Miami Presents: Families on Death Row - The Work of Women in Securing Innocence

Mar 02, 2022 Noon

Melinda Dawson will discuss how the criminal justice system effectively ripped her family apart through the wrongful conviction of her husband and her treatment as the daughter of a murder victim. Alison Cohen, (MU 2008’) Director of Communications, Ohioans to Stop Executions, will present a summary of current death penalty legislation and a call to action. Dr. Yvette Harris, Professor of Psychology, Director of the MU Center for the Study and Support of Children and Families of the Incarcerated, will discuss how maternal imprisonment has an impact on mothering, how families adjust to maternal incarceration with a specific focus on mothers who are on death row.

Panelists

• Allison Cohen '13, Ohioans to Stop Executions
• Yvette R. Harris, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Director of the Center for the Study and Support of Children and Families of the Incarcerated, Miami University
• Melinda Dawson, criminal justice advocate

Sponsored By: Miami University Libraries, Ohioans to Stop Executions, Miami University's
Department of Psychology, Farmer School of Business, College of Arts and Science, Family Studies and Social Work, Center for the Study and Support of Children and Families of the Incarcerated

Hosted in partnership with the Alumni Association

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Miami Presents: The Road Ahead for Women of Color Higher Ed - Pandemic Lessons and Opportunities

Wednesday, March 9, Noon, Zoom Webinar

This talk will examine some of the challenges and opportunities for women of color in higher ed settings and beyond, noting how the pandemic has affected how we approach these issues.

M. Cristina Alcalde, Vice President Institutional Diversity, Miami University Alcalde provides vision and leadership for university-wide diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, advancement, and enhancement. Alongside the university’s DEI task force, she works across the university to fully integrate and advance DEI efforts, impacting students, faculty, staff, and the Miami community.

Sponsored by: Miami University Libraries and the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
Hosted in partnership with the Alumni Association

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"Picture a Scientist" Screening and Virtual Panel Discussion

Virtual Viewing: Monday, March 7 through Wednesday, March 9

Panel Discussion: Thursday, March 10, 4:30 pm–5:30 pm, Zoom

In honor of Women's Heritage Month, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion is pleased to present "Picture a Scientist."  “Picture a Scientist '' chronicles the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists. Biologist Nancy Hopkins, chemist Raychelle Burks, and geologist Jane Willenbring lead viewers on a journey deep into their own experiences in the sciences, ranging from brutal harassment to years of subtle slights. Along the way, from cramped laboratories to spectacular field stations, we encounter scientific luminaries - including social scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists - who provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all.

A virtual viewing of the film will be available from March 7-9 followed by a panel discussion on March 10th.  We will join a distinguished panel of women including Dr. Jessica Sparks, Dr. Stacey Lowery Bretz, and University Ambassador Dr. Renate Crawford, and discuss the role of women in STEM.

Sponsored by: The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGS), and Diversity Affairs Council

The Healing and Transformative Journeys of Women of Color

Tuesday, March 15, Noon-1 pm, Armstrong Student Center, Room 1086

Join us for a discussion on the transformative and healing journeys our panelists have experienced as women of color. This event will entail an exploration of their personal and professional lives as it relates to the complicated interplay of healing and identity politics many women of color have to navigate on a daily basis.

Panelists

• Dasha Wood, M.Ed.
• April Robles, M.Ed.
• Denise Taliaferro Baszile, Ph.D.

Sponsored by: The Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGS), and Diversity Affairs Council

Joan of Arc: Queer King of France

Wednesday, March 16, 5 pm, Upham Hall 001

This lecture will feature Dr. Winnifred Fallers Sullivan. Provost Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana U - Bloomington.

Who was this young woman who speaks so boldly from the dock across almost six centuries, defying her judges—and us—to reduce her to a heretic or a saint or a cross-dressing action hero? Who was this young woman who demanded her right to a fair trial and continued to assert until the end her fidelity to her voices and her mission—in the face of the intractability of dynastic logic, a relentless and dualistic scholasticism, and almost certain death? I argue that her continuing power beyond the 15th century and beyond France is explained by her having solved the most significant political theological problem of her time—maybe of all time. In modern terms, she solved the church/state problem—the problem of the separation of religion and politics—on her own lay terms. Acting for the people, she made a king, forcing church and state to live with her decision.   Her power, I believe, lay in a self-occultation akin to what Michael Bérubé has called an autistic aesthetics. As Daniel Bensaïd’s Maid said: "I sowed a message of disorder. I created confusion in the armies, I upset the borders, I inverted the hierarchies, I mixed the sexes. I jumped into view. My judges were not wrong."

Joan of Arc’s gender-queer appearance and the possibility that she was neuroatypical will be considered. Was her cross-dressing an expedient means to prevent rape or something more? Why did Joan of Arc commission male armor that encased her breasts without hiding them? If she lived today, would this powerfully driven individual be considered autistic? Did she have an unwavering focus, like the teen environmental activist Greta Thunberg, that made it possible for her to do amazing things?

Sponsored by: Comparative Religions, Department of French, Italian, and Classical Studies, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, Multifaith Engagement for Transformative Action Collective (META) and SPECTRUM

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Miami Presents: Color in Corporate America

Mar 18, 2022 Noon

Alice Cato, Senior Analyst at Johnson and Johnson

While women continue to be inadequately represented in corporate America on many levels, women of color are the most underrepresented. This discussion will focus on the lack of representation by women of color, the many disparities and barriers encountered in the workplace and the obstacle course that women of color must win to climb the corporate ladder in America.

Sponsored by: Miami University Libraries and Farmer School of Business
Hosted in partnership with the Alumni Association

Register Now

MakeHERspace

Apr 08, 2022 10 am

MakeHERspace is an annual event that focuses on community and activism surrounding women's issues through speakers and maker activities. The 2022 theme is ‘Women Providing Healing and Hope', which focuses on the role of women in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the countless ways throughout history that women have stepped up to be providers of healing and hope in their families, communities, and society. Beth Hutchison, professor at Portland State University, will give a virtual talk on the Lesbian Blood Sisters, lesbian women who care for and donated blood for victims of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 90s. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of maker activities that align with the theme of wellness and crafting as healing.

Sponsored by: University Libraries, Howe Writing Center, and Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion