Nicole Rizzo's "To Stop Treading Water: Monologues that Challenge the Undertow of Trauma" in the UNESCO/UNITWIN Diary Series

Photo courtesy Stephen Vocaturo
at stephenvocaturo.com

The following video based on my Kilachand Honors College Senior Keystone Project at Boston University concerns the pervasive socio-cultural problem of sexual assault and/or trauma, particularly on college campuses. This is a topic continuously in circulation on various social media platforms (just think: Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, the Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, and the President of the United States). Movements such as #MeToo and feminist plays such as for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf and The Vagina Monologues have powerfully given voice to survivors by offering intersectional perspectives and raising awareness. My Keystone Project was essentially an activist endeavor – one that aimed to deconstruct the universalizing narrative of the “victim” and the “survivor” seen through the historical lenses of racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism. I have written a Vagina-Monologue-choreopoem-inspired play, To Stop Treading Water: Monologues that Challenge the Undertow of Trauma, that combines monologues, movement, and music to address the violence of rape culture and explore the diverse array of trauma responses. The play was performed on April 24th and 25th, 2018 with the assistance of a team of committed performers and designers, who also assisted with the development of educational multimedia (i.e. videos/graphics) materials and a website to contain them. Research on postmodern drama that grapples with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and sexual assault (which also served as the basis for my senior Honors Thesis in English) and the use of ethnographic approaches to gathering ideas, such as conducting interviews with sexual trauma survivors, informed my work. In essence, my Keystone Project was an attempt to give voice to survivors of sexual assault/trauma and inspire a call to action.

Congratulations to Yaaminey Mubayi on her Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship!

News in from Yaaminey, who joined our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network as a Founding Member with the New Delhi-based Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative in 2007: 

"I have received the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship, enabling me to carry out a research cum teaching program at Mount Holyoke College this academic year, 2019-20. My research focuses on my study of historic water management in Ellora and Daulatabad, Maharashtra, that I have been engaged with for the past several years. I hope to complete the manuscript for my next book on the subject by end year."

Within our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network over the years, Yaaminey has been contributing in such arenas as livelihoods in Punjab and Orissa, endogenous tourism including gender implications such as commercialism competing with women's traditional livelihoods, and intangible cultural heritage.

Photo Courtesy Yaaminey

In the first e-book of our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network, Yaaminey contributed a chapter entitled "Poverty of Choice: Gender and Livelihoods in Punjab." We now look forward to her new book in the arena of water and human settlements in Maharashtra.

 

Summary Bio: Yaaminey Mubayi is an Historian and Social Development Professional with twenty years of experience in the field of Cultural Heritage Studies. With an interest in fieldwork-based applied learning as her core motivation, she has combined research and institutional experience with academic practice and forged an innovative professional niche in the area of Cultural Heritage and Development Planning.

Beyond the Book XI Exhibition Opens and Artists' Talks Announced!

Beyond the Book XI with 85 works of art was opened to the public at the Faneuil and Brighton Center Branches of the Boston Public Library on November 9, 2019.

Below, a glimpse of the reception at the Faneuil Library as well as an event description by Exhibition Organizer, Ronni Komarow. The events are cosponsored by the Friends of the Faneuil Library, and supported by the UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development at Boston University Women's & Gender Studies. (Photos by Brenda Gael McSweeney)

Exhibit Organizer Ronni Komarow welcoming 

Artists Dennis Dahill and Ruth Rosner with Maria Rodrigues

Group Photo with Exhibition Artists

Applause for newly elected Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon

Liz Breadon Makes History on Election Day in Boston!

Three cheers for Liz Breadon! Liz, who served on the Board of Directors of our UNESCO/UNITWIN Affiliate the Brighton-Allston Historical Society, made history on November 5 2019 by winning the election to become the first-ever woman representing Brighton-Allston on the Boston City Council!

 Her key plans include:

- Combating suffocating luxury development through promotion of affordable housing
- Championing strong schools for strong communities
- Campaigning for transportation that actually gets you there
- Protecting the environment and green space in the community (for which Liz walks the talk by having installed solar panels and rain water harvesting at home)

Liz and her progressive platform, with 58.5% of the vote in the Municipal Elections, earned a decisive mandate!

Onward!

