The Seneca Falls Trip project is to provide an opportunity for students to deepen their learning about the early struggles for equality of women in the public sphere, including women’s early, organized struggle for political, class, gender, and racial equity, on site at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and other historically significant locations in Seneca Falls, NY. With this knowledge and through this experience, students will be encouraged to consider their role in civic society. The combination of experiential learning and encouraged self-reflection will motivate and inspire civic engagement among project participants. The Women’s Leadership Symposium is a direct result of developing research, leadership and advocacy opportunities for Kent State University faculty and students participating the Seneca Falls trip.

Reflections from the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers conference, September, 2014, in Spearfish, SD

Box lunches will be served during this session.

Indigenous Peoples Student Project: Documenting Story Telling though Photographs and Video--Storytelling is a powerful method of communication; I do it with a camera. Telling stories stems from traditional cultures, many of which are represented at the Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Photographs have the power to convey emotion and moment, and video has the power to transport the audience to another time and place. I choose how to frame the subject, when to push the button, which elements to arrange together, and how to connect them to tell a story. I also teach this process to students majoring in journalism. At the gathering I was able to photograph the site, the surrounding Black Hills, and interview people who are drawn to the grandmothers and their message. My Intro to Video Production class at the Stark Campus was assigned a project. Students had to tell stories from the photos/audio and video I collected at the conference with little direction from me about my experience. It was an incredible opportunity for them to learn about new cultures, to learn how to find the story, and to interview me to help build narratives. I will be sharing these video pieces and photo prints and bringing the gathering of the 13 Grandmothers experience to Kent State University.

Poems of Kimberlee Medicine Horn Jackson - Sometimes the soft voice, even the silent voice of words on the page can have a lasting impact on the heart and change it forever. For decades, the voices of the Native American Adoptee have been largely unknown and therefore; unheard. Today, more of us Lost Birds and Split feathers find our way back to our Native homelands through DNA testing or other mysterious means that are more than just coincidence. Adoption is another means of Indian removal; my poetry collection “Walking Fire” addresses this topic.

This paper explores the confluence of art using telepresence, the technologically-mediated ability to act at a distance, and activism through individual artworks by new media artist Lynn Hershman Leeson and the cyberfeminist art collective subRosa, both of which explore the relationship of women and gender to issues of the body and cloning. Ultimately, I will argue not only for the promise of a new form of digitally-mediated subjectivity (the hyper-subject), but for the dire need for new forms of activism for women at the frontier of an existence both virtually and physically digitized.

This session will introduce the concept of social network analysis (SNA) and the use of network theory to explore the social relationships among members of a group or community. Social networks are comprised of nodes (individuals) and links (relationships among individuals). Networks that build out and represent the knowledge of individuals (nodes) are known as knowledge networks. The community of individuals who came together around equality, human and civil rights issues in the Seneca Falls area form a critical historical social and knowledge network but there is neither a social nor a knowledge network representation of this community. How could a group of 100 individuals have such a deep impact on our society? And, how do we continue this tradition of social and knowledge networking? This session is designed for interaction. A “writable” social network representation of the most important 100 individuals will be presented. Participants will be invited to add their thoughts and comments to the large poster. In addition, “blank networks” will be posted around the symposium meeting space for individuals to record individuals they have connected with in the Seneca Falls Dialogues and in other women’s leadership events.

An exhibit of American Indian artifacts in two table cases and a wall case will be displayed on the first floor of the library for the entire month of February. Items displayed represent many indigenous tribes in America.

Activism through Quilting (Nell Orndorf) will discuss and example design, use and customs of quilting in Native American cultures.