The University of Connecticut’s Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies department turned 50, and held a series of events from Thursday to Friday to commemorate the occasion.
The WGSS department was created in 1974 at UConn and was the first formal women’s studies program in Connecticut. In 1981, the third annual National Women’s Studies Association was held at UConn, with the theme ‘Women Respond to Racism.’ Intersectional feminist and black lesbian poet Audre Lorde gave the keynote speech ‘The Uses of Anger.’
Many events commemorated Lorde’s keynote speech in the WGSS @ 50 series of events. A talk called “The Uses of Audre Lorde” was given, featuring Alexis De Veaux. There were two panels covering the Uses of Anger, looking back and looking forward. Another event was called “The Uses of Anger for BIPOC Poets,” which was a workshop led by Cecilia Caballero.
The keynote event was ‘M. Jacqui Alexander and Beverly Guy-Sheftall in Conversation.’ The conversation was wide-ranging and explored transnational feminism, occupation and gender, and the role of activism in women’s studies.
Alexander brought up Palestine and Haiti, saying that when she thinks of Gaza, she thinks of Haiti. “The routinization of occupation in Gaza should show us that we cannot turn away from enforced suffering.” She said that during the occupation, women’s bodies disproportionately pay the price.
Guy-Sheftall wanted to capture the 1981 conference, which was “generally anti-racist and global.” She said that “black feminism has always been internationally focused” and that “I can’t imagine it not being transnational.”
Alexander discussed the state’s interference in private lives and said that it was more accepted when it is done to uphold practices viewed as traditional, saying “the state has profound interests in the sexual.” She said that the field has “to make the links that the state wants to separate.”
Regarding the field as a whole, Alexander said “it being critical does not necessarily make it radical.” She views the classroom as political as it is a space where people are able to think and reflect.
The two discussed the role of activism in women’s studies, with Guy-Sheftall critiquing the rewards system for university promotions and tenure, which she said prioritized individual over group work and did not prioritize activism. Guy-Sheftall said that even in progressive spaces, there was a reluctance to have professors involved in activism, calling it “unprogressive normative bullshit. But it’s not called that, it’s called rigor.”
Guy-Sheftall also wanted more discussion about activism in the 60s and 70s, saying that, “I think that for younger generations, we have to enable them to see the healthy uses of anger.” She also said that “anger comes from lived experience, so in the absence of lived experience, how do you seduce a younger generation to connect?”