Feminist Activism in Academia

Ellen C. Mayockis a professor of Spanish and a core faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Washington and Lee University. Domnica Radulescu is a distinguished professor of Romance languages at Washington and Lee University. She has authored, edited, or coedited nine scholarly books and collections of essays. Two of her plays have received recognition from the Jane Chambers Playwriting award and she is the author of two best-selling novels, with a third novel soon to be released. She is the founding director of the National Symposium of Theater in Academe.

“Each of the authors takes a different approach in how she view and experiences the academy...this diversity adds richness and complexity to the volume”—Feminist Formations; “illuminating, inspiring and inventive, this collection documents the ongoing struggle women in academia face in their efforts to help obliterate sexism and its ideological as well as practical consequences”—Letras Femeninas; “This collection clarifies the vexations of trying to be an ethical professor, an honorable human being, and a woman, in a context in which ‘female’ and ‘academic’ are too often oxymoronic. Each writer details struggles faced in the classroom, at faculty meetings, or during parents’ weekend, as they find their authority challenged because of their gender. Filled with personal and theoretical wisdom, these essays shake the ivory tower at its foundation in white upper-class male privilege.”—Jill Dolan, Director, Program in the Study of Women and Gender, Princeton University.

• Table of ContentsIntroductionEllen Mayock and Domnica Radulescu      Part I: Feminist Pedagogies and MentorshipDefending a Choice for Women: A Feminist Video EthnographyBeverly Yuen Thompson      Get Out of My Uterus! A Manifesto against Reproductive Politics in the Academic World and in the World at LargeDomnica Radulescu      Teaching to Spite Your BodyRobin M. LeBlanc      Running the Gauntlet: Battling Sexism in Academia with Greasepaint, Bed Sheets, and Mardi Gras BeadsNorma Bowles      Feminist Mentorship in the Academy: Revolutionary Feminism in ActionJennifer A. Boisvert      Mothering Out of Place: Deconstructing the Maternal Wall in AcademiaJeanine Silveira Stewart      Part II: Negotiating the AcademyPost-Tenure: A Performance of Blatant SubversionKathleen Juhl      “Mothering Language” in the Academic WorkplaceEllen Mayock      On the Front Lines: Feminist Activism in a Catholic UniversityCate Siejk and Jane A. Rinehart      Motherhood Status and the Limits of Flexibility: Recognition and Invisibility among Women Faculty at a Public Liberal Arts UniversityKarin E. Peterson and Alice A.Weldon      The Tender TrackSara Warner      About the Contributors      Index