Photos by Brenda Gael McSweeney

You are invited to Beyond the Book XI, cosponsored by Friends of Faneuil Library, our UNESCO/UNITWIN Affiliate!

On view at both the Faneuil Library and the Brighton Library through Sat., Jan. 11th 2020

OPENING RECEPTION

Beyond the Book XI

Sat., Nov. 9th, 11:30 am.–1:30 pm.

An Exhibition of Artist's Books and Book-Related Art Inspired by Books

Image credit, "Influenced by Matisse" by Suzette Dorso

Beyond the Book has been presenting exhibitions of book art in the greater Boston area since 2006. This upcoming exhibition will feature artist's books about books—book art inspired by a favorite novel, a book of poetry, an author, a library. The exhibition will feature over 100 works of art by over 30 artists from around New England as well as the work of artists in New York, Texas — and even Belgium!

This exhibition is a joint effort involving both the Faneuil and Brighton Branches of the Boston Public Library. Works are distributed between the two branches.

Hours and directions for the Faneuil Branch Library, 419 Faneuil St, Oak Square, Brighton MA are here: https://www.bpl.org/locations/23/

Hours and directions for the Brighton Branch Library, 40 Academy Hill Rd., Brighton Center, Brighton MA are here: https://www.bpl.org/locations/15/

Parking for the Faneuil Library is available at the Presentation School Foundation lot, diagonally across Oak Square from the library. Enter from Tremont St., just past the bus shelter. The Brighton Library has a parking lot; from Washington Street go up Chestnut Hill Ave. and enter on the left, just past the Brighton Courthouse.

Exhibition Programming: There will be a series of exhibition-related programs offered at both branches. Please stay tuned for details. Ronni Komarow of FOFL coordinated this exhibition.

Cosponsored by The Friends of the Faneuil Branch Library (FOFL), and supported by the UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture, & People-Centered Development of Boston University's Women's and Gender Studies Program.

Announcing Our New Young Women's Forum!

We're delighted to announce a new series that will be appearing on our UNESCO/UNITWIN blog!

In an effort to amplify grassroots voices in this phase of our UNITWIN, Founding Member Chandana Dey from West Bengal, India proposed having a young women's forum. Chandana states "This initial idea came from my interest in a young all-girls' football team. The co-coach is Mousumi Murmu. I thought that it would be interesting to have dialogues with these young women- and perhaps this might lead to some gender awareness and skill building work. Mousumi has been taking computer programming classes, and she will soon be working with a Santal professor in Jadavpur University who works on discrimination. I thought Mousumi's 'WhatsApp diary' (would be translated by me) would make interesting blog entries. And I also thought that the other UNITWIN partners might have similar stories they could share."

Here is the first entry in this young women's forum series, by Mousumi Murmu!

Mousumi's football team with coach and Chandana Dey
Courtesy: Mousumi Murmu

From the Diary of Mousumi Murmu 

(September 2019)

My name is Mousumi Murmu and I live in the village of Phooldanga. On 15 March, 2018, I joined work on a survey on the socio-economic conditions of Adivasi girls in the villages of West Bengal. There were many other students from different districts of Bengal on the survey and this was a chance to meet them. There were two other girls from Birbhum on this survey- Anjali Soren and Bahamoni Tudu. I met two other girls from Rajnagar Block, and along with them, made the acquaintance of one of their teachers, Mr. Tapan Kumar Ray. He was a retired school-teacher. He told me that he had formed a girls’ football team in a village in the Rajnagar block (Suri district). Besides football, he was trying to make these girls self-reliant, trying to prevent child-marriage, through an organization he founded called Jeevak Herb Welfare Society.
  

In October 2018, after my survey work got over, Tapan Sir got in touch with me and told me he needed my help in forming a girls’ football team in the Bolpur area. He asked me to think over his offer. I thought it over and said I would try because I was fond of games. He informed me that the project would start in December.

 On 8 December, 2018, Tapan Sir and I went to the village of Ballavpurdanga to ask school-going girls whether they wanted to learn to play football and whether they would be able to come and play on the football field near the village of Bidyadharpur. We got a list of 25 girls who were interested. Among them were some girls who had given up on school. Then we went to the villages of Bidyadharpur, Banshpukur, and Kayetpukur. Here I had the help of my mother. We found many enthusiastic girls. On another day, Sir and I visited the villages of Uttar Sehala and Kutipara. In the meantime, Tapan Sir visited the village committee head and other notable individuals in Bidyadharpur village to get permission to train the girls on the Bidyadharpur football field. 

