Update on WS Blog; "Post-conventional Spirituality"

WS Blog

I just met with Jenni Semsar, the raja-ess of the WSTD everything, about the possibility of a blog.

As it seems, a blog is probably superior to posting on the Program's website:

• *Website is complicated to update
• *Everything needs approval from SLU admins
  
• *A blog can be linked to the site, even if not moderated by the WS program itself
  
• *Student photos, etc., can be posted freely

Ideas:

• *Option for student posting (?) reflections, thoughts, etc.
• *Facebook -- (leaning toward no)

1. --pros -- page is approved by SLU already
2. --cons -- limited post capabilities & not everyone is a member

• *Announcements of events (brown bags, takeover, board meetings, guest speakers, etc.)
• *Descriptions of events
• *Brainstorming events
• *Reactions to events -- reflections, etc.
• *Photos and videos of events
• *Student projects

1. --papers
2. --youtube videos
3. --blogs
4. --photos
5. etc.

• *book/movie/media reviews
• *volunteer opportunities
• the list goes on...

I'm hoping to have a good stratagem worked out for the meeting Monday at 3:30 in the conference room near the WS office. Feel free to come! Jenni has warned me that I will be besieged with questions and ideas.

--
Heart and Crescent

Heard back from Sondra, co-head of Heart and Crescent, regarding approaching Campus Ministry & the Theology Department & the project for this class. She gave the go! Woot!

Heart and Crescent Updates

Three poignant updates/thoughts.

1) I called Sondra, my hydra co-head, this morning, and left a message about plans, thoughts, and wishes to set up a meeting time.

2) I have been checking out Pagan Spirituality (2005), by Joyce and River Higginbotham. The book focuses on the moral philosophy and metaphysics behind neopagan spirituality. They use a term that I found quite apt and more appealing than "neopaganism" -- postconventional spirituality.

The Higginbothams' book is extremely useful, as it explores both the metaphysics behind neopaganism, such as the concept of multiple planar spaces (personal; transpersonal and their subcategories), and also the typical stages of pagan spiritual growth, the purpose and the multiple possible paths, how spirituality is rendered and chosen (assuming complete freedom to choose a suitable spirituality), ways in which one might find the most acceptable spirituality for him or herself and how to enact those choices practically. C'est tres intéressant!

I'm going to try to use the term "postconventional spirituality" to describe neopaganism, as it describes not only the lack of reliance on established "modes," but also the new freedom individuals have in establishing and defining spirituality. I also think this book might be useful if I need to express pagan spirituality in more academic terms, in the course of the club's duration, or for a panel discussion or editorial.

3) Planning to stop by my new Wiccan contact's office soon -- hopefully sometime today -- to discuss ideas for this group.

*Update* Short Memoir Compilation; WSP Blog

Short Memoirs

The focus is on female SLU students' stories -- I want to make women's issues -- eating disorders, depression, abuse, family situations, discrimination -- immediate and real.

I've just emailed the two contributors who signed on earlier this year with some more details and am hoping to meet for coffee with Contributor 2 this weekend, to go over specifics.

***(9:30 9/30/09) More updates. Just heard back from both established contributors. Contributor 1 is planning to email me her memoir Sunday, and Contributor 2 is setting up a time for coffee (I don't know her story as well, and figure it will be good talk about it).

*** (12:45 9/30/09) I am officially meeting Contributor 2 on Sunday at 9:30, to discuss her story. Yippeee!

--
WS Program Blog

1) I'm hoping to meet with the WS Advisory Board this Monday, regarding the option for a a Women's Studies Program blog.

2) I've emailed my blog-savvy professor contact, Dr. Liz Fathman, and set up a meeting date to discuss bloggery and its ups and downs. She seems ebullient on the matter which is definitely peachy!

All smoothly progresses thus far -- calm before the storm?

Emma

Why "The Stranded"?

This blog is a message in a bottle, from a far away, stranded soul on a remote island, seen from above by those in jets, from a distance by those with telescopes, located precisely by those with satellites, but inwardly, terrifically alone and without power.

As a member of a marginalized group, I am "stranded" in a sense, on this island, which it is difficult to leave. The world of possibilities for me as a minority is blocked on all sides by the ocean (cultural gap) separating me from my peers. Conceptual, but apt.

"The Stranded" highlights my status as a minority. I was partly inspired by the name Dalit for the so-called "untouchables" in the Hindu caste system. Gandhi called the untouchables Harijan, or "children of God," to fabricate a more joyful identity for them. They refused this name; Gandhi, as a vaishya, could not comprehend their need to remember (and flaunt) the suffering they experience as a low-status group. They choose "Dalit," which means trod upon, because it expresses their place in the system: below the feet, the very dirt which is stepped on. They wanted to make clear their marginalized status. In a similar way, "multiracial feminism" uses the term "multiracial" not "multiethnic" or "multicultural" because it spotlights that negative stigma on race which permeates irrevocably any discussion on feminism itself.

I see this blog as a message in a bottle, and the actions I take (which I will blog about) as my raft, my sailboat, my vessel to the infinite All.

Emma

Heart and Crescent -- SLU's Goddess/Neopagan Locus!

