News and Announcements

New issue of Films for the Feminist Classroom published

12/13/22

The Fall 2022 issue of Films for the Feminist Classroom is now available online. This issue continues the journal’s exploration of online and virtual spaces in pedagogical practices.

TWU alumna spices her cuisine with social justice

9/20/22

TWU alumna Sharina Hassell, chef at Alexandre’s in Oak Lawn, has debuted the Chick-full-gay, a tongue-in-cheek homage to the sandwiches at a certain fast-food chain. The new fried chicken sandwich, with two pickles and a smear of mayo on both buns, is set to become a regular special on the menu.

“It was our idea on how to reclaim something for our community,” Hassell said. Alexandre’s sold the Chick-full-gay sandwiches, each packaged in a bag with a rainbow sticker, to Pride parade marchers.

Phillips-Cunningham pens op-ed about Nannie Helen Burroughs

9/6/22

TWU's Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham has a new op-ed in the Washington Post: "On Labor Day, we honor a trailblazing Black educator and organizer," about Nannie Helen Burroughs, founder of the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909.

TWU debuts Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies bachelor's degree

7/21/22

Texas Woman's University is offering a bachelor's degree in Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies beginning in Fall 2022.

"It's officially approved," said Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, PhD, associate professor and program lead of the Multicultural Women's & Gender Studies program. "It's on the books. Sign up."

Dr. Phillips-Cunningham interviewed regarding Roe vs. Wade decision

6/27/22

In the hours after the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade, Texas Woman's University's Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham was interviewed by several Dallas-Fort Worth television and radio stations.

Phillips-Cunningham pens article on Quakertown for Washington Post

6/24/22

TWU Women’s and Gender Studies scholar Danielle Phillips-Cunningham co-authored an analysis and history of Quakertown for the Washington Post. The article was written with Ms. Alma Clark (94 years old) and Ms. Betty Kimble (90 years old), who have been leading the documentation of Quakertown, a thriving community that formerly enslaved people established in Denton after Juneteenth.

Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham featured in 'Denton Record Chronicle' interview

1/13/22

Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, Program Lead of Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies, speaks to the Denton Record Chronicle about TWU’s upcoming Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies bachelor's degree and what it can mean for students.

Graduate Highlight: Esther Ajayi-Lowo (MA '18, PhD '21)

12/6/21

Esther Ajayi-Lowo is receiving her Ph.D. in Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies this December. Her achievements have been hard-fought and hard-won. As a full-time student and mother of three, she often juggled scholarly work with graduate teaching assistantships while also engaging in leadership and community service projects. 

TWU LCGS remembers Women's Studies, Rhetoric alumna Dr. Paula (Denny) Kent (1983-2021)

10/18/21

The TWU Department of Language, Culture & Gender Studies is mourning the loss of Dr. Paula (Denny) Kent, who passed away Sunday evening, Oct. 10, 2021, at Providence Healthcare Center in Waco. Paula worked very hard to enhance her educational background and received both a Master's Degree in Women's Studies and a Doctorate Degree in Rhetoric from Texas Woman's University. Paula currently worked as an associate professor at Texas State Technical College in Waco. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a Scholarship Fund for her children, Bruce and Harley. A visitation was held Saturday, Oct. 16, at the Aderhold Funeral Home Chapel in West.

Read the full obituary or share a memory on her tribute wall.

First edition of the TWU MWGS newsletter, 'Body Language: Our body of works,' available now

9/14/21

"Body Language: Our body of works," is the first edition of the Department of Language, Culture and Gender Studies (LCGS) Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies Program's collaborative and interactive newsletter.

We hope you will join us in celebration of our faculty, staff, student and alumni accomplishments, projects, collaborations and collective commitment to social justice and scholarly activism.

Download and read "Body Language: Our body of works" today.

