Centenary
News Service

2911 Centenary
Boulevard

Post Office
Box 4188

Shreveport
Louisiana
71134-1188

Telephone
318 869-5120

Fax
318 841-7266

Email
news@centenary.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (3/06)
Contact: Lynn Stewart or Kelsey Johnson, Centenary News Service, 318-841-726

See advance article

Snapshots of ACS Gender Studies Conference Held at Centenary College of Louisiana March 24-25

SHREVEPORT, LA— The Associated Colleges of the South held its seventh biennial Women's and Gender Studies Conference on the campus of Centenary College of Louisiana March 24-25.

Conference coordinators Drs. Kim VanHoosier-Carey and Michelle Wolkomir were charged with planning and organizing the conference by Centenary Provost Darrel Colson nearly one year ago and spent many months preparing for the weekend's events.

Debbie Buchanan Engle '04, a member of the West Edge Artists' Co-op, set up her "36.24.36" art exhibit, which features cutouts from her grandmother's old sewing patterns paired with gender-related quips like "Someday my prince will come," "'The Stepford Wives' was preposterous!" and "He finally tamed her."

Centenary senior Debbie Elsen describes her interviews with a male elementary teacher and a female computer science teacher in her presentation, "Gender Atypical Positions within the Education System."

Amy Larson, a Centenary English major, considers themes of gender in Western vs. Eastern cultures through an examination of Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies.

Centenary student Sarah Eich argues that cyberculture fiction demonstrates how women are debased and disenfranchised by the futuristic technology that empowers men.

Elizabeth Coody '05 claims there is a strong link between the Star Wars movies and mainstream pop culture's changing opinions of gender roles.

Centenary student Amy Harrell shares her research on the media's influence on body image.

President Kenneth L. Schwab welcomes conference participants to Friday night's dinner at the East Ridge Country Club in Shreveport.

Centenary student Rachel Powell, who has been participating in the Equality Riders' cross-country tour, introduces keynote speaker Naomi Wolf.

Keynote speaker Naomi Wolf, who is the bestselling author of The Beauty Myth and other books, spoke on Friday night about the social expectations for beauty standards that pressure women to obsess about their physical appearances instead of expending energy on worthwhile pursuits.

Students walk from the Smith Building to Crumley Gardens for the Saturday afternoon fish fry.

Conference attendees load their plates with fried fish and hush puppies.

Afternoon sunlight serves as a spotlight for the Magnolia Sisters, a Cajun band entertaining conference participants with zydeco music.

Photos by: Kelsey Johnson, Office of Public Relations

- 30 -