Tapan Sir then informed the girls that the football training would start in the first week of January. We had got around 80-85 names of girls from seven villages. On the first day, around 50 girls came to the Bidyadharpur field. Gradually the numbers reduced as the training progressed. Tapan Sir told us that a coach, Mr. Tarun Manna, from Kolkata would come to train us twice weekly-he had also coached the girls’ team in the Rajnagar block. Some girls dropped out because they had not played before and did not have the stamina to play on the football field as well as do all the work at home they were expected to do.    

Tapan Sir gave a name to the Bidyadharpur football team- ‘LAHANTI’- this is a Santal word that means ‘Go forward’. Tapan Sir has asked for help in funding our Lahanti team through his organization. The Panrui police station got to know of the girls’ football team and has paid for the uniforms of the team. At the back of each shirt is the name of the football player and a number, and embossed is the name: Panrui P.S. Tapan Sir also got together funds to buy socks and shoes for the team players.   

In addition, the girls get a snack after each game; sometimes, soaked chickpeas; sometimes boiled eggs, and at other times, bread and banana. The girls’ team is now playing with other teams and sometimes winning matches. The girls appreciate greatly the help from their coach. There has been appreciation of our football team from surrounding villages. At present, there are 45 girls on the football team.  

 Football team in Bidyadharpur village with Chandana's friends from abroad
Courtesy: Chandana Dey

Lahanti football team, shouting out their name

Courtesy: Chandana Dey

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New eBook on Women's Leadership!

Exciting news, our Buenos Aires-based Partner, the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender, has published a new eBook on women's leadership! 

Below is the message of Gloria Bonder, who heads up the Global Network, about this volume that contains 16 articles in English as well as 22 articles in Spanish -- her message includes the link to the full eBook. 

This is the latest eBook in this series. For easy reference, the titles and links for the first two eBooks of the Global Network are as follows: Gender perspectives in case studies across continents (Editors: Gloria Bonder & Brenda Gael McSweeney) and Gender Perspectives in Case Studies Across Continents: Volume II (Edited by Brenda Gael McSweeney); a first eBook, of our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network, is called Another Side of India: Gender, Culture and Development.

Enjoy! 

We are pleased to present you the third eBook of the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender, The time for women’s leadership, compilated and edited by Araceli Alonso and Teresa Langle de Paz, both coordinators of the UNESCO Chair in Gender, Wellbeing & Culture of Peace at University of Wisconsin-Madison. This publication addresses a specially relevant subject of the research field within Gender Theory and current cultural practices and politics: women and leaderships. It comprises of essays from numerous countries and regions (Kenya, India, Spain and Latin American). Among them articles prepared by coordinators of UNESCO Chairs on Gender. This production has been possible thanks to the commitment and the significant academic competence of Professors Teresa Langle and Araceli Alonso.   

                                                                                                                              Kind regards,                                                                                        Gloria Bonder

Faneuil Library Event on Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Neon in New England!

The Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library hosted in mid-August 2019 a presentation called New England Neon. The speaker was Susan Mara Bregman, a local community activist and photographer whose book was recently published under the same name. Arcadia publisher stated, "The golden age of neon signs in New England lasted more than 30 years, from the dark days of the Great Depression through the go-go years of the 1960s, but its spectacular legacy remains -- if you know where to look!"

Faneuil Librarian Amy Manson introducing Susan 

Susan with her book

Susan took the audience through the heritage of neon accompanied by a powerpoint presentation of her photographs of iconic neon signs throughout New England over the decades. In her talk she put an accent on cultural preservation, and commercial and artistic history over the years. For Susan, neon signs have "personality" and "evoke memories," reminding her of special times.

Susan with the neon Circle Cinema sign, Cleveland Circle, Brighton 

Charlie Vasiliades, Vice President of the Friends of Faneuil and of the Brighton-Allston Historical Society that earlier hosted Susan for a talk, remarks, "Susan Bregman, a long-time Oak Square resident, was involved in the past in a number of community related causes. One of her unique interests in past years has been in chronicling and advocating for the preservation of New England's old neon advertising signs, including the successful effort to preserve the Cleveland Circle Cinema sign."