Veronica Popp, Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham co-author Nannie Helen Burroughs article for 'Gender Forum'

9/13/21

Veronica Popp, a doctoral candidate in Rhetoric and MWGS certificate student, co-authored an article with Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham titled “Nannie Helen Burroughs and the Descendants of Miriam: Rewriting Nannie Helen Burroughs into First Wave Feminism.” It was published on September 10, 2021, in Gender Forum: An Internet Journal for Gender Studies, Special Issue: Early Career Researchers VIII, 79 (2021): 58-78.

Dr. Phillips-Cunningham pens op-ed in 'The Washington Post' celebrating Black women who fought for labor rights

9/13/21

Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, Program Lead of Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies, published an op-ed in The Washington Post about the history of Black women’s labor organizing in recognition of Labor Day. Phillips-Cunningham marks the 100th anniversary of the National Association of Wage Earners, launched by activist and educator Nannie Helen Burroughs, in "On Labor Day, we remember the Black women who helped win labor rights."

PhD candidate Foluso Oluade inspires natural hair confidence and body positivity in digital hair salons

9/13/21

Foluso Oluade, a doctoral candidate in MWGS, is working on a dissertation project about Black women and digital hair salons. She has her own YouTube channel and has gained over 3,700 followers. Foluso recently spoke on panels about the connections between Madame C J Walker and Black curl artists. 

Subscribe to Foluso's YouTube Channel, "Fo Adunni"

Watch panel video: "Partnering With A Pro: Gaining Clarity On Your Natural Hair Journey"

Watch panel video: "Black Tight Curl Artists Rock"

Foluso can also be found on Instagram @fo_adunni_

PhD candidate Pallavi Govindnathan featured in Women and Their Work exhibition

8/26/21

Work by TWU MWGS doctoral candidate, artist and activist Pallavi Govindnathan is featured in the Women & Their Work gallery's inaugural exhibition, "We Know Who We Are. We Know What We Want." Her video, Perennial Annal, will be on display in Austin, Texas, through Sept. 21.

Doctoral candidates participate in [Wo]Mentoring program, diasporic Vietnamese artists panel

8/24/21

Gabriella Sanchez, a doctoral candidate in MWGS, was accepted into the [Wo]Mentering in Graduate Education Program for her project entitled “Conocimiento in Action: Exploring and Executing the Publication Processes through Concimiento Press, LLC.”

Kathy Nguyen, a doctoral candidate in MWGS, was invited to speak on a panel entitled “Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network (DVAN) Memory & Identity” this summer.

Texas Woman’s graduate student receives second International Peace Scholarship

7/21/21

Elizabeth Timothy, a master’s student in the Texas Woman’s University Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies Program, has been awarded the Philanthropic Educational Organization’s prestigious International Peace Scholarship for the second year in a row. Timothy’s award will allow her to continue pursuing her studies at TWU and develop two projects that support underserved women in Kenya.

Dr. Phillips-Cunningham teaches first TWU-Spelman College cross-listed course

6/10/21

Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies Program Director, taught a new course about labor in the spring semester. It was entitled “Covid-19 & Black Workers: Race, Gender, and Labor.” It was also the first cross-listed course between TWU and Spelman College (a historically Black women’s college founded in 1881 in Atlanta, Georgia).

Agatha Beins discusses the job market for MWGS grads with Zippia.com

5/27/21

Zippia.com recently interviewed Associate Professor Agatha Beins, PhD, on what recent graduates can expect from today's job market. "Because WGS and ethnic studies graduates are well-trained to analyze power within institutions, they are ideal candidates for positions within such programs, as well as within human resources more generally. It is also important to note the growing creative economy, which encompasses careers in areas like fine arts, media, advertising, and public relations," Beins said. "These fields are especially amenable to people with interdisciplinary training in cultural and media literacy, which WGS and ethnic studies provide."

New issue of Films for the Feminist Classroom now available

5/11/21

We are thrilled to announce that the latest issue of Films for the Feminist Classroom, published through the Department of Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies at Texas Woman’s University.

