Marianne Hirsch on "Democracy Now" Defends Turkish Academics

Photo by Daniel Loick.

Democracy Now broadcast a clip of Marianne Hirsch, CSSD member and Columbia Professor of English and Comparative Literature, speaking on January 29, 2016, at New York University about state and university actions against academics in Turkey.

Representatives from Amnesty International, Scholars at Risk, the Research Institute on Turkey, GIT-North America, Turkish and other U.S. academics and activists spoke out at the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies against the investigation, detention, and firing of scholars who initiated a petition asking the government to end curfews in the Kurdish regions of Turkey. View the clip at 8:37 here and the article here.

"The international outcry against these state and university actions against academics in Turkey, the multiple petitions that have been signed by thousands of academics around the world, and have spawned numerous solidarity actions such as this one, attest to the gravity of these (official) acts," said Hirsch in the clip.

"I am here to express my shock and dismay at this attack on academic freedom and freedom of expression," said Hirsch. "Signing a petition is a basic right to free speech and needs to be protected by our universities and our governments, and so must the freedom to demand peace at times of conflict. These are fundamental rights that are at the cornerstone of liberal education and free academic inquiry," she said.

The press conference was also covered by Turkish daily Zaman and the website Cihan.

Days earlier, CSSD also signed on to a petition drafted by Scholars at Risk calling on the Turkish government to stop all threats against the signatories of petitions who are exercising their basic rights of free speech.

CSSD Condemns Turkish Government's Censure of Scholars

The Center for the Study of Social Difference joined over 25 international higher education organizations in signing a joint public letter addressed to Turkish government officials registering concern over the official treatment of academics.

Over 1,100 scholars in the Turkish higher education and research sector have been subjected to arrests, investigations, interrogations, suspensions and termination of positions, according to the letter, after signing a public statement urging Turkish authorities to renew a peace process with members of the embattled Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern area of the country.

The Turkish scholars were investigated by prosecutors and accused of terrorist propaganda after they signed the petition, which demanded an end to fighting between government forces and the PKK. Eighteen scholars were placed under arrest and have since been released but others were suspended or forced to resign from their positions at Turkish higher education institutions.

The joint letter states that recent events “suggest a serious and widespread effort to retaliate against scholars for the nonviolent, public expression of their views on matters of professional and public concern—conduct expressly protected by internationally recognized standards of academic freedom, freedom of expression and freedom of association as articulated in, among others, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.”

The signatories encourage Turkish officials to end any pending legal, administrative or professional actions undertaken against the scholars concerned and to renew publicly their commitment to internationally recognized principles of academic freedom and expression. The letter and its signatories can be viewed here.

“Where they are a part of a widespread pattern, such incidents have a profoundly chilling effect on academic freedom, undermine democratic society generally, and represent a grave threat to higher education and scholarly inquiry,” said Marianne Hirsch, member of the Center for the Study of Social Difference and Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. “The world outcry against these Turkish government actions represents an effort to protect the freedom to sign petitions and to demand peace,” she said.

Hirsch will be speaking at a joint press conference with “Academics for Peace and Academic Freedom in Turkey” on Friday, January 29th, 1 p.m. at the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, New York University. Speakers also include T. Kumar, International Advocacy Director for Amnesty International USA.

Keywords for Disability Studies Symposium Explores Key Questions for the Future

Disability scholars, artists, activists, and students gathered at the Keywords/Key Questions for Disability Studies Symposium this October to discuss the future of disability studies.

2015 has been a landmark year for disability studies and activism both at Columbia and throughout the United States, as the U.S.’s foundational disability rights legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), turned 25 this July. The anniversary of the ADA, whose legacy is still the subject of much critical debate, coincided with the release of this summer’s Keywords for Disability Studies (NYU Press, 2015), a field-defining collection of essays co-edited by CSSD director Rachel Adams, along with Benjamin Reiss (Emory University) and David Serlin (University of California, San Diego). The fall semester also marked the launch of Columbia’s new University Seminar on Disability, Culture, and Society, following the conclusion of CSSD’s Future of Disability Studies Working Group last spring.

