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Sharlene Hesse-Biber: Executive Director See Dr. Hesse-Biber's Bio |
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Emily Barko See Emily's Bio |
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Erin Balleine See Erin's Bio |
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Melissa Komadina : Intern See Melissa's Bio
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Ashley Downs : Intern See Ashley's Bio |
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Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. She is founder and director of the National Association for Women in Catholic Higher Education. She is co-founder and currently the Director of Women's Studies. She is coeditor of several books, including Feminist Perspectives on Social Research (2004); Approaches to Qualitative Research (2004); Women in Catholic Higher Education: Border Work, Living Experiences and Social Justice (2003); and Feminist Approaches to Theory and Methodology (1999). She is coauthor of The Practice of Qualitative Research (Sage, 2006); Emergent Methods in Social Research (Sage, 2006); WoWorking Women in America: Split Dreams (2005), and the forthcoming Feminist Research Practice: A Primer (Sage). She is the author of Am I Thin Enough Yet? (1996) and an upcoming book titled The Cult of Thinness (2006). She has written numerous articles in the fields of body image, qualitative data analysis. She is codeveloper of HyperRESEARCH (for MAC/WINDOWS) (www.researchware.com), a computer software program for qualitative data analysis, and Hyper-Transcribe (MAC/WINDOWS), a stand-alone transcription software tool for transcribing digitied text and video files.
As a new member of the National Association for Women in Catholic Higher Education, I look forward to joining and furthering NAWCHE's commitment towards the promotion of social justice, and as such, I am eagerly awaiting our upcoming conference, Enacting Social Justice. With a BA from Bates College in Sociology and Women's and Gender Studies, I come to Boston College with hope that my scholastic and personal ties to feminism will foster the NAWCHE mission; and in turn, that my experiences with NAWCHE will help refine the intricate ways I think about feminism, particularly as an underlying theme within and catalyst for the discipline of Women's and Gender Studies. Moreover, I envision NAWCHE to be a core liaison alongside what I deem a feminist" agenda, which promotes an omnipresent movement that typifies social equality for all people. While I acknowledge that feminism is mutable and subjectively defined, as well as precariously understood, I believe that an articulation of how I come to understand feminism, especially in light of the goals of NAWCHE, becomes integral to my introduction to the organization. In simplest terms, I see feminism, or feminisms, as movements that strive for social equality for all people--not just a perceived monolithic category of women, of for example a certain class, race, and sexuality--nor any comprehensive combination of social categories that come to describe "women"--but instead, as a movement for the advancement of all people who endure inequality. Indeed, my undergraduate education has taught me to ask questions such as which women, which individuals, what kind/s of feminism, who is "the" "feminine" that we speak of --and who, in the end, gets to define and to decide. In short, the academic programs that have fashioned my senses of feminisms, include curricula that questions hegemonic structures of privilege and power that maintain investments in social inequality, period. Not social inequality for "women," but for people who endure inequality, (including--but not exclusive to--categories of women). As a result, I hope to help underscore how NAWCHE, like feminism, is not merely about or for a singular group of women, nor does NAWCHE have to be promoted solely by women. In accord, I believe that a feminist is not someone who's merely pro-"women," but is rather someone who is pro-social justice. Subsequently, while I consider myself "a" "woman," I acknowlege that my sense of womanhood has been cast by countless social constructs, such as my sex, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, geographical location, class, sexual preference, physical appearance, and personal experience. And it is with bearing all of these categories that have shaped my identity that I come to NAWCHE, delighted to help facilitate our ambitious aims as an organization. As a new graduate student of Sociology at Boston College, with continued commitments to the promotion of social equality, (i.e. my feminist intentions), I do not envision my ideal of Women's and Gender Studies and of feminism to be separate from that of NAWCHE's. Thus, I urge new members like myself to identify as feminist, to identify with social justice, and to identify with NAWCHE. Again, I am thrilled to be a new addition to NAWCHE! I am currently focusing on strengthening our membership drive, as well as developing and organizing conference sessions for Georgetown. I would be more than happy to assist you with any questions or concerns regarding memberships and our upcoming conference, alongside any additional queries you may have. I look forward to meeting with so many of you in Washington, DC, as well to conversing with you all in the interim! As the new academic year begins, I am thrilled to join the NAWCHE staff! Previously graduating in 2000 with a BA in Sociology from Lakeland College, a small liberal arts college in Wisconsin, I have spent the past few years working as an advocate for social justice issues. I have worked with the Jubilee 2000 movement for 3rd world debt relief, and I have organized and presented on the hard-won boycotts of Taco Bell, Mt. Olive Pickle Company, and Gallo Wines. Finally, I have completed a year of service with Americorps*VISTA, serving people with low literacy skills. All of these experiences resonate with me and remind me of the deep connections all of us have, whether from developing or developed societies to the concerns for equality and dignity. I am especially excited to begin work with NAWCHE because it is the first organization that I have worked with that stands for who I am...a woman in Catholic Higher Education, and connecting with some amazing and inspiring individuals, I began to realize how important it is to have the privilege of surrounding myself with people who are struggling with the same struggles, and aspiring to similar goals. The advice from the people who have gone before me, and the solidarity I began to share with my peers left me proud to be the newest addition to the NAWCHE staff. For the next two years, I will serve NAWCHE as the Marketing Manager. Within my responsibilities, I hope to increasingly introduce more members to NAWCHE , providing opportunity for all of us to connect and share with other individuals in Catholic Higher Education the goals of social justice through our connections with one another. The NAWCHE conference at Georgetown reminds me that we are stronger when we stand together, I hope to continue to facilitate these connections. Please do no hesitate to contact me with any questions, or to simply say hello. I look forward to working with each one of you! Melissa Komadina is an intern with NAWCHE and will graduate from Boston College in May 2008 with a B.A. in History and minors in International Studies and Women's Studies. She spent the past year abroad in Thessaloniki, Greece, where she interned with a foreign women's career network, traveled most of the country, and ate as much baklava as humanly possible. Melissa is excited to join NAWCHE as the organization prepares for the June conference in New York City and also for the opportunity to work with other dynamic women on advancing feminist values and goals within Catholic college and universities. Ashley Downs is a new intern with NAWCHE. She is a sophomore in the graduating class of 2010 majoring in Sociology with a minor in Black Studies. Ashley is excited about being a part of this organization because it not only focuses on women's issues, but on social justice issues overall, both of which concern her, being an African-American woman in America.
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