New DVD at Babbidge: Sita, a Girl from Jambu

Sita, a Girl from Jambu

Sita, a Girl from Jambu

by Kathleen J Man

“SITA shows a complex and original narrative strategy rare in documentaries, and perfect for its subject matter.” –Sarah Kozloff, Professor of Film, Vassar College MORE ABOUT THE FILM > Reviews & Awards > Filmmaker Bio > Film Web Site

“Sita” tells the story of a young Nepalese girl who is trafficked into sexual slavery. Adapted from “Bichari (Poor) Sita,” a street drama conceived and staged by village girls in rural Nepal, the film also incorporates footage of a public performance of the play. An innovative blend of documentary and fiction, “Sita” expands our notion of cinematic genre and extends the broader social message that people can make a difference in their communities. It was shot entirely on location in Nepal during the escalation of the Maoist rebellion, within a year of King Gyanendra’s coup on February 1, 2005. Appropriate for: High School•College/University 48 minutes • DVD

Judith Warner: Of Mice and Women

From the New York Times:

Judith Warner makes some astute observations on communications between and amongst the genders. Good read!

Opinion

Judith Warner: Of Mice and Women

By Judith Warner

Published: June 26, 2008

At a conference on brain science, learning about patterns in lab-animal behavior — and traveling some familiar grooves of your own.

Tess Bird, feminist poet, spoke at Sunken Garden Poetry Festival

On June 25, 2008, our own UConn Women’s Studies grad, Tess Bird, read several of her poems at the Hillstead Museum’s Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. She was one of the winners in the Connecticut Poetry Circuit competition. Her feminist strength came through in all the poems but I especially liked her last poem where she speaks of her final letter to someone who had been the recipient of many letters from her but had not responded.

She performed with wonderful drama — punctuating her words with a little movement and beautiful intonation. I’d love to hear more!

There were 4 other winners who read as well. Following the Circuit, Coleman Barks read from his translations of Rumi accompanied by electronic cello.

There are a few more of these wonderful evenings of poetry left this summer– check the link above.

The garden was designed by Beatrix Farrand and the house architect was Theodate Pope Riddle.  To visit other places in Connecticut which feature many amazing women, follow the Connecticut Women’s Heritage Trail.

Bravo, Tess!

Hymen replacement in France on the rise

Judith Warner wonders about the patriarchal control of women’s sexuality in the excellent opinion piece from the NYT on June 12, 2008.

Religious Leaders in Colorado Respond to the Egg-As-Person Amendment | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

Religious Leaders in Colorado Respond to the Egg-As-Person Amendment | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

The question of when life begins is an incredibly complex one with enormous legal and ethical ramifications for contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research and the very definition of our humanity.

Colorado voters will decide this thorny question in November.

On Thursday, the Colorado Secretary of State confirmed that proponents of a controversial measure to confer constitutional rights on fertilized human eggs exceeded the number of valid petition signatures required to place the question on the general election ballot.

The ballot question will read:

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado:

SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is
amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read:

Section 31. Person defined. As used in sections 3, 6, and 25 of Article II of the state constitution, the terms “person” or “persons” shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization.

Before voters are inundated with months of campaigning, we put the measure, now known as Proposed Amendment 48, to a very different test.

We asked a cross-section of religious scholars, clergy and spiritual leaders - what moral precedent could this potential amendment set? - to determine if there is uniformity on the theological definition of personhood.

Women’s Studies Library Newsletter, May, 2008

The latest newsletter is complete and can be found at this link:

http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/bysubject/womstudies/newsletters/WS-5-2008.pdf

In This Issue

• Databases worth a look
• Focus on: RSS!
• Request a Course Web site
• Digital Commons: Creating a
• New acquisitions: latest videos added to the collection
• Web focus: Streaming Videos: lots of interesting media freely available
• Women’s History Website

Let me know if you find the information helpful or have other items to add.

Hope your summer is going slowly and wonderfully.

Joan B. Kroc Institute For Peace&Justice: Womens Peacemaker Conference

Joan B. Kroc Institute For Peace&Justice: Womens Peacemaker Conference

IPJ Women PeaceMakers Conference

Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World

An international working conference to probe and address global acquiescence to impunity, gender violence and exclusion that continues to obstruct peacebuilding and deny human security.
September 24 - 26, 2008
Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice
San Diego, CA
Co-Convened by:

• Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ)
• Global Justice Center (GJC)
• Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF)
• United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
• United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW)

Submit an application
The horrifying scope and magnitude of abuse in spite of good intentions of peacemakers and peacebuilders demands constant examination. The eruption of gender violence and the denial of human dignity to those caught in international struggles to end conflict and gain human rights are inexcusable. Human security must be achieved to bring the human community together to tackle the common problems that lie ahead for this small planet.

