Women, Gender, Sex: Social and Cultural Histories of the Long Nineteenth Century

About

In this conference, former students and colleagues of Patricia Cline Cohen explore the legacy of Cohen’s pioneering work in the cultural history of gender and sexuality. A founder of Women’s Studies (now Feminist Studies) at UCSB and a valued member of the History Department, Cohen worked tirelessly to advance the status of women and deepen our understanding of women’s historical experiences in the nineteenth-century United States. This conference explores the implications and legacies of her work—on prostitution, the popular press, and urban spaces. Presenters also address the development of Women’s/Feminist Studies locally and nationally, and explore the importance of feminist pedagogy and positive mentorship that Cohen’s career exemplifies. The conference will also explore the best ways to institutionalize and promote the contributions of interdisciplinary feminist scholarship in the future by reaching out to a variety of audiences.

This conference is co-sponsored by the Department of History, the Department of Feminist Studies, the Hull Chair Funds in Feminist Studies, the College of Letters and Sciences, the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts, the Division of Social Sciences, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, the UCSB Graduate Student Association, the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, and by generous grants from individual research funds of John Majewski, James F. Brooks, and Ann Marie Plane.

Conference Program

All Sessions are in the McCune Room of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, UCSB—Humanities and Social Sciences Building (HSSB) 6020

Friday, May 1:
2:30-3:30 Check in and mingling, snacks

3:30-4:15— Welcoming Remarks
Kum-Kum Bhavnani,
Prof. of Sociology and Chair, UCSB Academic Senate
David Marshall
Executive Vice Chancellor, UCSB
Henry Yang, Chancellor, UCSB

4:15-5:45 Opening Keynote Panel:
Women’s Studies/Feminist Studies: Past, Present, Future
CHAIR: Laury Oaks, Feminist Studies, UCSB
Jane De Hart, History (emerita), UCSB
“Looking Back/Moving Forward: the Challenges Facing Feminist History and Historians in the 21st Century”
Eileen Boris, Feminist Studies, UCSB
“From Women to Gender and Beyond: The Entwined Trajectories of Women’s History and Feminist Studies”
Clare A. Lyons, Univ. of Maryland
“Feminist Scholarship and the History of Sexuality”

5:45-6:45—Reception—Toast to Pat!
Ann Marie Plane, History, UCSB & Megan Perle Bowman, George State Univ.
John Majewski, Interim Dean, Humanities and Fine Arts, UCSB

Saturday, May 2:
8:30-9:00—Coffee and continental breakfast

9-10:30—Mentoring 101: Feminist Pedagogy
CHAIR: John Majewski, Interim Dean, Humanities and Fine Arts, UCSB
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, Smith College
“On Pat Cohen and Mentorship: Analogue Advising in a Digital Age”
Ula Y. Taylor, African American Studies, UC Berkeley
“Formal Intimacy”
Stacey Robertson, History and Women’s Studies, Bradley University
“360-Degree Mentorship”

10.45-12:15—The Murder of Helen Jewett and its Implications
CHAIR: Erika Rappaport, History, UCSB
April Haynes, Univ. of Oregon
“Helen Jewett’s Afterlife, or, a numerate divination and semi-spiritual account of the academic adventures of a murdered prostitute”
Warren Wood, California Polytechnic, Pomona
“’Not an honest woman in the country’: How Pat Cohen and Helen Jewett Inspired a New Understanding of Women and Morality in Gold Rush San Francisco”
Rebecca Conard, Middle Tennessee State University
“Envisioning Helen Jewett’s Place in History”
Amy Greenberg, Pennsylvania State University
“The Many Pleasures of Teaching The Murder of Helen Jewett”

12:15-2:00 BUFFET LUNCH (included with conference registration)

2:00-3:30—The Flash Press–Collaboration and Impact:
CHAIR: Catherine Nesci (UCSB French and Italian)
Helen Horowitz, Smith College
“Writing alongside Pat, a Collaborator Extraordinaire”
Katherine Hijar, CSU San Marcos
“’Nymphs of the Pave’ on the Page: Women’s Place in Public in Pat Cohen’s New York”
Lisa Jacobson, History, UCSB
“The Flash Press in the Classroom”

3:30-4:00 Break

4:00-5:30– Mentoring 102: “A Calculating Teacher”
CHAIR: Susan Juster, Univ. of Michigan
Angela Woollacott, Australian National University
Catherine E. Kelly, Univ. of Oklahoma
Alicia E. Rodriquez, CSU Bakersfield
Lynn Sacco, University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
Megan Perle Bowman, Georgia State University
Alexandra Coles, History, UCSB

CONFERENCE DINNER: 6:30-7:00 Reception, 7 pm dinner
The Canary Hotel
31 W. Carillo Street (corner of Chapala)
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
http://www.canarysantabarbara.com/things-to-do/map/index.html
**Dinner can be purchased together with Conference Registration or as a separate item for those not attending the conference

Sunday, May 3:
8:30-9:00—Coffee and continental breakfast

9:30-11:00—Roundtable: History in Public
CHAIR: James Brooks, UCSB History
Shelley Bookspan, Consultant
Betsy Homsher, Dean of Students, Kettering University
Sarah Stage, ASU (textbook co-author)
Beverly Schwartzberg, Literacy Program, SB Public Library
William Warner, English, UCSB

11:00-11:15—Break

11:15-12:00—Response: Patricia Cline Cohen, History (emerita), UCSB

12:00-1:15—Lunch (box lunch available by preorder)
1:15—Conference ends.

The organizers would like to thank the following conference co-sponsors:
Department of History; Department of Feminist Studies; Interdisciplinary Humanities Center; College of Letters and Sciences (Division of Social Sciences, Division of Humanities and Fine Arts); The Hull Chair in Women’s Studies Funds; The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture (Williamsburg, Virginia)
Additional support for speakers:
Research Funds of James Brooks, John Majewski, Ann Marie Plane

hm 4/2/15