, WOMEN AND LAW, and HERSTORY for libraries,
women's groups, researchers, and teachers. For details on contents, prices,
and ordering procedures, contact the Women's History Research Center, 2325 Oak,
Berkeley, California, 94708, 415/548-1770. The Center also has established a
National Clearinghouse on Marital Rape. In addition to providing information
about marital rape, the Clearinghouse aims to assist victims directly and

to prevent marital rape by educating the public and providing resources to
battered women's shelters, crisis centers, district attorneys, etc. For more
information, contact the National Clearinghouse on Marital Rape at the Women's
History Research Center address listed above.

The Center for the Study, Education, and Advancement of Women at the University
of California in Berkeley announces their WORKING PAPER SERIES which stems

from their research program on "Women and Work: Intersections of the Marketplace
and the Household." Titles include: "The Popular Image of Women in Clerical
Occupations, 1880-1920" by Mary E. Adams; "Feminization, Mexican-Border
Industrialization and Migration" by Maria-Patricia Fernandez-Kelly; "The
Fruits of Labor, 1935-1950" by Clair Brown; and "Bitches and Babes: Women

at Work in American Cartoons from the 19th Century to the Present" by Annegret
Ogden. For a complete listing of available papers, monographs, and prices,
write to: Publications, Center for the Study, Education, and Advancement of
Women, Building T-9, Room 112, University of California, Berkeley, Ca. 94720.

The Clearinghouse Newsletter, a publication of the Clearinghouse on Women's
Issues in Congress, provides bibliographic data on legislation, hearings,

court actions, news reports, national meetings, and books concerning women's
rights issues. The newsletter, formerly funded within the U.S. Congress,

has been cut from the Congressional budget. It is still available on’a monthly
basis by subscription but now costs $47.00 annually. To subscribe, send a
check or money order for $47.00 to the CWIC Newsletter and include your name,
organization, and address. Mail to: Clearinghouse Newsletter, Clearinghouse
on Women's Issues in Congress, 1620 Brookside Road, McLean, Virginia 22101.

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