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Symposium Examines Gender Studies
Professor Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe
Professor Edris
Cooper-Anifowoshe
On Friday, April 8, the Women’s Studies Program held its 10th Annual Women's Studies Symposium, established by Dr. Sandra Harmon. The day-long event showcased the best in undergraduate and graduate research from students working in gender studies and gave students in Women’s Studies classes the opportunity to present their work in a conference-like setting where they received feedback and support for their projects. Highlights from the conference included panels on women’s autobiography, gender as performance, women in literature, feminist activism, representations of gender and conflict, peacemaking, and women’s health. "The Women's Studies Symposium provides a great opportunity for students to present their work and speak in public," said Dean Olson. "This symposium also allows students to contextualize current gender issues, thus enhancing their classroom experience."

This year, the Women’s Studies Program presented the 2004-2005 Luellen Laurenti Award to Angeline Anastasia, an outstanding senior in the program, as part of the symposium. This prestigious scholarship honors Dr. Luellen Laurenti, an ISU professor in Foreign Languages and a major force behind the women’s rights movement in Illinois for three decades. Harmon was also honored with a plaque in recognition of her work to establish the symposium and for her tireless dedication to the Women’s Studies Program during her years at ISU.

Presenters at Symposium
Presenters at Symposium

Professor Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe gave a powerful keynote address titled “Life During Wartime: Wailing, Waiting, and Womanhood.” Cooper-Anifowoshe is an actor, director, and creator of several solo projects, including Political Gossip and Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of Academic Clarity and Inclusion. She is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience. She is also an Associate Artist with Rhodessa Jones’ Medea Project; Theatre for Incarcerated Women. Cooper-Anifowoshe has directed Yellowman at Denver's Curious Theatre; the world premiere of Cassandra Medley's Relativity at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco; August Wilson’s Piano Lesson; and the world premiere of Robert Alexander’s A Preface to the Alien Garden, both at the Trinity Repertory Company. She was awarded the Dean Goodman Award for Excellence for her production of The Old Settler at TheatreWorks in Palo Alto, and also received Best Production, two Best Acting Awards, and an Outstanding Direction nomination at the 2003 Rabin awards for The Old Settler in Dallas, Texas. Cooper-Anifowoshe currently teachers acting on a one-year Guest Artist appointment at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.  

As part of her 2-day visit, Cooper-Anifowoshe lectured in Dr. Leslie Sloan Orr’s "Black Identity and Drama" class and gave an inspiring movement workshop to Dr. Paul Dennhardt’s movement class in the Allen Theater. She also had the opportunity to meet with President Bowman.  

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