Conference Schedule
Wednesday, April 3
Student Showcase
(All Wednesday sessions take place in the Student Union Building Ballroom D/E unless
otherwise noted.)
10:00-3:00 Registration (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
10:00-10:15 Coffee and Conversation (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
10:15-10:30 MTSU Student Showcase Opening Remarks
Dr. Newtona (Tina) Johnson, Director, Women’s and Gender Studies/
Conference Co-Chair
Middle Tennessee State University
10:30-11:45 Feminist Readings: Gender and Identity
Moderator: Becky King
Middle Tennessee State University
“William’s Women: Feminist Analysis of Geoffrey Chaucer’s and Brian Helgeland’s ‘Knights
Tale’”
Jacquelyn Hayek, Middle Tennessee State University
“Building Bridges with Feminist Bildungsroman: Schreiner’s The Story of an African Farm and Toni Morrison’s Sula”
Khristeena M. Lute, Middle Tennessee State University
“Masculinity and Race in Rebecca Harding Davis's Waiting for the Verdict”
Jessica Hanson, Middle Tennessee State University
“Homophobia and Discrimination: A Sociocultural Examination of Literature on Gender
and Sexuality”
Anne Uselton, Middle Tennessee State University
12:00-1:15 Featured Performance
Welcome to Addiction Anonymous. Hello, my name is ____________.
Moderator: Madia Cooper
Middle Tennessee State University
Choreographer: Madia Cooper
Middle Tennessee State University
Dancers: Meghan McCrary
Kelsey Muskin
Kiara Smith
Jasmine Meriwether
Morgan Davies
Brittany Howell
Middle Tennessee State University
1:30-2:15 Preferences of Clothing Styles and Fit for Aging Women
Moderator: Lauren Rudd
Middle Tennessee State University
Panelists: Precious Creavalle
Bethaney Bowen
Samantha Cali
Middle Tennessee State University
2:30-3:45 Feminist Readings: Nineteenth-Century Women Writers and Reform
Moderator: Mischa Renfroe
Middle Tennessee State University
“Becoming Her Own Master: Feminism and Spiritualism in Louisa May Alcott’s ‘The Masked
Marriage’ and Moods”
Shelley Maddox, Middle Tennessee State University
“Fanny Fern: Conservative Dress Reformer?”
Elizabeth S. Robinson, Middle Tennessee State University/Tennessee Technological University
“Defining Nineteenth-Century Womanhood: The Cult of Marmee and Alcott’s Little Women”
Sarah Rivas, Middle Tennessee State University
“’Self-Definition and Self-Reliance’ in The Awakening”
Sara E. Hays, Middle Tennessee State University
4:00-5:15 Undergraduate Session (TODD 348)
Re-visioning Rumplestiltskin
Moderator: Claudia Barnett
Middle Tennessee State University
Play Coordinator: Dr. Claudia Barnett
Middle Tennessee State University
Students: Elliot Burrows
Ashley Delk
Mark Griffin
Robert Jones
Zachary Killion
Jeremy Legatzke
Phillip Maloney
Kyle McCarthy
Emily Swaim
Kegan Taylor
Rachel Vines
Samuel Willey
Middle Tennessee State University
Thursday, April 4
(All Thursday sessions take place in the Student Union Building Ballroom D/E unless
otherwise noted.)
8:00-4:30 Registration (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
8:00-8:30 Coffee and Conversation (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
8:45-9:00 Conference Welcome
Mischa Renfroe, Conference Co-Chair
Middle Tennessee State University
9:00-10:15 Global Discourses: Gender and Violence
Moderator: Meredith Dye
Middle Tennessee State University
“Disrupting Patriarchy: Challenging Gender Violence in Post-Apartheid South Africa
and Post-Conflict Northern Ireland”
Erin Tunney, Carlow University
“Historical, Political, Cultural, Socio-Economic and Religious Forces Influencing
Gender Equality Experiences in Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone”
Jasmine Renner, East Tennessee State University
Arnold Nyarambi, East Tennessee State University
“Are Muslim Women Really ‘Silent’ and ‘Invisible’? An Analysis in the Context of Bangladesh”
Farjana Mahbuba, University of Western Sydney – Australia
10:30-11:45 Featured Film and Discussion (Video Theater)
Moderators: Linda Badley and Clare Bratten
Middle Tennessee State University
"Saving Face"
A film by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
12:00-12:45 Lunch on your own
1:00-2:15 Global Discourses: Gender, Education, and Activism
Moderator: Samantha Cantrell
Middle Tennessee State University
“A Question of Gender: A Personal Narrative of the Transition of an International
Transgendered Graduate Student”
Jamie Crowsley, The Ohio State University
“Heteronormative Feminism: Straight Women and Anti-Lesbian Speech in Gender Studies
Courses”
Gayatri Devi, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania
2:30-3:45 Global Discourses: Gender and Health
Moderator: Jenna Gray-Hildenbrand
Middle Tennessee State University
“Examination of Nutritional Patterns for Female College Students”
Sharon E. Whitlock, Western Kentucky University
Heather Cowherd, University of Kentucky
“College Women's Wellness in the 21st Century”
Joel Malone, Middle Tennessee State University
4:00-5:30 Professional Development Workshop
Workshop Welcome:
Dr. Jan Leone, Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts
Middle Tennessee State University
Introduction of Facilitators:
Beth Emery
Middle Tennessee State University
“Hunger as a Global Challenge for Higher Education”
June M. Henton, Professor and Dean of the College of Human Sciences, Auburn University
Harriet W. Giles, Director of External Relations/Managing Director, Hunger Solutions
Institute (HSI), Auburn University
Paula Gray Hunker, World Food Programme Senior Policy Advisor, Auburn University
5:45-6:15 Reception (Pre-Function Area)
6:30-7:30 Featured Performance I (Student Union Building Ballroom A/B)
“Scent of Jasmine: A Music and Dance Concert Presented by the Confucius Institute
at MTSU”
Organizer: Guanping (Ping) Zheng, Middle Tennessee State University
Friday, April 5
(All Friday sessions take place in the Student Union Building Ballroom D/E unless
otherwise noted.)
