Feminist Futures
Our Work: Unfinished and Boundless
Faculty members and graduate students affiliated with the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) generate and share research with other scholars and educators, the public, policy makers and activists. The feminist and allied researchers in this vibrant community come from a broad range of fields.
“This anniversary is a time to celebrate how far we’ve come and renew our energy to keep moving forward. We have many miles to go, and there are 50 more years to come. Hopefully, this year-long event will remind us of the unfinished futures of feminism.”
—Sangita Gopal
Director, Center for the Study of Women in Society
Associate Professor, Cinema Studies
Five Decades
The Center for the Study of Women and Society (CSWS) celebrates its 50th anniversary, starting this spring. The affiliated programming, which includes speakers, symposia, exhibits, performances and more, will continue through the 2023-24 school year. The theme for this celebration is Feminist Futures. All events are free and open to the public.
Founded in 1973 as the Center for the Sociological Study of Women, the center expanded and became CSWS in 1983 when financial analyst and Fortune editor William B. Harris gave $3.5 million—the UO's largest gift from a single donor at that time—in honor of his wife Jane Grant, a pioneer second-wave feminist and cofounder of The New Yorker.
Photo from November 6, 1983 celebration of the newly expanded and renamed Center for the Study of Women in Society.
Today, CSWS has more than 200 affiliated UO faculty and graduate students who generate and share research with other scholars and educators, the public, policy makers and activists. This vibrant community of feminist and allied researchers comes from fields across campus. Over the last five decades, the center has awarded more than $2 million in grants to UO researchers.
The 50th anniversary of CSWS kicks off Friday, April 21, with Just Get On the Pill: The Uneven Burden of Reproductive Politics, a book talk by Krystale Littlejohn, associate professor of sociology at UO. This event also marks the start of a collaboration between CSWS and the university's Common Reading program in the upcoming year for events focused on the topic of reproductive justice.
Friday, April 21, 2023
3:00-5:00 p.m.
Knight Library Browsing Room
1501 Kincaid Street, Eugene
“Given how so many accomplishments of feminist research and activism have eroded in the present political climate, we felt Krystale’s research on reproductive justice was a fitting theme to launch our upcoming year of programming.”
—Sangita Gopal
Reproductive Politics
Krystale Littlejohn is an associate professor in the UO's Department of Sociology, part of the College of Arts and Sciences. Her book, “Just Get On the Pill: The Uneven Burden of Reproductive Politics,” distills 10 years of research on birth control and women’s experiences surrounding it.
“I was really compelled by these stories and people’s frustrations,” Littlejohn said. “I wanted to give a voice to their experiences and uncover something that I think we take for granted in our society. I saw there was an important story about gender and birth control to tell.”
Haunting Ecologies
The Past, Present and Future of Feminist and Indigenous Approaches to Forest Fire
Haunting Ecologies is a two-week series supported by CSWS in collaboration with the UO's Environment Initiative features a lecture by Michelle Murphy, the Ghost Forest art installation, and a Native Ecologies panel discussion. Haunting Ecologies is cosponsored by the CAS Program Grant, Center for Environmental Futures, College of Design, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Just Futures Institute and the Barbara and Carlisle Moore Chair in English.
Desire in the Aftermath of Environmental Violence, the 2023 CSWS Acker-Morgen Memorial Lecture with University of Toronto Professor Michelle Murphy
4:30–6 pm Tuesday
May 2, 2023
177 Lawrence Hall
Murphy asks how we might “start with desire, rather than damage,” in the aftermath of environmental destruction. Murphy is Métis from Winnipeg, Manitoba, a citizen of the Red River Métis, as well as French Canadian.
Ghost Forest, with Wildfire sound installation
April 24–May 4
LaVerne Krause Gallery in Lawrence Hall
1910 East 15th Avenue
Eugene artist Sarah Grew (right) collaborates with sound artist Jon Bellona (left), a senior instructor at the UO’s School of Music and Dance on a photography installation inspired by the 2020 wildfires along the west coast of the US.
Explore the Ghost Forest
Native Ecologies
April 25, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
115 Lawrence Hall
Participants in this panel discussion will address Indigenous histories and approaches to fire management, knowledge production and ecological stewardship.
Panel discussion moderator Dr. Kirby Brown is an Associate Professor of Native American and Indigenous literary and cultural production in the Department of English and the Director of Native American and Indigenous Studies at the University of Oregon. Panelist Amada Lang is a Karuk fire practitioner and a participant of Karuk Women's Trex.
Panelist Joe Scott is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and a descendent of the Rogue River Tribes of Southern Oregon. He currently lives and studies on Kalapuya Illahee as Curriculum Director for the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program. He is a traditional ecologist and cultural fire practitioner, and a lifelong Tribal teacher and learner.
Panelist David G. Lewis, is an assistant professor of anthropology and ethnic studies & Indigenous Studies at Oregon State University. He is a member of the Grand Ronde Tribe, descended from Takelma, Chinook, Molalla, and Santiam Kalapuya peoples. A professional consultant, educator and researcher, he teaches at local universities and colleges and contracts with tribes, local governments and nonprofits.
Panelist Kari Marie Norgaard is a non-Native professor of sociology and environmental studies, Norgaard lives and thinks in Kalapuya lands at the University of Oregon. She has also worked as a consultant for the Karuk Tribe on tribal environmental policy since 2003.
Common Reading
CSWS is partnering with the UO's Common Reading program for the 2023–24 school year. The theme is "Feminist Futures: Research on Women and Gender in Society." This year, the lineup features a variety of different books.
Tina Brown
February 27, 2024
CSWS is collaborating with the UO's School of Journalism and Communication to bring Tina Brown to campus as the 2024 Johnston Lecturer. Brown is former editor in chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, and founder of the global Women in the World summit.
Look for more details about this exciting event as the date approaches.
More Upcoming Events
Fall 2023
- CINE joint speaker event: filmmakers Miranda July and Su Friedrich in conversation
- Common Reading: CSWS-sponsored author visit and talk by Diana Greene Foster
- School of Music and Dance performance
- Comics Studies joint speaker event and workshop with literary agent Anjali Singh
- ASUO Women’s Center, LGBTESS, and Men’s Resource Center: Undergraduate panel/workshop with a focus on gender expression
- WGSS faculty lunch presentations
Winter 2024
- Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art: Common Seeing exhibit
- Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and College of Design: Feminist Futures exhibit
- Women in Research: Negotiation workshop by Negotiating Women, Inc, on the initiative of UO Professor Nadia Singh, Department of Biology
- Women’s Innovation Network workshop: “Bringing Research to Market.”WGSS-hosted CSWS affiliate brunch
Spring 2024
- WGSS student-centered activity
- Lorwin Lecture on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties by lawyer, educator, and author Anita Hill (co-sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics)
- CSWS Alumni Symposium and end-of-year Anniversary Celebration
Details and updates at CSWS