In celebration of these new beginnings and opportunities for reflection, disability scholars, artists, activists, and students gathered at the Keywords/Key Questions for Disability Studies Symposium this October to discuss the next chapter of disability studies. Photos from that meeting are available here.

The two-day symposium began with an artists’ panel on the evening of October 1, where artists Riva Lehrer, Park McArthur, and Sunaura Taylor discussed the key concepts that have informed their artistic practices as people with disabilities. The presentations and Q&A session covered a range of issues including inaccessibility in the art world, representations of people with disabilities in visual art, and the discursive divides between disability scholarship and activism.

CSSD Releases 2014-15 Annual Report

The Center for the Study of Social Difference recently released its annual report for 2014-15. The report announced the successful conclusion of The Future of Disabilities Studies project and the extension of Gender, Religion, and Law in Muslim Societies. Three new projects—Pacific Climate Circuits: Moving Beyond Science, Technology, Engineering, and Economics; The Legacy of Bandung Humanisms; and The Rural-Urban Interface: Gender and Poverty in Ghana and Kenya, Statistics and Stories—were established.

The report announces that alumni contributed over $200,000 in donations last year and the Digital Black Atlantic Project was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Start-Up Grant for the creation of a digital publishing platform. The Center for the Study of Social Difference Fund, an inaugural quasi-endowment, was established to build ongoing support for CSSD and its projects.

View the annual report here.

Jean Howard Discusses Diversity Initiative in Columbia Spectator

Less than 25% of Columbia University's total faculty members are minorities and only 18% of its tenured faculty fit that demographic. The percentage of tenure track faculty that are women is a meager 26%.

In a recent article in the Columbia Spectator called "Leaks in the Pipeline," Jean Howard, CSSD director and George Delacorte Professor in the Humanities, spoke about her efforts  to improve diversity when she served as the university's first provost for diversity initiatives.

From 2004 to 2007 she used $15 million in allocations to increase the number of female and minority hires in the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences, funding grants to support junior faculty research, and producing programs to provide mentoring for new faculty members. From 2004 to 2009, over 30 new minority faculty members were hired.

“There are some departments that have made enormous strides, and they have really become very diverse,” she says, pointing to the English and philosophy departments. “There are others that are doing very little, so a lot of the gains you see are in pockets."

"We had to start from scratch because there was nothing. Nothing," says Howard.

Read the article here.

ROUNDTABLE Keywords: Trans

On April 9th, the Center for the Study of Social Difference and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Council co-sponsored the roundtable discussion Keywords: TRANS.

The Keyword panel comprised Jack Halberstam, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Gender Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Southern California; Jack Pula, Instructor of Psychiatry, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University and Chairperson of the Transgender Committee, Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists; and Yasmine Ergas, Co-Chair of the Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Council, Director of the Gender & Public Policy Specialization, and Lecturer in the Discipline of International and Public Affairs, SIPA. The program was moderated by Jean Howard, CSSD Director, George Delacorte Professor in the Humanities and Chair, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University.

Professor Halberstam spoke about artist Sara Davidmann's photo series chronicling the life of Davidmann's Uncle Ken, a married man who was trans* and simultaneously lived as K, something Ken and wife Hazel kept a secret until their deaths. Halberstam said K's life showed how trans* lives disrupted linear narratives and traditional ways of writing history. Halberstam argued that it is difficult to tell trans* histories because terms and definitions change so quickly and that scholars have focused on histories of violence at the expense of narratives about silence and secrecy. Halberstam also explained that trans* lives aren’t isolated from the stories of everyone else in their lives. Social norms and dominant categories affect the trans* person and influence the relationships they have. Halberstam suggested that scholars think about parallel lives in the experience of trans* persons so that in writing a narrative, no part of their life is erased.

 Jack Pula spoke about working professionally on gender dysphoria as a trans* man. Acknowledging that political controversy has followed psychiatrists’ definitions of gender identity, Pula considered how to combine subjective and objective forms of knowledge to make satisfactory claims about gender.

Pula warned that medicine and psychology often fall prey to reductive thinking, especially around identities that are known subjectively. Since language cannot capture all oppressed gender categories, it can itself become oppressive. Pula connected to Halberstam’s point about the difficulties inherent in using linear narrative to explain K and her gender identity. Pula argued that the etymology of identity could not begin with medicine and psychology because gender is first and foremost a subjective experience.

