I’ve moved the event postings to Google Calendar, so please check there for all the cool Athens Ohio area women and LGBT events: http://herstorycelebration.org/calendar.html.

There is still some good info on past events here, along with links (on the right).

Also please check out these pages: Feminist Books for Children, photos from women marching together in the 2007 and 2008 Ohio University home coming parades, and the plea for more diversity in the plaques commemorating visitors to OU.

Thanks! Janet

The latest issue of THE AWAKENING, the undergraduate student journal of the Ohio University Women’s Studies Program, is now available for download as a pdf from http://www.ohiou.edu/womenstudies/awakenin.html.

This issue (Volume 21, Issue 1, Fall 2007), is themed “Feminist Words” and features news, stories, poetry, and commentary.

“We Are Dying”
by Up In Arms
Monday, November, 5, 2007, 6-10pm
Scripps Hall Amphitheater
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
Free; donations accepted

This Monday, Up in Arms invites you to attend “We Are Dying,” a nonpartisan interactive tribute to the U.S. Troops and Iraqi civilians affected by the war in Iraq.

Please join us for an evening of performance and reflection surrounding the war in Iraq. At 6pm, members of Up In Arms will be performing select e-mails, letters, and poetry from Operation Homecoming, an NEA initiative to help U.S. Troops and their families write about wartime experiences.

Take a minute to listen to the words of our Troops - our peers, friends, and family; to take in the names and faces of the 4,141 coalition casualties and their stories; to witness the toll the ongoing war takes on Iraqi children and their families

Join us in our letter writing campaign (stationary and postage provided), or help assemble care packages for Any Soldier’s adopt-a-battalion program. Donations will be collected for the UNICEF Iraqi Children’s fund.

Special thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, the @Lab and Nathan Berger, OU ROTC, College Democrats, and the School of Theater.

Facebook members: event

Maureen Hurd, clarinet
Sunday, November 4, 2007, 8pm
School of Music Recital Hall, Glidden Hall
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

Maureen Hurd is assistant professor of clarinet in the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She has appeared as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral clarinetist in concerts throughout Europe, Asia and North America, including a recent performance at the 2005 International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest in Tokyo, Japan. Hurd has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Alice Tully Hall and earned praise from The New York Times for her performance at the 2004 Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in Connecticut. Her performances of contemporary chamber music include appearances at New York’s Merkin Hall, in a Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk radio broadcast of American music in Germany, and with the Prism Players.

She earned a doctorate of musical arts, master of musical arts, and master of music degrees from the Yale School of Music where she studied with David Shifrin and Charles Neidich. At Yale, she examined materials in the Benny Goodman Archive to produce award-winning research on Goodman’s classical commissions that was recognized by the International Clarinet Association in competition in 2001. She frequently presents masterclasses, recitals, lectures and clinics at clarinet festivals, universities and conferences. http://www.wyomingseminary.org/pai/faculty.htm

Contact: parkinsw@ohio.edu

Calliope Feminist Choir Open Rehearsals
Child care now available
Monday, November 5 & 12, 2007, 6-8 p.m.
Christ Lutheran Church
69 Mill St, Athens, Ohio

Calliope Feminist Choir is excited to announce the availability of childcare for singers during rehearsals. Two open rehearsals, Nov. 5 and 12, will allow interested women who need child care to come participate while their children are watched by students from the service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega.

Calliope focuses on performing music written and arranged by women, honoring women, and promoting peace, justice, and equality. Formed in 1993, the choir now numbers approx. 35 women of diverse backgrounds and ages, from 17 to 70. Calliope performs at fundraisers and other community events, including the November third UCM 25th annual dinner celebration. The chorus rehearses Mondays 6-8 p.m. in the Christ Lutheran Church.

Women interested in attending please call 740-662-2022.

Kwanzaa Celebration Speaker: Synthia Saint James
Sunday, November 4, 2007, 6-8pm
Baker Center Ballroom
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

The featured Kwanzaa Karamu speaker is Synthia Saint James, international award-winning artist and designer of the first United States Postal Stamp for the Kwanzaa holiday.

A self-taught artist and author, Saint James has written or illustrated children’s picture books, poetry, and prose books. Her work appears on more than 60 book covers including those by Alice Walker, Terry McMillan, Iyanla Vanzant, and Julia Boyd.

Kwanzaa, an African American holiday based on the first fruit celebrations of Africa, was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga to introduce and reinforce seven basic values of African culture: Unity, Self-determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith. The holiday is officially celebrated December 26 to January 1. Due to the OU calendar, it is celebrated early while students are still on campus. Kwanzaa is a collaborative cultural presentation of the Office of Multicultural Programs (MCP), the Multicultural Center (MCC) and the Black Student Cultural Programming Board (BSCPB). –http://www.ohio.edu/culturalcenter/programs/kwanzaa.cfm 

Holly Oberle, Organ
Sunday, November 4, 2007, 4pm - 5pm
First Presbyterian Church
222 N Broad St, Lancaster, Ohio

Ohio University Music Librarian Holly Oberle will present an organ recital. She has a B.M. in organ performance from Baldwin Wallace College, a M.M. in harpsichord performance and a D.M.A. in organ and harpsichord performance from Catholic University.

