Re-Reading Gender Research Cluster

annual report, 2003-2004

submitted by Dr. Jeannie Ludlow

HISTORY

The ReReading Gender ICS Research Cluster was conceived of by Dr. Jane Rosser as a way to further participants' research interests in gender-related theories and to provide participants with a unique opportunity to discuss these theories with a renowned scholar in the field: Dr. Judith Halberstam, who visited campus in March, 2004, as part of the Provost Lecture Series. Jeannie Ludlow, faculty in Women's Studies, agreed to co-chair the Research Cluster with Rosser. An announcement was sent out to potentially-interested faculty and graduate students on campus. Seventeen people responded initially, and fifteen came to the first meeting. Over the course of the first year, three people were added to the Cluster. Our first meeting was on Dec. 11, 2003.

MEMBERSHIP

The membership of the research cluster numbered twenty by the end of the semester, with fourteen active members and six members who continued to indicate interest and support but whose schedules prevented their active participation. The membership was comprised as follows: one administrator (PCA/CITE); eight faculty from seven programs (Women's Studies, ACS, English, Theatre, Comm/IPC, HMSLS, Art); and eleven graduate students from five programs (ACS, Theatre, CommS, PopC, Higher Ed Admin).

PURPOSE

The original statement of purpose for the ReReading Gender Cluster indicated that we would engage in theoretically-oriented examinations of Second Wave feminist writing with attention to insights suggested by Third Wave feminist scholars. While this original purpose provided a strong foundation for our activities, the group as a whole did construct a more narrow focus for this initial year. Inspired by the impending visit of Dr. Judith Halberstam, scholar in gender theory, we decided to focus specifically on theories of gender identity as they are informed by Second Wave feminist thought and are being revised by Third Wave feminism, queer theory, and postmodern and poststructural theories.

ACTIVITIES

After our initial organizational meeting, the ReReading Gender Cluster met six times between December and April for guided discussion of theoretical readings. The first four of these meetings focused primarily on works written by Halberstam, in anticipation of her visit, although we also read and critiqued one cluster member's research proposal, as well. After Halberstam's visit, the group chose to focus on older scholarship that is considered near-canonical in the field of gender studies.

In addition to these guided discussions of readings, the group attended and participated in a series of activities arranged around Dr. Halberstam's visit. On Mon., March 1, we attended Dr. Halberstam's public lecture, "Dude, Where's My Gender?" presented as part of the Provost Lecture Series. On Tue., March 2, several members of the ReReading Gender cluster met with Dr. Halberstam for lunch and discussion of her scholarship. That evening, we attended a video event featuring Dr. Halberstam's documentary footage on gender identity as well as a completed video, TransAmazon, produced by Joelle Ruby Ryan, a member of the ReReading Gender cluster. On Wed., March 3, several of the faculty members of the ReReading Gender cluster met with Dr. Halberstam, Dr. Patraka, and other faculty from across campus for lunch, and that evening, the cluster met with Dr. Halberstam in Dr. Patraka's American Culture Studies doctoral seminar for discussion of Dr. Halberstam's newest work on queer temporality and queer spatiality.

After Dr. Halberstam's visit was behind us, the group met to consider our next direction, organizationally. At that time, it was determined that, although our immersion into Dr. Halberstam's work had been valuable to us as scholars, we preferred to finish out the academic year by revisiting some of the older and more established scholars of gender identity theory and re-reading their works from within the context of the newer, queer theoretical context that Dr. Halberstam's work had provided us. Our final two guided discussions examined works by Sandy Stone and Judith Butler.

Also, on April 2, 2004, many members of the ReReading Gender cluster attended a presentation by Ms. Joelle Ruby Ryan, who is a member of the cluster, "The 'Gennies' vs. the 'Trannies' Exploring the Relationship between Feminism and Transgenderism" which was presented as part of the BGSU Women's Center Women's Research Network.

ASSESSMENT

As a group, we believe that the ReReading Gender ICS Research Cluster enjoyed great success during its first year. We set an ambitious agenda for ourselves (eight meetings plus five potential activities in just over four months) and followed through on that agenda in ways that benefited the individual members without interfering with their scholarly success. Several of our graduate student members graduated in May (indeed, two defended their dissertations during the spring semester) while several others completed and submitted dissertation or thesis proposals during the spring semester. At least two of the faculty members of the cluster have begun book-length projects that will be enhanced by their work with the cluster. Although we did not institute, in this first year, any formal assessment processes, the general consensus of the cluster members is that the cluster is providing positive research support. The collegiality, collaboration, and intellectual stimulation that we all have experienced in this group has been sustaining, and we would like the cluster to continue.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Although we have not yet had a formal discussion about future directions for the ReReading Gender ICS Research Cluster, these are some of the ideas for future directions that were collected during spring meetings: continued guided discussions of new and established scholarship in the fields of gender identity and feminist theory; conference presentations and articles co-authored by members of the research cluster; attendance, as a group, at a nationally-recognized gender studies conference; and critical peer review of one another's scholarship in the areas of gender identity and/or feminist theory.