Yasmine Ergas examined the inchoate nature of the prefix "trans" and that "translation" was a process. In Ergas’s view, "trans-" as a prefix was insufficient, but still came closest to what it means to cross boundaries. Ergas shared how transnational surrogacy and adoption often leave children stateless and parentless. In its worst incarnation, transnational surrogacy has led to human trafficking.

For children, "trans-" is a matter of civic belonging. Ergas asserted that transnationalism challenged the presumption of national exclusivity and the processes of immigration, civil marriage, and the acceptance of educational credentials. Because of these structures, “transnational” still challenges a monopolistic system that, with limited exceptions, is based on an either/or binary. For surrogate children abandoned by their sponsors and who have no tie to national kin, this can mean existing in a legal no-man’s land. In the end, “transnational” remains anchored in the idea of nations.

The Q&A that followed the panel helped to weave together the presentations. Halberstam noted that just as "transnationalism" assumes the stability of the nation, "transgender" demonstrates the violence of gender dichotomies. Euro-American dichotomies of nation or gender continue to perpetuate colonialism and structure how scholars frame their research and get it funded. For Halberstam, transnationalism revealed how Euro-American constructions of transgender obscure other cultural and gender norms.

An audience member who saw limitations with the prefix "trans-" asked for alternatives. Ergas explained that dropping the prefix doesn’t obliterate the core words of nation or gender. In a sense, "trans-" implied a patchwork, she argued. Halberstam stated that people assemble under the heading trans* but often acknowledge more differences than similarities. The panel ended with an eye on the future: youth today speak more fluently than ever before about trans* life and this suggests the possibility for more humane understandings of individuals connected to the word.

Contributed by George Aumoithe, Graduate Assistant, Center for the Study of Social Difference and Ph.D. candidate in American history. Images of 1) K, Digital print of 1954 photograph with hand-tinting and acrylic paint, 2013 by Sara Davidmann 2) Jack Halberstam and Jack Pula 3) Jack Pula and Yasmine Ergas. Last two images: 2015 by George Aumoithe.

CSSD Announces Two New Working Groups for Fall 2015

In fall 2015, CSSD will convene two new working groups: Pacific Climate Circuits, which will apply lenses of race, class, gender and sexuality to current analyses of climate change in the Pacific Region, and The Legacy of Bandung Humanisms, which will examine the post-colonial developing world’s espousal of a radical brand of humanism and self-determination.  

Convening in 2015, Pacific Climate Circuits will apply lenses of race, class, gender, sexuality, and inequality to the current analyses of climate change in the Pacific Region. The working group, directed by Paige West, Department Chair and Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College; Kevin Fellezs, Assistant Professor of Music and African American Studies, Columbia University; and J.C. Salyer, Adjunct Lecturer, Sociology, Barnard College, examines the specific political-economic systems culpable for climate change in the region, linking them to its histories of colonialism and neoliberalism. Researchers will seek solutions outside the typical hard sciences approach, instead drawing on scholarship in the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences to scrutinize the region, its environment, and its peoples.

The Legacy of Bandung Humanisms, also convening in the fall, is an interdisciplinary research project examining the workings of Bandung Humanisms, the progressive political, social, and cultural movement among nations of the Global South that refused to ally with either major power bloc during the Cold War. The working group, a collaboration between scholars at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles uncovers the post-colonial developing world’s espousal of a radical brand of humanism and self-determination that gave rise to the Non-Aligned Movement of non-aggressor states.

A diverse group of scholars including Stathis Gourgouris, Director, Institute of Comparative Literature & Society and Professor, Classics, Columbia University; Aamir Mufti, Professor, Comparative Literature, UCLA; and Lydia Liu, Wun Tsun Tam Professor in the Humanities, Department of East Asian Languages, Columbia University, will trace the institutions, associations, writings, and artworks identified with the Bandung Humanisms movement, connecting them to current global struggles for social justice.

Christian Lammert on "Welfare and Citizenship: The Pillars of Social Cohesion"

PUBLIC LECTURE:

Wednesday, November 5th, 5pm in 754 Schermerhorn Extension.