So, one of my projects this semester is starting a focal point for goddess-centered worshippers on SLU's campus. I'm going to post a few specifics related to the club:

Club Name: Heart and Crescent
Head(s): Emma Obata (me) and Sondra Schroder
Website: http://heartandcrescent.webs.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7201171525
Witchvox profile: http://www.witchvox.com/vn/vn_detail/dt_gr.html?a=usmo&id=32551
Constitution: Yup! See it here.

I would definitely appreciate it if you all joined the facebook page! We're also planning our annual Samhain ("Halloween") ritual (this will be the third year!), and you all are welcome to attend.

Updates: Sondra spoke with Kenjus T. Watson, the new head of the Cross Cultural Center, and has given him a copy of our constitution. She writes:

"Kenjus wants to help. He is very committed to social justice and is shocked by the way Campus Ministry treated us."

What happened with Campus Ministry:
Two years ago, we approached Lisa Reiter, head of Campus Ministry, who told us such things as:
*Wicca is not an acceptable life path
*We should hang out in the loop, where _people like us_ go
*Wicca is for people who like to look at crystals, and thus is not a real religion
***Neither "Wiccans or Mormons" are allowed to gather and form groups on campus.

FORTUNATELY SHE IS WRONG! Campus Ministry has no power over student groups; SGA does. We hope to charter the group this year!

Also, I recently (about an hour ago) met another witch at SLU & am enlivened with the opportunity to reach out to our community!

E

Blog for Women's Studies Program

So, Penny and I were speaking about this blog and apparently she had just mentioned the possibility of a blog for the Women's Studies Program (as a whole) to Jennifer Semsar. We talked about the possibility of a blog for the department as another route for me to take in this class.

I emailed Jenni this afternoon, and she wrote me back with the name of a contact, Amy in Web Services, who said they "keep a list for the blogs" and "choose who starts one." I called Amy, and apparently her department is only in charge of Billiken Blogs. She said that we are free to create a blog and link it. She suggested I make the blog open to multiple posters (student voices) and there is a way for me to allow multiple gmail users to post, if I use blogspot. She also gave me a few helpful tips:


--hesitate to put things in a blog that can put on a website

not always necessary to “blog” information like pictures, events, student projects, etc. (especially applicable to items that might be useful for potential freshmen).

--instead, be specific about audience and purpose separate from website

--talk with individual in charge of website (content possibilities….? Working with….?)… [<== this is jenni semsar.]

--maintain for a while before linking to it People get excited initially, but don’t always maintain because it is a lot of work. [although they might if it were for a class!]


Her tips are useful. What is the purpose of this blog? How is it different from the department's website?


There is also a very apt speaker coming on Friday to speak about blogs and wikis in the classroom -- Mike Wesch. Some info about his lecture:


"OCT 2 2009

1:30-3:00

AB AUDITORIUM in COOK HALL

Dr. Wesch will present a cultural analysis of the current trend toward internet usage in Higher Education, including:

* Study of the uses of wikis, blogs, and other “Web 2.0” applications in the classroom…
* Commentary on the impact of the Web on global society…
* Reflections on future applications of the web in higher education…
* And more…"

--Flyer regarding Wesch's speech.

I'll definitely be asking Dr. Wesch for blogging tips. And what about a wiki??

Also, I emailed Dr. Fathman, a sociology professor who has used blogs extensively in several classes. I'm going to try to get some tips from her as well.

I'll keep you all posted. If we do start a blog for the department, it could be a way for us all to voice our thoughts and experiences (even anonymously).

Emma C. Obata

FEMINISM IN ACTION

Dear Fans-to-be of The Stranded,

I'm Emma C. Obata, a student at SLU writing this blog to facilitate, describe, and share my experiences with feminism in action. This blog is to be a revolutionary, exceptional (inevitably cliched!) attempt at acting on my womanist agenda, as one of several small projects for a women's studies course.

Course: Feminism in Action
Instructor: Dr. Penny Weiss, PhD.
"Mother" Institution: Saint Louis University, a Jesuit university in St. Louis, MO, USA

This blog will serve as:

• A careful diarizing of my projects, which include:

1. A compilation of short memoirs from interesting women (apropos private, secret life experiences)
2. An ad campaign which combines poetry & graphic design (to be completed with a fellow student)
   
3. Start a neopagan (goddess-centered) club on campus (support base, activist den, alternate option)
4. Volunteer work here and there (UNA -- SLU's feminist group, Rainbow Alliance, local organizations...)
5. Tentatively, a rock band. One Blood will focus on unity, marginalization, and combine original lyrics and sound with a fresh feminist outlook.
6. This blog, The Stranded.
   

• Reflections on class readings. I'll give an annotated bibliography when I reference them.
• Reflections on feminist events (speakers, brown-bags, protests, etc).
  
• Personal experiences with feminism, thoughts, and snarky jabs at the patriarchal system! This category especially includes such things as in-class experiences with philosophy and theology, and the manner of teaching, subjects/units addressed, reading materials (male voices primarily? is a feminist option considered?).
  
• Miscellaneous... that is, anything else! (related to FIA)