Benefit: 25th Annual UCM Dinner and Auction
Saturday, November 3, 2007, 5-pm
Athens Community Center
701 E. State St, Athens, Ohio
$25 to $100 (sliding scale); $15 students

UCM’s biggest annual fundraiser turns 25 this year! An eclectic international buffet will be provided by Purple Chopstix, with appetizers by Salaam. Pat and Wanda Sheridan of Shamrock Auction Service will have hundreds of donations, including goods, services, artwork, and crafts, from local businesses and individuals up for auction to the highest bidder. The highlighted auction item is a one-week stay in Bonita Springs, Florida- 15 miles north of Naples.

Live entertainment by CALLIOPE FEMINIST CHOIR and the Greg Bikowski jazz trio.

Contact: Call UCM: Center for Spiritual Growth and Social Justice at 740-593-7301 or ucm -at- frognet.net now for your reservation!

Lesley Byers & the Jazz Cats
Fall Quarter Swing Dance
Friday, November 2, 2007, 8pm-Midnight
Baker Center Rm 240
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
Small cover charge

Quarterly swing dance of the OU Jitterbug Club, open to everyone! All forms of dance welcome. There is a beginner lesson before each dance from 8-9 p.m. Bands begin at 9 p.m. Featuring live music from Chicago: LESLEY BYERS and the Jazz Cats.

Rosemary Clooney meets Bette Midler. … Lesley Byers & The Jazz Cats recreate this era’s best music made famous by the times most incredible musicians…Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald.

Regular events admission $5; registered club members $4.

Contact: bh123005 -at- ohio.edu

Farid Muttaqin “Observing the Islamic Theological Context: Contemporary Indonesian Muslim Feminist Agendas toward Recognition of Gay and Lesbian Rights”
Friday, November 2, 2007, 4-6 PM
Baker Center 233
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

This month’s colloquium will feature Farid Muttaqin leading a discussion on his paper. Muttaquin, currently an OU Southeast Asian Studies student, graduated from the State Islamic University of Jakarta in philosophy.

The Muslim feminists in Indonesia have an important position among the efforts to uphold gay and lesbian rights. Indeed, the involvement of Muslim feminist groups in homosexual movements is crucial in terms of strengthening the endeavors of reconstruction of biases in Islamic interpretations. Some groups such as GAYa Nusantara, Koalisi Pelangi, and Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia, who promotes gay rights in Indonesia, focus on the internal empowerment among gay communities and still abandon the problem of theology and religion. It is hard for the “secular groups” to deal with the controversial issue of homosexuality in the country in where Islamic religious belief plays the significant roles for the society. It is important to begin the recognition of homosexual rights in Indonesia by observing the theological context and reinterpreting the verses of the Koran. In this regard, this feminist effort to provide a new interpretation of Islamic teaching on homosexuality will be a crucial contribution to gay and lesbian rights.

Part of the Ohio University Women’s Studies Program Colloquium for faculty and graduate students. Refreshments will be served.

To facilitate discussion, please request a copy of the paper from Women’s Studies: godby -at- ohio.edu or 740-593-4686.

Feminism: What’s it All About?
Women’s Center Brown Bag
Thursday, Oct 25, 2007, Noon - 1 pm
Women’s Center, Baker Center 403
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

Screening of the short film The F-word: A Video about Feminism, followed by discussion.

The F-Word is a provocative look at the power of the word “feminism” in the U.S. Why does it mean so many different things to different people? Pithy interviews with women and men from diverse backgrounds are rhythmically intercut with computer-animated quotes from the likes of Barbara Smith to Pat Robertson, all set to an upbeat rap accompaniment. Designed to open up attitudes, this video proves feminism is still something worth talking about - hotly debated, widely misconstrued, but undeniably an act of life.

Weekly brown bag discussions on Thursdays @ Noon, different speaker/topic each week.

Contact: 740-593-9625 or womenscenter -at- ohio.edu

AAUW Informal Informational Gathering
Friday, October 26, 2007, 4-6 pm
Women’s Center, Baker Center 403
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

The Athens Branch of the American Association of University Women invites all women on campus and in the community to an informal, informational gathering. Come see who and what we are! Light refreshments will be served.

• A powerful advocate for women and girls since 1881, the AAUW has played a key role in critical civil rights issues.
• The AAUW lobbies, briefs Congress and the administration, spearheads coalitions, and strengthens women’s voices with policy makers.
• The AAUW Educational Foundation, one of the largest sources of funding exclusively for graduate women, supports aspiring scholars and teachers, women at critical stages in their careers, and women pursuing professions where women are underrepresented.
• The AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund is the nation’s largest legal fund focused solely on sex discrimination in higher education.
• Membership is open to anyone with an associate’s or equivalent, bachelor’s, or higher degree from a regionally accredited college or university.

Contact: Mary Lee Powell at mpowell7 -at- columbus.rr.com or 740-592-2227