Issue 10.2 opens with the special feature “When Class Time Is Screen Time,” which joins the pedagogical conversations about education during the pandemic. FFC Editorial Assistant Shamethia Webb introduces this group of short essays that centers the experiences of students as learners. The film reviews in this issue give us much to consider when constructing our syllabi and activities for students. Several reviews offer a more “meta” perspective about how we know what we know, guiding us through films about the importance of scientific and media literacy, as well as how our sources of information may arrive with powerful biases—all topics that feel especially salient in the current moment.

Additional films explore the different scales at which people grapple with the intersection of social, cultural, political, and economic forces through topics such as worker rights, public school education, LGBTQ+ communities, recording and remembering histories, religion, refugee experiences, and reproductive justice.

Doctoral candidate Shamethia Webb authors introduction to FFC special feature

5/12/21

MWGS doctoral student Shamethia Webb wrote the introduction to the special feature "When Class Time Is Screen Time" published in the spring 2021 issue of Films for the Feminist Classroom. Writing from the perspective of a student and an educator, Shamethia offers a powerful pedagogical framework for understanding these student essays about the ways that screens have mediated their learning experiences.

Alumna, faculty co-author yoga in college classrooms article

5/11/21

MWGS PhD program alumna Dr. Audrey Lundahl and Dr. AnaLouise Keating co-authored an article, “Embodied Pedagogies for Transformation: Bringing Yoga Strategies into College Classrooms,” that was published in The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry. They argue We argue that "incorporating a yogic pedagogical approach in college classrooms, specifically classrooms that cover issues of race, gender, sexuality, and violence, allows an instructor and thus their students to focus on embodiment and specifically how our bodies hold physical and psychological wounds of oppression while creating new methods to understand oppression more deeply."

Dr. Keating speaks, consults on lessons for transformation

5/11/21

Recently Dr. AnaLouise Keating gave a talk, “Moving beyond the Status-Quo: Post-Oppositional Frameworks for Transformation,” and served as a consultant for the Irish Sexualities and Gender Research Network’s Spring Seminar series. And, she had an article, “Nepantla Lessons for Transformation,” published in Ofrenda Magazine.

Dr. Phillips-Cunningham accepted into the inaugural Second Book Institute in African American/Black Studies at Georgetown University

5/11/21

Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham is writing a book about the labor organizing history of African American educator Nannie Helen Burroughs. She was recently accepted into the inaugural Second Book Institute in African American/Black Studies at Georgetown University. The Institute provides support for tenured associate professors who are completing a second monograph in preparation for their promotion to the rank of full professor. Whereas a range of first book institutes currently exist to assist assistant professors complete their first books, similar professional support for associate professors developing their second monographs remains scarce. The Second Book Institute fills this gap by providing associate professors with a range of resources that are designed to help them progress through the book writing process.

Phillips-Cunningham discusses book, research in NYU series and Rutgers talk

4/26/21

Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham, MWGS Program Director, was a featured speaker in the Black, Brown, and Green Voices Series at New York University’s Glucksman Ireland House. She engaged in a conversation with Dr. Miriam Grey (founder of the series) about the comparative labor histories of southern Black women and Irish immigrant women.

Phillips-Cunningham also delivered a book talk moderated by Dr. Naomi Williams of the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University.

Veronica Popp and Dr. Phillips-Cunningham co-author Nannie Helen Burroughs article

4/26/21

Veronica Popp (doctoral candidate in Rhetoric) and Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham (MWGS Program Director) co-authored an article entitled “Justice for All: The Womanist Labor Rhetoric of Nannie Helen Burroughs” published by Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition. Popp is first author on this article, which is a labor organizing of African American educator Nannie Helen Burroughs. In the article, Popp and Dr. Phillips-Cunningham document Burroughs’ historic efforts to establish the first national labor union for Black women.

Elia Tamplin accepts director position, will begin mental health MA studies

4/26/21

Dr. Elia Tamplin, graduate of the Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies Program and Coordinator of Experiential Learning, was accepted into Marymount University’s M.A. Program in Clinical Mental Health. They will also begin a new position as Director of Education and Membership at the University of Washington’s School of Psychiatry.

They will be missed, and we wish them well!

