Chair’s Column
Marian Meyers, FSD Chair
This year marks 20 years of feminist scholarship within the International Communication Association. The Feminist Scholarship Division, which began in 1986 as in interest group within ICA, has grown from a small but committed group of feminist scholars – both faculty and grad students -- to more than 200 members. As a division and as individuals, we have come a long way within both ICA and the academy. We have achieved divisional status in ICA, we have helped legitimate feminist scholarship in the field of communication and within our educational institutions, we have conducted feminist research, and we have taught courses that address our concerns as feminists and have made a difference to our students. We have much to be proud of, and much to celebrate.
This does not mean, as we well know, that we have accomplished all that needs to be done – we are still a long way from our shared vision of an egalitarian and just academy and world. But we are closer, thanks to the battles many of you have fought and the work that many of you have done over the years with little or no recognition. So as we celebrate our 20th anniversary in Dresden – and we will have a party! – we also are celebrating you, our members. As feminists have long known, we are stronger and more effective when we work together. Thank you for joining us and working with us – whether you are a long-time veteran of FSD or a new member. We are honored to have you with us.
As we head toward summer and the Dresden conference, it seems appropriate to take stock of this past year. I have both good news and sad news to report. On the sad news side, Karen Riggs, who was elected last year as FSD vice chair, has had to step down from that position due to a detached vitreous – the tissue that connects the retina to the rest of the eye. Her eyesight will be permanently affected, and Karen felt that at this time she could not fulfill her duties as division vice chair. We wish her the best of health and look forward to her continued future involvement in other capacities within the division.
In the meantime, we need a new vice chair to fill out Karen’s term of office. I am delighted to report that Vicki Mayer of Tulane University in New Orleans has agreed to run for that position. We are planning to hold the election at our business meeting at the Dresden conference in June, and provisions will be made for proxy votes. If you are at all interested in serving in this capacity, please do let me know as soon as possible. We’d love to have as many candidates as there are members willing to serve. The vice chair position is normally for two years, after which the vice chair becomes chair of the division for two years, followed by two years as immediate past chair.
All three positions have different responsibilities, with the vice chair responsible for the planning of the annual conference for the division and related activities. Since one year of the vice chair’s job will have passed by the time of the election in Dresden, the newly elected vice chair will serve only one year before becoming division chair. If you are interested in the position but think that now is not the time to throw your hat into the ring, please think about running next year, when we will be holding elections again for vice chair.
Other sad news is that the father of Claire Wardle, our Con/Text editor, passed away this fall. Claire took time off last semester from working on the newsletter and teaching at the University of Cardiff to be with and care for her father. We offer her our condolences, and we are very grateful to have her back with us.
While we did not have a fall newsletter in Claire’s absence, Claire and Rosa Mikeal Martey, who is Con/Text’s publisher and on-line guru, have used this interim time to redesign Feminist Con/Text to make it more interactive and to better serve our members. (See article by Claire.) We are excited about this new look and format, and hope that you are, too. And we hope you will send us your comments and ideas -- both for publication in Con/Text and to continue to improve it.
Besides a revised and interactive Con/Text, other good news is that a group of wonderful women have stepped forward and offered their assistance in response to my admittedly panicked call for help after Karen advised me of her inability to continue as vice chair. While I have taken over the vice chair responsibilities involving the scheduling of sessions and related correspondence with members concerning the Dresden program, I am extremely grateful that Dafna Lemish, Cindy Carter, Yoo Jae Song, Vicki Mayer, Debra Merskin, Usha Zacharias and MJ Smythe are working together as an ad hoc planning committee to plan the reception that traditionally follows our business meeting, as well as the celebration to mark our 20th anniversary. They have some wonderful ideas and are exploring some exciting options for an off-site party in Dresden. I know that whatever they decide is not to be missed! So stay tuned – and please make sure to come. Whatever venue or form this commemoration takes, it is sure to be a great time for everyone.
Which brings us to still more good news. Rebecca Hains, who is FSD’s student representative, has been elected to the ICA board as a student representative. We offer her our most sincere congratulations. I am delighted to be able to work with her not just within FSD but within the larger structure of the board.
