There are some wonderful, amazing writers who have twitter accounts (Libyan-American poet and translator Khaled Mattawa, Egyptian children’s book author Walid Taher,…
“As Moallem argues, women have often been cast as flattened signifiers in a “semiotic war” between nationalisms and colonialisms, both of which are rooted in the system of patriarchy, as each of them fight to claim civilization. In this semiotic war, women as signifiers have operated as markers of civilization, whether it is in the sense of demonstrating national progress through modernization (e.g., educating or unveiling women as a symbol of modernization)
or in the sense of preserving national civilization (e.g., wearing the veil as a symbol of authentic, indigenous culture). Both of these modalities of civilization—the notion that modernization can civilize nations and peoples away from barbarism and the notion of grand, ancient civilizations as the “cradle” of modern civilization—operate in a gendered register, whether it is through civilization as written on women’s bodies, or the notion of women keeping and nurturing (cradling) civilization.”
or in the sense of preserving national civilization (e.g., wearing the veil as a symbol of authentic, indigenous culture). Both of these modalities of civilization—the notion that modernization can civilize nations and peoples away from barbarism and the notion of grand, ancient civilizations as the “cradle” of modern civilization—operate in a gendered register, whether it is through civilization as written on women’s bodies, or the notion of women keeping and nurturing (cradling) civilization.”
— Amira Jarmakani - Imagining Arab Womanhood (via egyptiansoapbox)
SEWSA POC Caucus Call for Papers - Litanies of Survival from the Ivory Tower and Beyond- Due Nov. 15
SEWSA POC Caucus Call for Papers - Litanies of Survival from the Ivory Tower and Beyond- Due Nov. 15
This year, the former Women of Color Caucus renamed the People of Color (POC) Caucus of SEWSA invites papers, poems, performances, playlists, prescriptions, potions, procedures, and processes of surviving the academic industrial complex. How many women of color professors do you know who died before their 60th birthday? How many Queer POC scholars do you know who were denied advancement because of their politics? How many POC students do you know whose work was unfairly labeled “not rigorous” because it was accessible to those outside the academy? How many of us owe our survival to the women of color staff people who run our departments? We ask because we know that you know countless stories like these and we know that you’ve had these experiences too. As survivors ourselves, we ask how did we do it? How do we do it again? And how do we do it better? Please share with us your research and personal strategies of survival. “We were never meant to survive,” but we do!
Please email moyazb[at]gmail[dot]com with your submissions by Nov. 15 with “SEWSA POC” in the subject line. SEWSA will be held at George Mason University March 29-31, 2012.
We strongly encourage submissions from undergraduates, staff, administrators, and interested community members.