PhD candidate Esther Ajayi-Lowo accepts faculty position at Spelman College

4/26/21

Esther Ajayi-Lowo, doctoral candidate in Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies, recently accepted a tenure-track faculty position in the Comparative Women’s Studies (CWS) Program at Spelman College.

Spelman is a private liberal arts college that was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1881. It was the only school in the nation that welcomed women from across the African Diaspora. Currently, Spelman is one out of only two historically black colleges for women, and it is home to the very first program in WGS at an HBCU and the first Black women’s archive at a college.

Esther is an expert on reproductive justice with a focus on maternal health issues among Nigerian women. She will contribute significantly to the development of the health concentration of the CWS undergraduate major program. 

The program is housed in the Women’s Research and Resource Center where scholars and grassroots organizers from around the world come together to engage in feminist theorizing, pedagogy, and institution building. The director and faculty of CWS are looking forward to Esther joining this expansive community and becoming their colleague in the fall. 

TWU alumni Rikki Willingham and Sharmeen Jariullah launch 'Gray Matters' blog

4/19/21

"Gray Matters the Blog" was created on the impetus to bridge academia and activism by two TWU students and alumni, Rikki Willingham, who received her M.A. in Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies in 2019 and is currently working on her Ph.D. in the program, and Sharmeen Jariullah, who received her M.A. in Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies in 2020. Gray Matters the Blog utilizes a website-based blog and podcast platforms to contribute to the digital humanities. The goal of Gray Matters the Blog is to make complex theory accessible, prompt conversations about uncomfortable topics, and provide tangible resources while centering disenfranchised voices and experiences. Gray Matters is an inclusive space for all backgrounds and abilities, examples of which are the episode transcripts available on the website and alternate text available on the website and social media pages. The website specifically features pages explaining different epistemologies and showcases the works of various literary and creative perspectives. Utilizing both a podcast and blog format, the audience has options in the ways they wish to connect with complex theories while social media provides broad-reaching access.

Gray Matters Website // Anchor Podcast // Apple Podcast // Spotify Podcast // Instagram

National Endowment for the Humanities awards grant to TWU faculty

4/14/21

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced that it awarded a Humanities Connections Grant of $99,426 to Texas Woman’s University. The grant will support the very first interdisciplinary and experiential learning initiative to integrate the history of Quakertown into courses at TWU. It will also enable the future development of a digital humanities archive of Quakertown-related research and reflection, which the project co-directors aim to connect to a public platform that will promote community engagement with Quakertown’s history for decades to come.

Doctoral student Chelle Luper Wilson isn’t just preserving history, she’s making it

2/5/21

Historian, speaker, entrepreneur and social justice activist Chelle Luper Wilson is no stranger to the limelight, and her activism was recognized when she was awarded the 2020 National Association of Black Journalists’ (NABJ) Angelo B. Henderson Community Service Award. The honor, named after the late Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, is given to a journalist who goes above and beyond to make a positive impact in their community.

Doctoral student recognized for outstanding achievements in journalism

11/9/20

Multicultural Women’s and Gender Studies PhD candidate Chelle Luper Wilson (MA ‘19) is the recipient of the 2020 National Association of Black Journalists’ (NABJ) Angelo B. Henderson Community Service Award.

Wilson’s column, “Wordz of Wilson,” can be found in the Garland Journal, Texas Metro News and I-Messenger Magazine. Her writing explores the relationship between historical and current events at the intersection of race, class and gender. She also founded the Clara Luper Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the memory of her mother, the preservation of African American history and culture, and the implementation of public service and academic programs.

Wilson will be formally recognized at the NABJ’s virtual awards ceremony Dec. 19.

Doctoral student Morgan May accepts Sierra Canyon School faculty position

9/22/20

Morgan May, a doctoral student in Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies, recently accepted a faculty member position in the Sierra Canyon School’s Department of World Languages and will also serve as coordinator of the school's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force.

Say Her Name! PhD student Wilson participates in panel on women and BLM movement

6/25/20

PhD student Chelle Wilson participates in a panel about women and the Black Lives Matter movement.