Dear Gender Institute Community,

I write to you today to share my sadness, anger, and grief over the events of the past few days. The brutal killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and Tony McDade in Florida, together with the blatant act of racism against Christian Cooper in New York City, all point to the fact that we have a long way to go before we become a truly inclusive and progressive nation.

These recent killings also point to the intersectionality of hate, where racism against African Americans is coupled with misogynoir (Breonna Taylor) and transphobia (Tony McDade).

This injustice is further highlighted by the fact that COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color in the US, especially in our own state of New York. This global pandemic has exposed the persistent racial, social, and economic inequities that continue to exist in our city, our state, and our nation.

Angela Davis once said “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” With those words in mind, let us all take this opportunity to recommit ourselves to the struggle for justice in all its forms.

Despite recent events, I am hopeful about our future as I see the younger generation—the generation of our students and soon-to-be students-- peacefully protesting against injustice in truly diverse and inclusive groups. I share their outrage and their hope for a more democratic future.

In the spirit of hope, I share with you a painting that my fifteen-year old daughter completed last night.
In solidarity,
Carrie

The Gender Institute would like to congratulate Dana Venerable (PhD Candidate, English) on winning the 2020 GI Dissertation Fellowship! Venerable is a writer, an occasional tap dancer, co-editor of P-QUEUE poetry journal, and an English PhD candidate at UB. Her dissertation explores black performance, dance, notation, social choreography, and sound through their intersections and poetics. Dana is invested in how marginalized communities resist against the archive/record, while (re)inserting themselves within it. She has written for The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, P-QUEUE, VIDA Review, Snail Trail Press and Zoomoozophone Review.

Here dissertation is entitled "Collective Composition for Weathering Black Experience: Embodying Signature Moves of 20th and 21st Century Black Performance." Her project investigates primarily black women artists/theorists and how they develop maneuvers through signature moves, via a methodology of notation and noticing. It focuses on how their signature moves exist through constant citational practices and bridge literary and performance studies in their emphasis on composition. These moves enact a series of teaching methods that black women devise through praxis.

The outbreak of the Coronavirus strain, COVID-19, has had differential effects on people based on race, class, and gender.

To explore these issues, the Gender Institute has compiled this Reading list.

This document is constantly updating and we welcome suggestions.  To contribute to this list, please send links to Graduate Assistant Hilary Vandenbark for inclusion. 

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