In addition, we have finally updated our website, and Rosa Mikeal Martey has offered to update it further! I am very appreciative of Rosa’s offer and think her suggestions for improvement are all wonderful. I suggest you check out the website now (through ICA’s homepage), to see how it’s been updated and improved, and then check it out again in the future to see how Rosa has made it even better!
And, finally, I want to share what looks to be future good news. The ICA board voted in November to establish an ad hoc committee to further explore the feasibility and develop plans for a new, international journal that will emphasize critical and qualitative work. This ad hoc committee, of which I am a member, will present to the ICA board in Dresden its plan which, hopefully, will result in a vote for a new journal that will be a welcoming home for feminist scholarship. FSD has argued before the publications board both at the New Orleans and New York conventions that the Journal of Communication has not always been receptive to accepting feminist and critical scholarship, and that, while the JOC needs to be more open to critical work, a new journal also is needed to meet the needs of critical, qualitative scholars within ICA.
It looks as though the goal of having a new critical/feminist journal sponsored by ICA is within sight. This could not have occurred, however, without the support of former ICA publications board chair Mary Beth Oliver and the current chair, Teri Thompson. Teri deserves special appreciation for bringing before the board last fall the proposal for a new journal. The proposal was well researched, well written, well argued and extremely persuasive. While most board members were supportive of a new journal at the fall meeting, some questioned whether it was needed. But I think most board members agree that ICA can best serve its critical, qualitative members, and attract new members -- particularly internationally where critical work is more common -- with a new journal.
So, during FSD’s second 20-years of existence, we may well have an ICA journal that will be receptive to – indeed, designed to accommodate – feminist and other critical scholarship. But we will have so much more than that. We will have a solid foundation built on the commitment, wisdom, hard work and scholarship of women who have been a part of FSD over the past 20 years. With this as our base, I am confident that the next 20 years – while not without struggle -- will bring us closer to our hopes and visions for the field of communication, the academy and the world.
In sisterhood,
Marian Meyers
Georgia State University
USA
This year marks 20 years of feminist scholarship within the International Communication Association. The Feminist Scholarship Division, which began in 1986 as in interest group within ICA, has grown from a small but committed group of feminist scholars – both faculty and grad students -- to more than 200 members. As a division and as individuals, we have come a long way within both ICA and the academy. We have achieved divisional status in ICA, we have helped legitimate feminist scholarship in the field of communication and within our educational institutions, we have conducted feminist research, and we have taught courses that address our concerns as feminists and have made a difference to our students. We have much to be proud of, and much to celebrate.
This does not mean, as we well know, that we have accomplished all that needs to be done – we are still a long way from our shared vision of an egalitarian and just academy and world. But we are closer, thanks to the battles many of you have fought and the work that many of you have done over the years with little or no recognition. So as we celebrate our 20th anniversary in Dresden – and we will have a party! – we also are celebrating you, our members. As feminists have long known, we are stronger and more effective when we work together. Thank you for joining us and working with us – whether you are a long-time veteran of FSD or a new member. We are honored to have you with us.
As we head toward summer and the Dresden conference, it seems appropriate to take stock of this past year. I have both good news and sad news to report. On the sad news side, Karen Riggs, who was elected last year as FSD vice chair, has had to step down from that position due to a detached vitreous – the tissue that connects the retina to the rest of the eye. Her eyesight will be permanently affected, and Karen felt that at this time she could not fulfill her duties as division vice chair. We wish her the best of health and look forward to her continued future involvement in other capacities within the division.
In the meantime, we need a new vice chair to fill out Karen’s term of office. I am delighted to report that Vicki Mayer of Tulane University in New Orleans has agreed to run for that position. We are planning to hold the election at our business meeting at the Dresden conference in June, and provisions will be made for proxy votes. If you are at all interested in serving in this capacity, please do let me know as soon as possible. We’d love to have as many candidates as there are members willing to serve. The vice chair position is normally for two years, after which the vice chair becomes chair of the division for two years, followed by two years as immediate past chair.