Christian Lammert, Professor for North American Politics at the John F. Kennedy Institute of the Free University of Berlin, will speak about the relationship between welfare and democracy—a question central to contemporary transatlantic debates surrounding capitalism, austerity, and inequality.

Over the course of the twentieth century in the United States and Europe, the social bargaining process we call welfare integrated capital and labor in ways that had a profound impact on political participation and legitimacy. Examining social policy and citizenship in a comparative framework, Christian Lammert, Professor for North American Politics at the John F. Kennedy Institute of the Free University of Berlin, will speak to the relationship between welfare and democracy—a question central to contemporary transatlantic debates surrounding capitalism, austerity, and inequality.  Please join us in 754 Schermerhorn Extension on November 5th at 5PM for an enlightening lecture on this topic.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - 5:00pm

754 Schermerhorn Extension

CONFERENCE REPORT: Debating the “Woman Question” in the New Middle East: Women’s Rights, Citizenship, and Social Justice

In light of the recent events across the Arab region, the time is opportune for a careful examination of the new opportunities and challenges facing Arab women.

Debating the "Woman Question" in the New Middle East (Columbia Global Center, Amman) brought together scholars, academics, and practitioners to explore three broad themes:  Political Economies and Women's Lives; Political and Legal Strategies for Citizenship and Social Justice; Islamic Feminism and Islamist Governance.  

Read the full Conference Report here.

PUBLIC ROUNDTABLE: Women and Politics: A Turning Point?

Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Roone Arledge Cinema, Columbia

In 2012, women comprised an impressive majority of the electorate. Currently, women hold a majority of twenty seats in the Senate. More women than ever before are raising young children while serving at the Capitol. Moreover, it is likely not only that the U.S. will see a woman presidential candidate in 2016, but also that Republicans will again nominate a woman for their vice presidential seat. “Women and Politics: A Turning Point?,” the 2014 public program co-hosted by Women Creating Change, a global initiative of the Center for the Study of Social Difference, and the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA), explored these and other issues in a roundtable discussion, featuring: Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer ‘97GS, NPR reporter Mara Liasson, and poet and Nation columnist Katha Pollitt ‘75SOA. Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies and Dean of Social Sciences Alondra Nelson moderated.

The speakers were in agreement that the 2012 election cycle could augur an exciting turning point for women in politics. According to Liasson, “This year, Republicans realized that they are behind the curve.” She noted the marked increase in Republicans who have been “coming out for over-the-counter birth control,” even though no drug company has ever appealed to the FDA for it. But, for Liasson the point is not whether Republicans’ current stance on birth control is realistic. Rather, in her view, “It is progress when Republicans are for over-the-counter birth control, because it means they’re moving farther to the center,” regardless of what their political motives may be.

Pollitt preferred to view Republicans’ new stance on birth control as part of a broader, less optimistic historical shift. She pointed out that making birth control available over-the-counter would actually delimit women’s access to reproductive rights—cutting benefits through Obamacare, such as free copays, and discouraging women from seeking a physician’s advice about the best medication.

Nelson broadened the conversation by noting that 2014 was a watershed year for women holding presidential seats in countries such as Chile and Liberia. She asked, what sort of promise do these leaders hold out for women’s political progress all over the world?

Both Brewer and Pollitt echoed the sentiment that simply having women leaders in positions of power is not enough. Brewer addressed the problem of the political pipeline and women’s access to power. On a pragmatic level, entering the pipeline—whether via work on a community board, a municipal district, holding office in a PTA or participating in other ways in the women’s movement—is the surest way for a woman to enter politics.

Pollitt interjected with a question that helped to focus the conversation: “Are we talking about women, or are we talking about feminists?” According to Pollitt, a neoconservative politician like Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is a prime example of a woman leader who is not always working on behalf of women’s rights. Although Pollitt recognized the practical advantage of the pipeline that Brewer described, she pointed out that a lot of women leaders—such as Margaret Thatcher in the U.K., or perhaps even Hillary Clinton here in the U.S.— emerge from pipelines built on political dynasties rather than civic engagement.

