“What we want to do is to explore the many and varied relationships between feminism and teaching and offer academics and other educators who are working in this field a chance to reach out to each other.”
PhD students at The University of Nottingham from the Schools of English Studies, Law, Modern Languages and Cultures, and Sociology and Social Policy have been running a feminist reading group and introduction to feminism workshops for undergraduates for a number of years, and formed the Feminism and Teaching Network to encourage the sharing of experience and skills among educators from a variety of fields.
Another of the organisors, Jude Roberts, said: “To us feminism means gender awareness, exploring and examining gender identities, challenging historical and structural inequalities and considering the ways in which gender intersects with other issues such as class, race, age and context. By teaching we mean any engagements with other people oriented around educating, enlightening, consciousness-raising or communicating — academic or classroom teaching is only one example of the many kinds of teaching or public engagement.”
The symposium features an impressive list of high-profile keynote speakers and has attracted delegates from across the UK, Europe, North America, Indonesia, India, Turkey, the Czech Republic
and North Africa. They will be exploring ways in which feminism and teaching relate to each other and the ways in which each term strengthens and/or troubles the other.
Professor Sara Mills from Sheffield Hallam University, whose research interests and current work include language and sexism, will give the keynote speech. She said: “I will be highlighting the difference between 2nd wave and 3rd wave feminism in relation to the analysis of sexism and argue that what we need to do is see feminism and sexism as a site of struggle — neither just resurgence nor backlash. I will use the Andy Gray and Richard Keys story — the Sky Sports presenters sacked for their ‘sexist rant’ — as an example of feminist resurgence and an example from my teaching for backlash. In both cases I will look at the incident in all its complexity and its follow up, rather than examining the incident in isolation.”
They will be examining the link between feminism and teaching in a range of educational contexts.
Professor Gina Wisker, Head of The Centre for Learning and Teaching at The University of Brighton, whose research interests and current work include higher education and contemporary literature, said: “When students engage with feminist theory in their reading of and daily involvement with literature and culture, they make learning ‘leaps’, really questioning, creating, making it new. They suddenly see that values, interpretations, knowledge, decisions are inflected by a whole range of hidden normalising influences, particularly gender, culture, and economics.”
For more information and to keep track of regular blogs from the Feminism and Teaching Network go to: www.feminismandteaching.org
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings. It was named ‘Europe’s greenest university’ in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking, a league table of the world’s most environmentally-friendly higher education institutions, which ranked Nottingham second in the world overall.
The University is committed to providing a truly international education for its 40,000 students, producing world-leading research and benefiting the communities around its campuses in the UK and Asia.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranked the University 7th in the UK by research power. The University’s vision is to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health.
May Fest 2011 is on Saturday May 7, 11am to 5.30pm, at The University of Nottingham.
The University is throwing open its doors to the community — with heaps of free activities for all ages. The Physics Buskers, thunder and lightning on demand and brain games. Get a glimpse of some of the amazing things that are happening on your doorstep. Visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/mayfest
More news from the University at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news