RIT Conference Explores 30 Years of Feminist Influence in the Arts and Sciences, Nov. 7

Public invited to all-day event

During the last 30 years, feminist discourse has emerged as a source and a focus of significant change in the arts, humanities, social sciences and technology. The influence of feminism will be the topic of the conference, Feminist Discourse: Theories, Practices, Challenges, on Friday, Nov. 7, at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The conference will bring together practioners, theorists, researchers, educators and students to engage in discussion and debate. It is sponsored by RIT’s William A. Kern Professor in Communications in the College of Liberal Arts in cooperation with Women’s Studies Quarterly (WSQ) and The Feminist Press.

The event is free and open to the public. Reservations are required for lunch on Friday and to attend a tour of the Women’s International Museum at Seneca Falls on Saturday, Nov. 8.

“We will be looking at how feminist discourse has made itself known through various disciplines,” says Diane Hope, the William A. Kern Professor in Communications, who is concluding her three-year tenure as general editor of WSQ. Editorship of the quarterly publication will move to the City University of New York.

RIT Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Stanley McKenzie will open the conference at 8:30 a.m. in the Fireside Lounge, Student Alumni Union. Hope will follow with brief opening remarks, “Feminist Rebirth, Revisited,” at 8:45 a.m. Sessions and panel discussions, beginning at 9 a.m., will include Feminist Practices in Arts and History; Theory and Challenges in Science and Society; and Feminism, Communication and Learning. (All sessions will take place in Clark A, B and C in the SAU.)

At 1 p.m., Andrew Moore, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, will give his talk, “Women’s Studies and the College of Liberal Arts,” followed by keynote speaker Mari Boor Tonn, associate professor of communication at the University of Maryland and member of the WSQ editorial board. Tonn, a nationally recognized communications scholar, will present “Fighting Feminism: Exploring Triumphs and Obstacles in Feminist Politics and Scholarship.” She is currently working on a book about the rhetoric of Mother Jones. A roundtable will be held to assess the event, followed by a reception at 5 p.m., and closing remarks by RIT President Albert Simone.

Internationally recognized as a leader in computing, imaging, technology, fine and applied arts, and education of the deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology enrolls 15,500 students in more than 340 undergraduate and graduate programs. Its cooperative education program is one of the oldest and largest in the nation.

For the past decade, U.S. News and World Report has ranked RIT as one of the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. RIT is also included in Fiske’s Guide to America’s Best Colleges, as well as Barron’s Best Buys in Education.