Successful strategies for overcoming cycles of conflict and exploitation will be illuminated and expanded in this international working conference. Delegates should be engaged in research, policymaking, peacbuilding and peacekeeping related to:

• Ending cycles of conflict through gender inclusive peacebuilding.
• Protecting civilians in armed conflict from violence, including sexual violence.
• Enforcing justice over impunity at all stages of conflict transformation.

Fees:

The conference fee, excluding travel and accommodations, is $180.00 general delegate, $100.00 NGO delegate from developing conflict country, and $60.00 student delegate. The fee includes two lunches, one dinner, two receptions, programs and informational materials, and daily transportation to and from hotels partners of the event. (A limited number of scholarships will be available for students serving as note-takers.)

Application Process:

There is a two-step process to participate in the conference:

Step One:
Submit an Application
(March 17 – Sept. 12, 200
Note: ONLY accepted applicants will be invited to complete the second step (Registration and Conference Fee Payment).

Step Two:
Registration and Conference Fee Payment
(March 17 – Sept. 19, 200
Accepted applicants will be notified by email and sent a link to complete the conference registration form and pay the conference fee.

If you would like to support us with a donation, please contact Andrea Bell at (619) 260-7509 or abell@sandiego.edu.

Posted using ShareThis

Pro-(Controlling Your) Life | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

Pro-(Controlling Your) Life | Reproductive Health | RHRealityCheck.org

In honor of Mother’s Day, Revolution Health has developed this useful interactive map that gives all 50 states a “momScore” designed, according to the site to:

“…compare and evaluate maternal and early childhood health across the United States.”

To determine the scores, researchers evaluated a variety of factors including: access to prenatal care, maternal mortality, availability of child care services, risk of pregnancy complications, affordability of children’s health insurance and more.

And what did researchers uncover?

Read the entire post.

UNFPA: News: Today, May 5, is International Midwives Day

Every day, midwives are saving women’s lives. In Afghanistan, a man cannot attend a woman in childbirth and because of the recent years under the Taleban, young women did not receive enough education to ready them to take their place as future midwives.  That’s in only one country. Governments everywhere must support educational opportunities for women.

Thank you to all midwives now and yet to be.

UNFPA: News

International Day of the Midwife

Message of Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA Executive Director

05 May 2008

Every day, midwives are saving women’s lives by making delivery safe. Their essential care before, during and after delivery ensures that no woman dies giving life. When women are healthy, families are healthy. And when families are healthy, the well-being of communities and nations also improves.

Today, on the International Day of the Midwife, UNFPA pays tribute to the work of midwives around the world and calls for increased investments to train and retain midwives where they are most needed. Together with partners, UNFPA is starting a new programme to promote midwifery around the world.

Every minute another woman dies in childbirth. We can save these women by getting midwives in their communities. By investing in midwives, governments can achieve universal access to reproductive health and the fifth Millennium Development Goal, to improve maternal health.

There is an urgent need for 334,000 midwives around the world. And midwives need incentives to continue to work, often under difficult conditions, to save women’s lives.

When they are properly trained, empowered and supported, midwives offer the most cost-effective and high-quality path to maternal and newborn health. Midwives provide care for women during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-natal period. In case of pregnancy complications and emergencies, midwives perform key life-saving functions. They offer reproductive health information and services, including family planning, which allows women to space their next birth.

In places where these services are widely available, accessible and affordable, maternal and newborn deaths are declining and the well-being of families and communities is improving.

A functioning health system is a system that can deliver to women, when women are ready to deliver. If the health system can respond to the medical requirements for safe delivery, then it can respond to other emergencies. The work of midwives is an essential element of primary health care that helps strengthen health systems.

Today, UNFPA renews its support to achieving quality midwifery care as a way to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and build healthy families, communities and nations.

Survey about you! Please comment on any or all of these questions

Dear wsliblog readers,

Please take a few moments and give me a better understanding of how you use the Web. There is a comment link at the bottom of this post. Just click it and type. Here are the questions:

1. Do you participate in Second Life? If so, how much time do you spend there?
2. Do you use a blog aggregator — like Google Reader — to manage all your rss feeds?
3. Do you use Google Scholar?

Thank you for your responses. There’s a lot more we can do as a community if we can form one. Please forward this to any others who may be interested in Women’s Studies at UConn.

Most appreciatively,

Kathy, your library liaison