As the conversation turned towards the possibility of Clinton running for the Democratic presidential seat in 2016, Pollitt remarked that Clinton might “dis-identify herself from women as a ‘special category,’ instead trying to position herself as ‘the President of everyone.’” Liasson suggested that the white, married women who voted for Mitt Romney in 2012—and whose vote Romney won against Obama by seven points—could very likely vote for Hillary. “I think that a lot of married women who voted for Mitt Romney will look in the mirror and see her looking back,” said Liasson. “I believe that the first woman President of the United States has to be old,” Liasson added. “There can’t be any question amongst voters about whether she’s qualified or has the necessary experience.”

Brewer agreed, adding that Clinton is also “unique.” According to Brewer, Clinton represents a woman leader who, even in her position as Secretary of State, tried to find nonviolent ways to “promote peace through art” around the world, using our own city’s collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A very passionate audience brought a number of new issues to the table during a rousing Q&A. Perhaps the most provocative questions concerned the particular obstacles facing women of color with political aspirations and the problems that partisanship raises, which one audience member implied could be seen in the all-Democratic composition of the panel itself. To the women-of-color question, Brewer ardently advocated for campaign finance reform at all levels, pointing out how hobbling socioeconomic disadvantage is for women of color in electoral politics.

“The good news is that the rising American electorate are young and minority,” Liasson. If we are indeed on the brink of a turning point in electoral politics, as these speakers’ hopeful words predict, then it seems we can count on witnessing more diversity and younger voices in the near future—even if an end to fractious partisanship is not yet in view.

Nicole Gervasio is a Ph.D. student in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

PUBLIC ROUNDTABLES: “Coming to Terms” with Gendered Memories of Genocide, War, and Political Repression," Istanbul, Turkey

Public Roundtables with Turkish simultaneous translations
September 17, 2014, 1:00-7:00pm
DEPO Gallery, ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Roundtable topics and speakers:

Creating Alternative Archives, with Leyla Neyzi, Özlem Kaya, Susan Meiselas, Silvina der Meguerditchian, and Şemsa Özar

Art, Performance and Memory, with Andreas Huyssen, Alisa Solomon, Carol Becker, Diana Taylor, Maria José Contreras, and Ayşe Öncü

Gender, Memory, Activism, with Marita Sturken, Marianne Hirsch, Nükhet Sirman, Meltem Ahıska, Nancy Kricorian, and Yeşim Arat

Schedule

1:00pm-2:30pm - Creating Alternative Archives
Moderator: Şemsa Özar (Boğaziçi University and Diyarbakır Institute for Social and Political Research)
Leyla Neyzi (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabancı University) - “Young people Speak Out: The Contribution of Oral History to Facing the Past, Reconciliation and Democratization in Turkey” Project www.gencleranlatiyor.org
Özlem Kaya (Truth Justice Memory Center, Turkey) Creating an Alternative Archive through Video Testimonies
Susan Meiselas (Photographer, Magnum Photos, USA ) – Kurdistan
Silvina Der Meguerditchian (Artist, Argentina/Germany) – Nereye? / Where to?

3:00pm-4:30pm - Art, Performance and Memory
Moderator: Ayşe Öncü (Sociology, Sabancı University, Turkey)
Andreas Huyssen (German and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, USA) - The Metamorphosis of the Museum: From Exhibitionary to Experiential Complex
Alisa Solomon (School of Journalism, Columbia University, USA) - Shoe Fetish
Carol Becker (School of the Arts, Columbia University, USA) - The Memory of Sugar
Diana Taylor (Performance Studies, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, NYU, USA) - Is Performing Testimony, Testimony?
Maria José Contreras (School of Theatre, Catholic University, Chile) – The (Im)possible Performance of Forgetfulness

5:00pm-6:30pm - Gender, Memory, Activism
Moderator: Yeşim Arat (Political Science and International Relations, Boğaziçi University, Turkey)
Marita Sturken (Media, Culture, and Communication, NYU, USA) - Architectures of Memory, Architectures of Torture, Architectures of Conflict
Marianne Hirsch (Gender Studies and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, USA) – Mobile Memories
Nükhet Sirman (Sociology, Boğaziçi University, Turkey) – How to Gender Memories of Violence?
Meltem Ahıska (Sociology, Boğaziçi University, Turkey) - Counter-movement, space, and politics:  How the Saturday Mothers of Turkey make the enforced disappearances visible
Nancy Kricorian (Author and Activist USA) - Place Names and Objects: Pilgrimage as/or Resistance