Several illustrations from Susan's book:

     

       

Above, a short history of the neon sign prepared by Ronni Komarow, Faneuil Library Gallery Coordinator and Secretary of the Friends of the Faneuil Branch, the latest Affiliate of our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development. 

L to R: Amy Manson, Ronni Komarow, Former President of FOFL Shelley Bialka, Susan Bregman, and FOFL Board Member Eric West

Innovative Programs in Niger Focusing on Women and Girls Advancement

Aminata Kiello, a Founding Member of our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network based in Niamey, Niger, shared the following story of her recent work on programs supporting women and girls through the Lions Club Niamey Lantana:

Lions Club Niamey Lantana, of which I am a member, has donated a motorized canoe/ambulance to the populations of the Ayorou Islands in Niger, which has saved lives.

Before this well-equipped canoe when the pregnant women of Ayorou, for cases of difficult childbirth, were at work at night and had to be evacuated to the District Headquarters, they took simple canoes. The hippopotamuses attacked the boats, overturned them, and the pregnant woman, the companion (or the companions) in the pirogue, lost their lives!

Since the well-equipped Lions canoe exists, as soon as the canoe starts, the banging engine and its "put-putting" noise make the hippopotamuses "fly away." The ceremony of delivery of this canoe was made under the distinguished patronage of the First Lady of Niger (the wife of the Head of State), Dr. Lalla Malika.

Another contribution of Lions Club Niamey Espoir consisted in offering on March 19, 2019, awareness training to young students of the Adra School on personal hygiene. This is very important in our Sahelian environment where modesty prevents women from informing their daughters about the importance of menstruation (sometimes girls interrupt their schooling due to very painful menstruation), and the need to use sanitary napkins instead of old cut-up cloth pagnes. Kits containing sanitary napkins were provided free of charge to all girls in the school and even to their teachers.

Minds often formerly blocked, were unlocked by our explanations, plus a very good atmosphere allowed the girls to adopt the importance of personal hygiene.

Aminata Kiello, pictured at right, has been instrumental in strengthening initiatives dedicated to promoting women's empowerment through the Lions Club of Niamey.

Additional projects assisting the populations in Niger have been carried out during the Presidency of the Lions Club Niamey Lantana in 2018-19 by Nahadjo Amadou Roufaye. Watch this space for the forthcoming photo story!

Dean R. Sudarshan of O.P. Jindal Global University Announcing Human Rights-based Approach to Cultural Heritage Conference!

On July 10, 2019, Professor R. Sudarshan of the O.P. Jindal Global University based in Sonipat/New Delhi, India met in Boston with Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney, Director and a Founder of the BU-based UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development. R. Sudarshan, recently affiliated with our Network, shared the following concerning an upcoming conference on the right to development and a human rights-based approach to conservation of heritage.

Professor R. Sudarshan

"This entails going away from architects and experts, [rather] contacting local communities and people bringing intangible cultural heritage to life alongside conservation and protection of monuments and important places of historical and cultural significance. 

Our university, the Jindal Global University, the School of Government and Public Policy where I am Dean, and the School of Art and Architecture where we have a Dean called Thomas Mical from the United States, are going to be the knowledge partners for ICOMOS, which is the UNESCO body that's responsible for the conservation of monuments. Gurmeet Rai is the President Designate of ICOMOS India. 

The whole purpose of this [the human rights-based] approach is to correct and make adjustments for discrimination that has been consistent and prevalent over a long time. So the focus would be on discriminated communities; and women as a whole in all walks of life are often discriminated against. You can't have a human rights-based approach without putting women up front and center! 

This [Conference] is going to happen on 19 and 20 July in the premises of the Jindal Global University."

This exciting initiative also opens up the potential for further collaboration between the work of our Network-affiliated Brighton-Allston Historical Society (BAHS) and that of Gurmeet Rai, also a Founder of our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network, given the resonances between their cultural heritage preservation and promotion of gender equality initiatives, and their respective track-records. Now the knowledge base of Professor Sudarshan, Founding Dean of the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, will be enhancing these partnerships.