All three positions have different responsibilities, with the vice chair responsible for the planning of the annual conference for the division and related activities. Since one year of the vice chair’s job will have passed by the time of the election in Dresden, the newly elected vice chair will serve only one year before becoming division chair. If you are interested in the position but think that now is not the time to throw your hat into the ring, please think about running next year, when we will be holding elections again for vice chair.
Other sad news is that the father of Claire Wardle, our Con/Text editor, passed away this fall. Claire took time off last semester from working on the newsletter and teaching at the University of Cardiff to be with and care for her father. We offer her our condolences, and we are very grateful to have her back with us.
While we did not have a fall newsletter in Claire’s absence, Claire and Rosa Mikeal Martey, who is Con/Text’s publisher and on-line guru, have used this interim time to redesign Feminist Con/Text to make it more interactive and to better serve our members. (See article by Claire.) We are excited about this new look and format, and hope that you are, too. And we hope you will send us your comments and ideas -- both for publication in Con/Text and to continue to improve it.
Besides a revised and interactive Con/Text, other good news is that a group of wonderful women have stepped forward and offered their assistance in response to my admittedly panicked call for help after Karen advised me of her inability to continue as vice chair. While I have taken over the vice chair responsibilities involving the scheduling of sessions and related correspondence with members concerning the Dresden program, I am extremely grateful that Dafna Lemish, Cindy Carter, Yoo Jae Song, Vicki Mayer, Debra Merskin, Usha Zacharias and MJ Smythe are working together as an ad hoc planning committee to plan the reception that traditionally follows our business meeting, as well as the celebration to mark our 20th anniversary. They have some wonderful ideas and are exploring some exciting options for an off-site party in Dresden. I know that whatever they decide is not to be missed! So stay tuned – and please make sure to come. Whatever venue or form this commemoration takes, it is sure to be a great time for everyone.
Which brings us to still more good news. Rebecca Hains, who is FSD’s student representative, has been elected to the ICA board as a student representative. We offer her our most sincere congratulations. I am delighted to be able to work with her not just within FSD but within the larger structure of the board.
In addition, we have finally updated our website, and Rosa Mikeal Martey has offered to update it further! I am very appreciative of Rosa’s offer and think her suggestions for improvement are all wonderful. I suggest you check out the website now (through ICA’s homepage), to see how it’s been updated and improved, and then check it out again in the future to see how Rosa has made it even better!
And, finally, I want to share what looks to be future good news. The ICA board voted in November to establish an ad hoc committee to further explore the feasibility and develop plans for a new, international journal that will emphasize critical and qualitative work. This ad hoc committee, of which I am a member, will present to the ICA board in Dresden its plan which, hopefully, will result in a vote for a new journal that will be a welcoming home for feminist scholarship. FSD has argued before the publications board both at the New Orleans and New York conventions that the Journal of Communication has not always been receptive to accepting feminist and critical scholarship, and that, while the JOC needs to be more open to critical work, a new journal also is needed to meet the needs of critical, qualitative scholars within ICA.
It looks as though the goal of having a new critical/feminist journal sponsored by ICA is within sight. This could not have occurred, however, without the support of former ICA publications board chair Mary Beth Oliver and the current chair, Teri Thompson. Teri deserves special appreciation for bringing before the board last fall the proposal for a new journal. The proposal was well researched, well written, well argued and extremely persuasive. While most board members were supportive of a new journal at the fall meeting, some questioned whether it was needed. But I think most board members agree that ICA can best serve its critical, qualitative members, and attract new members -- particularly internationally where critical work is more common -- with a new journal.
So, during FSD’s second 20-years of existence, we may well have an ICA journal that will be receptive to – indeed, designed to accommodate – feminist and other critical scholarship. But we will have so much more than that. We will have a solid foundation built on the commitment, wisdom, hard work and scholarship of women who have been a part of FSD over the past 20 years. With this as our base, I am confident that the next 20 years – while not without struggle -- will bring us closer to our hopes and visions for the field of communication, the academy and the world.
In sisterhood,
Marian Meyers
Georgia State University
USA
posted by FSD | 11:46 PM
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