About

This series of roundtables occurs in the context of a five-day workshop on “Mobilizing Memory for Action” that brings together an international group of scholars, artists, and activists to analyze the activist work memory practices can enable. The workshop is part of Columbia University’s “Women Creating Change” initiative led by the Center for the Study of Social Difference and organized in collaboration with the Columbia Global Centers. “Mobilizing Memory for Action” began in December 2013 with a workshop at the Columbia Global Centers in Chile and continues in September 2014 with activities in Istanbul hosted by Columbia Global Centers | Turkey, Sabancı University Gender and Women’s Studies Forum and DEPO Istanbul. Support has also been provided by the Blinken European Institute, Sabancı University, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics, the Truth Justice Memory Center and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Turkey Office. The Istanbul program consists of a workshop with 35 leading scholars, artists and activists from Turkey, the United States, Chile and other contexts; an art exhibition and catalogue; documentary screenings; theater performances and post-performance discussions; and a series of public roundtables.

For more information about the exhibit, please click here.

CSSD Announces Two New Working Groups

CSSD has inaugurated two new working groups for fall 2013. 

Social Justice After the Welfare State will be directed by Alice Kessler-Harris, R. Gordon Hoxie Professor of American History. The group will explore the implications of the declining welfare state for American politics, gender and race relations, and the future of American democracy.

The Digital Black Atlantic Project (DBAP) will also launch in fall 2013. Co-directed by Kaiama Glover, Associate Professor of French at Barnard College, and David Scott, Professor of Anthropology at Columbia, DBAP is a multi-institutional and interdisciplinary working group that has come together to invent a scholarly resource and digital platform for multimedia explorations and documentations of literary texts, visual documents, sites, moments, rituals and ceremonies, monuments and memorials, performances, and material objects emerging out of and concerning the Black Atlantic World.

KEYWORDS: Interdisciplinary Roundtable Conversations

Colleagues from the Humanities, the Social Sciences and the Socio-medical Sciences discuss “Vulnerability” as a keyword in the study of social difference.

Featured participants were:

Walter Bockting
Professor of Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry and Nursing) and Co-Director, LGBT Health Initiative, Division of Gender, Sexuality, and Health, Department of Psychiatry
Columbia University

Katherine Ewing
Professor of Religion and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Sexuality
Columbia University

Marianne Hirsch
William Peterfield Trent Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Women's and Gender Studies and Director, Center for the Study of Social Difference
Columbia University

Richard Parker
Professor of Sociomedical Sciences and Anthropology, and Director, Center for the Study of Culture, Politics, and Health
Columbia University

Moderator:
Alondra Nelson
Professor of Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies, Director, Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and Co-Chair, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies Council
Columbia University

Keywords: Interdisciplinary Roundtable Conversations is a series inspired by theinnovative interdisciplinary scholarship promoted by the Center for the Study of Social Difference. The series draws participants together from a wide range of disciplinary homes in order to explore the various ways we think about fundamental critical/theoretical ideas and to generate new vocabularies and new methodologies.  The WGSS Council is a network of leaders from centers, institutes, and initiatives at Columbia University dedicated to women's, gender, and sexuality studies.

Parenting, Narrative, and our Genetic Futures

Part of the Heyman Center’s Disciplines Series: Evaluation, Value, and Evidence, authors Alison Piepmeier, George Estreich, and Rachel Adams took up many of the questions raised in their November 2013 event on "Genes, Children, and Ethics" (featuring Michael Berube, Faye Ginsberg, and Rayna Rapp) in their discussion of "Parenting, Narrative, and Our Genetic Futures." Elizabeth Emens chaired.

Participants

Alison Piepmeier
Associate Professor of English and Director of Women's and Gender Studies Program, College of Charleston; author of "Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism" and other works.

George Estreich
Author of "Textbook Illustrations of the Human Body" and "The Shape of the Eye"

Rachel Adams
Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Columbia University

Elizabeth Emens
Professor of Law
Columbia University

- Rachel Adams