2108 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20052

Thursday, September 7, 2023

1630 - City of Boston, Massachusetts is founded

1936 - Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona begins operation

2014 - US Open Women's Tennis: Serena Williams wins her 3rd straight US title

Covid Continues to Rise, but Experts Remain Optimistic.
The New York Times.

Mianzhi Wang, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis has created an old-school text-style simulator for the graduate school experience. Play it here!

The unconventional solutions scientists are trying to save corals. The Washington Post.

The Sun Is Setting on the British Museum. Hyperallergic.

Molly giving a conference presentation this past Spring.
Photo taken by Samantha Silver.

This newsletter edition spotlights Molly Henderson, an American Studies PhD candidate. Molly’s studies broadly focus on embedding the history of environmental activism and politics in the context of the 1970s-1990s, thinking about it not as a distinct social movement but as intimately connected to other historical developments and social actors of the period—including feminist activism around reproductive rights, the shifting terrain of labor amid deindustrialization, racial justice struggles over housing and education, and nativist immigration policies.

Molly’s dissertation considers the relationship between environmentalism, neoliberalism, and family values in order to examine the diverse and at times conflicting roles that “the children” were called on to serve as awareness of environmental degradation and climate disruption. Although her research is historical, it was in part inspired by contemporary youth climate activism’s politicization of childhood and the future. 

During this past summer, Molly was awarded Kasch Research Funding, as part of our Horton-Vlach Fund, to visit the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History at Smith College to research the Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment—a multi-racial feminist alliance founded in 1991 that challenged the “overpopulation” movement using the principles of reproductive justice. She also visited Tufts University to visit the collections of Lois Gibbs, who became an environmental activist in the late 1970s after learning that her family and neighbors in the Love Canal neighborhood of Niagara Falls, New York had been exposed to toxic waste, resulting in previously unexplainable illnesses among pregnant women and children. Molly is drawing upon these archives for a section of her dissertation that focuses on the emergence of reproduction as an ecological concern—particularly regarding the numerous and stratified ways in which children and future children became salient figures within American environmentalism.

This semester, Molly will present her research at the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) conference in Baltimore and the American Studies Association (ASA) conference in Montreal.

Graduate Student Knowledge Exchange

The first session of the newly formed Graduate Student Knowledge Exchange will be held on September 7, 2023. The exchange is intended as a space to share student survival tips and resources in an informal, student-led, student-based environment. Future sessions will include: Understanding the Stages of Grad School, Developing Writing Strategies, Comprehending Comps, and Engaging in Academic Organizations and Conferences.

When: Thursday September 7, 2023; 4:00-5:00 PM
Where: Virtual

Zoom Link

2023 Edgar P. Richardson Symposium
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian

Join the National Portrait Gallery on September 8 and 9 for the 2023 Edgar P. Richardson Symposium, organized around the landmark exhibition 1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions, the Smithsonian's first major exhibition on U.S. imperialism and the pivotal conflicts of 1898. The symposium will convene over 40 scholars and artists from Cuba, Guam, Hawai‘i, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States for two days of panels, roundtables and gallery talks, and a keynote address by 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winner Ada Ferrer.

When: Friday September 8 - Saturday September 9
Where: National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

RSVP here!

DC Mondays at the GW/Textile Museum

Join the GW/Textile Museum for a DC Mondays Series talk with Associate Professor Elise Friedland as she explores the role of Greek and Roman art and architecture in the planning, building and decorating of America’s capital city. 

When: Monday September 11, 2023; 12:00 PM
Where: Virtual

RSVP here!

Celebrating Sociology at GW and Beyond

Join the Department of Sociology for a celebratory event to formally welcome sociology scholar and the new President of George Washington University, Dr. Ellen Granberg. The department also invited the incoming President of the American Sociological Association, Dr. Joya Misra, to present the keynote address for this event, titled Intersectional Solidarities: Building Communities of Hope, Justice, and Joy. All are welcome, particularly the GW community of alumni, students and faculty in the disciplines of Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Human Services and Social Justice.

When: September 14th; 4:00-6:00 PM
Where: City View Room (1957 E Street NW, 7th Floor)

RSVP here!

DC Mondays at the GW/Textile Museum

Join the GW/Textile Museum for a DC Mondays Series talk with Professor Cassandra Good (BA '04; MA '05) on her recently published monograph First Family: George Washington's Heirs and the Making of America.

When: Monday November 6, 2023; 12:00 PM
Where: Virtually or in-person at the GW/Textile Museum (701 21st Street NW)

RSVP here!

Current PhD candidate Samantha Silver was invited by the guest editors of Theatre Topics to attend an MIT Symposium on "Comedy and Embodiment" to present her forthcoming journal article entitled "Under the Counter: Listening for Humor and History in Drag Comedy Albums." 

Current PhD candidate GJ Sevillano had their peer-reviewed article "Hidden Intimacies: Food, Colonialism, and Culinary Authenticities in Filipino American Cookbooks" published in Verge: Studies in Global Asias and their play review of Jovanni Sy's A Taste of Empire published in BU's Graduate Journal of American Studies: Ampersand: An American Studies Journal.

Professor Melani McAlister was quoted by The Associated Press in the article “Can South Carolina’s Haley and Scott woo the GOP’s white evangelical base away from Trump?’’

Ashley Brown (PhD '17) recently had their monograph Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson reviewed in The Washington Post.

Call for Applications: The Huntington Library will begin accepting Research Fellowship Applications for the 2024–25 fellowship year for Long-Term Fellowships, Short-Term Fellowships, and Travel Grants on Aug. 31, 2023. Click here to learn more // Deadline: Nov. 15, 2023.

Call for Applications: Long Island Traditions, founded in 1991, a regional non-profit organization dedicated to
documenting, presenting and preserving the traditional folk arts and architecture of Long Island, is seeking a new executive director. Click here to learn more.

Need Support?

Is there an Org Fair? When is it?

Yes! The first Org Fair Friday starts September 8th and features organizations that are academically focused and center University Traditions. The next one is on September 15th and features political, service, advocacy, and recreational organizations. The final one is September 22nd and features multicultural, LGBTQIA, and religious/faith-based student organizations and performance groups.

Like what you see? Have spotlights, kudos, events, or opportunities that you would like to share? We want to hear from you! Navigate to our feedback form using the link below, or more simply, forward your tip to amst@gwu.edu.