The mission and values of SWIG

I want to welcome all SWIG members, supporters, and future members to the fall semester. In this introductory post I want to explain the mission of SWIG and discuss why it is beneficial organization for all graduate students whether or not you identify as a feminist. SWIG is a student organization created a couple of years ago by past graduate students to promote the participation and empowerment of women in the field of Geography. Beyond gender, SWIG recognizes that issues related to race, sexuality, ethnicity, and other forms of social difference may create obstacles for some graduate students. As an organization we are committed to supporting all graduate students with the overall goal of promoting the success of women and diversity in geography.

In the past SWIG has supported graduate students by organizing panel discussions on relevant topics, workshops related to career development, and through travel grants and scholarships. We’ve also organized and sponsored educational and community service events, including hosting colloquia, mentoring undergraduate geography students, and organizing geography awareness week presentations to promote geography in local schools. This year we’re looking forward to expanding our activities to include some new ideas for career development workshops, roundtable discussions, and sponsored film nights. As an organization we are devoted to incorporating the perspectives of all geography students and we encourage anyone with ideas for activities, brown bag topics, and community service events to attend our meeting and share them with us.

            A recent study published earlier this year illustrates the continued need for organizations like SWIG that promote and support the presence of underrepresented groups in geography (Adams, Solis, and McKendry 2014). An extensive study comparing the number of women and minority students in geography departments across the country to the number of women and minority students in higher education as a whole provides reason for concern. In fact, “with few exceptions, reported enrollment of minority and female students in geography lags behind both national averages and averages for the departments’ home campus (Adams et al. 2014, 189).” The representation of women in geography lagged particularly behind the national average of 47.2%, with women accounting for 36.8% of undergraduates, and 43.5% of graduates.  Furthermore these are not just issues impacting other geography departments. There are 18 tenured professors in SDSU geography but currently only four are women. Departmental organizations like SWIG can play an important role in addressing the lack of parity in higher education by helping foster a supportive environment that is open to diversity. I encourage everyone to get involved and come to our meeting next Friday September 26^th on the green outside of the Professional and Fine Arts Building to learn more. We look forward to hearing your ideas!

Adams, J., Solis, P., and McKendry, J. (2014). The Landscape of Diversity in U.S. Higher Education Geography. The Professional Geographer, 66(2): 183-194.

The Importance of Feminist Thought in Alternative Food Networks

This week's post is by SWIG member Hannah Evans

As a graduate student, I am interested in the geographic dimensions of uneven access to food in marginalized communities. The presumed advances in the food system have produced a worldwide abundance of cheap, processed, and genetically modified foods. Industrialized food regimes that favor mass-production, monocultural agriculture, and mechanization threaten clean water supplies, destroy arable land, pollute airways, and consume non-renewable resources at unsustainable rates. Perhaps the most disturbing consequences of these regimes is the uneven access and distribution of healthy, natural, and organic food in marginalized communities. Lack of resources and education, combined with an abundance of fast, commercialized food options, leave certain individuals and communities at once threatened by and dependent on industrialized agriculture.

Much in the way of resistance to such regimes has materialized recently in the United States through Alternative Food Networks (AFN). These networks function through efforts to establish holistic, sustainable, and locally-based food systems by linking the consumer to the production process. Some examples of these efforts include food co-ops and community gardening. Through direct connections with nature, these networks pose both an ideological opposition and alternative to industrialized agriculture. Many proponents of AFN claim that our connections to food are universal, citing the fact that everyone, regardless of race/ethnicity, class, gender and other social differences, has to eat. However, despite the fact that eating is a basic human requirement, uneven access to food persists, attesting to the very real existence of social inequality. Given that social differences are reinforced through the food system, how does one’s positionality influence the emotional experience of eating? Do current AFN address the variegated experiences of different individuals and groups when developing alternatives? Do these alternatives equally benefit all people? These questions are addressed in a recent journal article I read that highlights the importance of feminist perspectives on food movements.