8:00-4:30 Registration (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
8:00-8:30 Coffee and Conversation (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
8:00-4:00 Students Active for Feminism and Equality (S.A.F.E.), Women’s Studies Student
Organization Silent Auction (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
8:30-9:45 The Performance of Global Feminist Politics: Women’s Musical Lives as Adaptive Strategy
Moderator: Felicia Miyakawa
Middle Tennessee State University
“The Dance of Liberation: Gender Equality as Masquerade”
Sidra Lawrence, University of Chicago
“Women’s Gamelan in Bali: Harmless Novelty or Dawning Empowerment”
Mary Natvig, Bowling Green State University
“Yoko Ono and the Gendered Global Voice”
Kara Attrep, Bowling Green State University
10:00-11:15 Global Discourses: Women, Work, and Law I
Moderator: Tom Strawman
Middle Tennessee State University
“The Global Economy and Stratified Reproduction: Caribbean Women, Migrant Labour and
Domestic Work”
Charmaine Crawford, University of the West Indies – Barbados
“Equal Pay for Equal Work to Both Men and Women: A Myth or Reality”
Samiksha Godara, Shamsher Bahadur Saxena College of Law – India
“An Inquiry of the Language of Gender Pay Equity”
Cher Weixia Chen, New Century College, George Mason University
11:30-12:45 Roundtable
Grassroots Organizing and Community Advocacy among African-American Women in Middle
Tennessee
Moderator: Sekou Franklin
Middle Tennessee State University
Melissa Gordon, Neighborhood Organizer for the Neighborhood Resource Center and Founder of the Urban
Village Initiative
Tene’ Franklin, Health Committee Chair for the Tennessee State Conference NAACP and Executive Committee
of the Nashville NAACP
Marilyn Brown, State Labor and Industry Chair for the Tennessee State Conference NAACP and prominent
labor organizer
D.J. Hudson, Board Member of the Urban EpiCenter and Member of the Fletcher Summer Institute for
the Advanced Study of Nonviolent Conflict
Kazi Wilkins, Organizing Director for the Statewide Organizing for Community Empowerment
1:00-2:15 Pre-Keynote Luncheon (Student Union Building Ballroom A/B)
Conference Welcome
John Omachonu, Vice Provost, Academic Affairs
Middle Tennessee State University
2:15-3:00 Featured Performance II (Student Union Building Ballroom A/B)
“The Exodus Project II: Understanding Diversity through Dance”
Organizer: Kim Neal Nofsinger, Middle Tennessee State University
3:15-4:45 Keynote Address (Student Union Building Ballroom A/B/C)
Introduction
Kaylene Gebert
Middle Tennessee State University
“Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond”
Lilly Ledbetter
Co-Author, Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond
Instrumental in the passing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act
Q&A Facilitator:
Clare Bratten, Middle Tennessee State University, Tennessee
4:45-5:30 Book Signing (Student Union Building Pre-function Area)
Saturday, April 6
All Saturday sessions take place in the Student Union Building Ballroom D/E unless
otherwise noted.
8:30-10:00 Registration (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
8:30-8:45 Coffee and Conversation (Student Union Building Pre-Function Area)
9:00-10:30 Global Discourses: Intersectionality and Education
Moderator: Danielle Joy Davis
Middle Tennessee State University/Walden University
“Academic Achievement and Black Women’s Historical Leadership in African American
Home Education”
Danielle Joy Davis, Middle Tennessee State University/Walden University
“Women as Educational Leaders: Psychic Duality and Emotional Neutrality”
Talia Esnard, University of Trinidad and Tobago
“Empowering Women: An Innovative Project for Minority and First Generation College
Students”
Teresa Collard, University of Tennessee at Martin
Lisa C. LeBleu, University of Tennessee at Martin
“The Wedding Dress Project”
Cara Hagan, High Point University
10:45-12:00 Global Discourses: Women, Work, and Law II
Moderator: Gretchen Webber
Middle Tennessee State University
“What Can a Graduate Interest Survey Teach Us About Gender Differences in Saudi Arabia?”
Mohamed A. Elgeddawy, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University – Saudi Arabia
“Gender Based Representation in Legislative Assemblies: Quota An Instrument for Securing
Gender
Rights”
Mussarat Jabeen, University of Sargodha Pakistan
“’Nothing to Do, No One to Tell?’ Exploitation and Abuse of Migrant-Worker Women in
Israel and their Willingness to Report it Formally and Informally”
Ohad Green, Bar Ilan University – Israel
12:15-1:45 Global Discourses: Family, Intimacy, and Gender Roles
Moderator: Christie Williams
Middle Tennessee State University
“African American College Student’s Attitudes to Romantic Relationships: Family, Personality,
and Availability”
Rebecca Reviere, Howard University
Barbara Medley, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
“Emasculation, Male Effeminacy and Female Masculinity in Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love”
Roya Yaghoubi, Islamic Azad University – Iran
“’Thick Life’ in Literature: Elizabeth Povinelli and Middlemarch”
Rebecca Thorndike-Breeze, Northeastern University
“Transformation of Gender Roles under the Impact of Immigration Experience: Examples
of the East-European Immigrants in Germany”
Tetiana Havlin, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Contact Information:
Women's and Gender Studies
Box 498
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Phone: 615-898-5910
Email: womenstu@mtsu.edu
Fax: 615-898-5289
