A Quarterly Newsletter

Women’s History Month 2004
at ETSU

The 2004 national theme, "Women Inspiring Hope and Possibility" celebrates the hope and sense of possibility that comes to our lives from the inspirational work of women. Hope comes in many forms from laws challenged and changed, new medical research, stories of compassion and courage, and watching women stand tall against great odds.

During March 2004 the ETSU campus will celebrate Women’s History Month with an outstanding lineup of special events, lectures, and seminars. The following outlines the programs slated for this month dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of women.

The annual kick-off event, “SHE RAVES,” is scheduled for Tuesday, March 9. Location is the Carroll Reece Museum, at noon. This casual, unrehearsed “rave” event provides participants with an informal setting where they can share comments about family members, divas, writers, and other special women who have been influential in their lives. Many remarkable women have been highlighted and paid tribute during the past five years. The Women’s Resource Center and the Women’s Studies Program are co-sponsoring this WHM special event.

On the global level, Monday, March 8, marks International Women’s Day. The Women’s Studies Program and Women’s Resource Center will showcase information about global women’s issues. Visit the Culp Center Atrium from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., for news, statistics, and giveaways.

The Magdalen Hsu-Li Concert will be held on Thursday, March 11. One of the spotlight events slated during Women’s History Month, and commemorating International Women’s Day, the concert promises to be a high-energy evening of music. Hsu-Li is a nationally celebrated, award-winning Asian American musician and speaker. Location for the Hsu-Li Concert is the Martha Street Culp Auditorium of the D.P. Culp University Center, 7:00 p.m.

The ETSU Women’s Studies Program is sponsoring two public lectures featuring scholarsDarcy Martin, M.A., and Mary Anglin, Ph.D. “Beyond the Shadow of Little Rock: Remembering Daisy Bates,” will be presented by Martin on March 17, at 7:00 p.m., Brown Hall, room 261. At the heart of Martin’s lecture is the legendary Daisy Bates, a courageous woman who displayed leadership and courage during the “Little Rock Crisis” of 1957-58. Anglin, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Kentucky, will present “Women, Power, and Dissent in the Hills of Carolina,” on March 25, at 7:00 p.m., Brown Hall, room 261. Discussing her book by the same title, Anglin’s lecture will explore gender, labor and resistance in rural North Carolina. For more information contact Dr. Amber Kinser, Women’s Studies Program director, at 423-439-7571.

Kathleen Rogan, ETSU undergraduate student, will present “Agnes of God,” by John Pielmeier. Rogan’s one-woman show is scheduled for Friday, March 19, at 7:00 p.m. Location is the Nelson Fine Art Center, 324 East Main Street, Johnson City. Although there is no admission charge donations are encouraged for the Children’s Advocacy Center and Safe Passage, Inc., to benefit programs for women and children who have suffered domestic violence or sexual assault. Representatives of both agencies will have information available explaining their services and a reception will be held immediately after the performance. The program is sponsored in part by the Women’s Resource Center and the Counseling Center at ETSU, and is produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

WETS-FM’s “Women on Air” radio host/producer and singer/songwriter Susan Lachmann will present “If It Weren’t for the Music,” on Tuesday, March 23, at 5:00 p.m. Location for this WHM special event is the East Tennessee Room of the D.P. Culp University Center. Revealing a long line of female icons in the music industry, Lachmann provides a retrospective look at women’s music for this WHM special event.

“It was in the early seventies that a new genre of music emerged called women’s music,” says Lachmann. This attitude signified a new era in the industry and paved the way for numerous contemporary singer/songwriters. Come hear about forerunners such as Holly Near, Cris Williamson, Margie Adam, and Sweet Honey in the Rock while you also can sing along with the Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge and more.

Rounding out WHM is a special event featuring Visiting Geier Professor Tayari Jones. A reading and book signing for Jones’ novel, Leaving Atlanta, will be presented on Thursday, April 1, at 5:00 p.m., in Meeting Room 6 of the D.P. Culp University Center. See the article, which follows, for more details.

Magdalen Hsu-Li in Concert

A pioneering Asian-American woman in music, Magdalen Hsu-Li is one of the first Chinese-American singer-songwriters in the United States who is becoming a star in the acoustic/pop/folk/alternative genres. On March 11, Hsu-Li will present a high-energy evening of music at 7:00 p.m. in the Martha Street Culp Auditorium of the D.P. Culp University Center.

As one of the first Asian-American music artists to command the alternative college playlist, Hsu-Li brings a confident voice and an astute awareness of her role as catalytic spokeswoman for America’s melting pot. Hsu-Li is opening new doors of expression for Asian-Americans and people everywhere, and is poised to become a cross-cultural pop icon. Redefining her torrid mix as a woman at the threshold of tumultuous change in America, she exposes the treacherous currents that underlie our national fabric, and explores pathways through which we all meet.

Hsu-Li’s live shows are powerful, magical, high-energy events featuring piano, guitar, vocal, and drumset duos, four-piece band arrangements, thought provoking poetry readings with elements of comedic standup and spiritually rousing percussion and drum improvisations. Clearly an artistic visionary in her own right, Hsu-Li is making music and art with all her might.

The Magdalen Hsu-Li Concert is sponsored by the ETSU Women’s Studies Program, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of Equity and Diversity, and the Women’s Resource Center. For more information, call 423-439-7571 or 423-439-7847.

Visiting Geier Lecturer to Speak

Visiting Geier Lecturer Tayari Jones will be the guest speaker at a reading and book signing for her novel Leaving Atlanta. Sponsored by the ETSU Department of English, the Office of Equity and Diversity, Multicultural Affairs, and the Women’s Resource Center, this Women’s History Month special event is scheduled for Thursday, April 1, at 5:00 p.m. in Meeting Room 6 of the D.P. Culp University Center.

An Atlanta native, Jones was in grade school during the time of the Atlanta child murders. She spent her high school freshman year studying in Nigeria and went on to Spelman College after graduating, receiving a bachelor’s degree in English in 1991, when she was just 20 years old. Jones earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Iowa in 1994. She taught for several years at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, but a chance meeting with writer Jewel Parker Rhodes, director of the creative writing program at Arizona State University, led Jones to pursue an M.F.A. degree in fiction from ASU.

Leaving Atlanta takes place in 1979. To her credit, Jones doesn’t present us with the point of view of the murderer; the bloodiest thing that happens is a busted lip from a playground fall. Instead, ingeniously, she sees the events through the eyes of three schoolchildren, whose utterly ordinary lives are skewed by the fact that a shadowy killer is out there.

Heralded by critics and authors alike as, “. . . a haunting look at children's attempts to make sense of a world that frightens even the adults around them,” and “This strongly grounded tale hums with the rhythm of the schoolyard and proves Jones to be a powerful storyteller,” Leaving Atlanta has garnered many honors. Included among those honors are Best Novel of the Year by Atlanta Magazine, #1 Southern Novel of the Year by Creative Loafing Newspaper, 2002 Critic’s Choice by the Atlanta Constitution and Best New Author by Black Issues Book Review. Excerpts from the book also won the Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Foundation Award in 2000.

TAKE BACK THE NIGHT

The theme for this year’s rally and march is “Honor Your Inner Voice.” TAKE BACK THE NIGHT 2004 is scheduled for Monday, March 29, in the Martha Street Culp Auditorium of the D.P. Culp University Center at 7:00 p.m. The rally focuses on violence against women, how it impacts our young women, and the importance of paying attention to your inner voice.

For more information, contact Kim Bushore-Maki of the TAKE BACK THE NIGHT Planning Committee, at 423-439-4841 or e-mail bushorem@mail.etsu.edu.

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