Meetings

MEETINGS Thursday, October 18 12 Noon to 2:00 p.m. CONJOINT 7:(Cochiti) WESTERN STATES WOMEN'S STUDIES CONFERENCE Luncheon and Program WOMEN AND THEATER Presiding: Carole Yee, New Mexico Tech Secretary: Thelma J. Shinn, Arizona State University Ellen Dowling, Texas A&M University, "Women in the Theatre: An Historical Survey of Women on the Stage (Actresses), off the Stage (Playwrights , Critics), andfor the Stage (Producers, Designers, Directors, Managers ). This presentation will include a summary of the achievements of past and present actresses, playwrights, directors, producers and theatre managers and attempt to discover why the theatre has for so long been (in Rosamond Gilder's words) an "Eveless paradise" awaiting an invasion by the "Amazons of Thespis." Cheryl L. Brown, Albuquerque Performing Arts Collective, "Bless Me Anima: New Mexican Women's Theater Reading. " BLESS ME ANIMA is a full-scale theatrical production created by the Performing Arts Collective under a grant from the New Mexico Arts Division. The production explores the relationships of mothers and daughters and of fathers and daughters. BLESS ME ANIMA is designed for two actors, a man and a woman, who perform the eight poems, two monologues and one-act play which were written by New Mexican women writers and submitted to the ANIMA writing contest. WORKSHOPS Thursday, October 18 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Nambe) Thursday, October 18 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. GRANT WRITING AND RAISING MONEY (Cochiti) Presiding: Ann Howard, University of Nevada at Reno Panel Members: Ann Howard; Sherry O'Donnell, University of North Dakota; Myra Dinnerstein, University of Arizona; "Grant Finding, Grant Writing." Presentation will include distribution of special Women's Studies Grant Directory and the essence of WEECN workshop on grants. Sherry O'Donnell will explain the efforts of the University of Arizona in acquiring 102 VOL. 33, No. 3 — CONVENTION ISSUE, 1979 support for its Women's Studies programsand Myra Dinnersteinwill outline the successful efforts of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women. Thursday, October 18 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. JOB HUNTING FOR US AND OUR STUDENTS(Cochiti) Presiding: Carol Mullaney, Boise State University Dinah L. Leavitt, Fort Lewis College, Colorado, "DressingforJob Interviews ." It is not fair that success should depend upon how a woman dresses, but this is often the way our culture works. Although men mustalso dress for success, the problem is compounded for women by the fact that they lack a "uniform" comparable to the man's suit, and while lacking such a standard garment they do have an amazing array of theoretically acceptable outfits ranging from dresses to pants. Also scheduled: A panel discussion on non-verbal communication, resume writing, and interview skills. Thursday, October 18 4:00 p.m. to 5.?0 p.m. WOMEN'S POETRY READING(Cochiti) Presiding: Marlene Molinoff, Denver, Colorado Thursday, October 18 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. SEMINAR 10: CHILDREN'S LITERATURE(Navajo) Presiding: Roderick McGillis, University of Calgary Secretary: Norman Lanquist, Eastern Arizona College Nancy Grayson, Southwest Texas State University,"Usingand Demystifying The Formalist Approach to Children's Poetry." The critical methodology best suited to help future teachers become discriminating judges of poetry is formalism. Teachers can easily avoid analysis in the classroom, but how do they become discerningjudges without some close reading? Formalist criticism can and must work; it offers a method, free ofjargon, ofinterpretive and evaluative understanding of poetry. William Blackburn, University of Calgary, "Fever in the Funkhouse": The New Criticism and Louisa May Alcott's Uttle Men. " Although Alcott's Little Men is a liberal book for its time, the novel is likely to displease modern readers because of the glibness with which Alcott depicts the triumph of sweetness and light at Plumfield school. But an examination of Alcott's Gothic fiction and a close reading ofthis novel, suggests that Little Men transcends the limitations ofthe author's "intentions," and reveals that the book is indeed something more than "moral pap for children." ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIEW103 Paula Kiska, TheUniversity ofTexasat El Paso,"Children's Literature in the U.S.S.R. Today." Children's literature is not only alive and well in the U.S.S.R. in 1979, but it is flourishing...