In the article, the authors work through a feminist lens to discuss why emotion and affect are important factors to consider when developing projects that draw on peoples’ personal connection to food. It introduces important ideas regarding the problematic nature of programs that report universal ideas about these connections. It also expands the traditional definition of ‘access’ to consider emotions as principle (yet not sole) indicators of behavior. For me, one of the most interesting parts of the paper was the description of choice as “a fluid process that is continually varying through an extensive set of material relations that are particular to the time-spaces in which a specific judgment is taking place.” The recognition of social experience, both physical and emotional, as complex, discursive, and constantly changing has been one of the biggest influences on me this semester as I begin to understand the meaning of feminism in geographic research. Through this appreciation, we can start to see larger power structures that might otherwise seem omniscient as fragmented, malleable, and able to be transformed. Initially, for me, this was mind-blowing! My undergraduate experience seemed like it was filled with ominous visions for an impending apocalyptic future (I majored in geography and political science), but reading this article and beginning to understand this approach to research creates hope for the future, as it challenges the way I think and do research. This speaks to the importance of feminist thought in creating social change that positively influences the future of food movements.

Approaching Difference in Research and Beyond: Lessons from Indigenous Epistemologies.

For the past couple weeks I’ve begun preparing full force for my written exams– perching on the couch and reading for eight hours a day has its perks, but it can certainly get old after a while. This week I’ve been reading about indigenous epistemologies, something that until recently I knew little about. Indigenous epistemologies take a very different approach to knowledge, identity, and difference. Rather then try to summarize or reduce the diversity of indigenous epistemologies in this post, I’d like to touch on the work of indigenous scholar and activist Vine Deloria Jr., and discuss some of the productive insights his work offers for approaching difference in research and life.

Vine Deloria Jr. is a prolific Lakota scholar and activist whose work spans the 1960’s until his death in 2005. His work, among other things, explored the link between colonialism and the production of western knowledge, and the deep ideological rifts between indigenous and western approaches to knowledge production and identity. He argued that reclaiming a space for indigenous knowledge both inside and outside of the academy is central to social justice movements and the establishment of indigenous self-determination and sovereignty.

            
In the article “If you think about it you will see it’s true,” Deloria compares Western approaches to knowledge production and the Sioux’s approach to knowledge and identity. For the Sioux, there was no knowledge that was not valuable and all knowledge was directed towards the goal of “finding the proper moral and ethical road upon which human beings should walk” (43). The Sioux understood the universe as moral and alive, and every event and action was understood through its relational effects. According to the Sioux, everything was related and humans were not given a special status within these relations, but were just another important aspect of the whole. Unlike western approaches to knowledge, personal experience, emotions, and anomalies were seen as significant, and were presented as evidence that was reflected on personally and collectively. This evidence was grounded in the dynamics of place and understood through careful observation. Patterns that emerged were often connected through narratives and stories but never came to be understood as universal laws.

           
Deloria’s work offers a number of important insights that are relevant to us as researchers who produce variegated forms of knowledge. He argues that, for indigenous people, knowledge is a moral endeavor that helps people find their “proper moral and ethical” path in life. Thus knowledge is itself rooted in the moral imperative to finds one’s proper place, a place that is recognized as relationally constructed by human and non-human entities and that is always subject to change. Furthermore, the indigenous approach to engaging with all sources of knowledge, particularly the experiential and the unexpected, offers an inclusive and grounded approach that does not marginalize or create a hierarchy where some perspectives and experiences are given more weight than others. The evidence that deviates from an expected trajectory generates greater reflection and becomes a source for the development of new patterns and narratives. Lastly, indigenous approaches to knowledge tend to emphasis process over outcome within knowledge production. Research is judged primarily by the concepts of respect and reciprocity at the core of the process, and the actual relevance of the work to the different communities involved, rather than abstracted claims about future benefits.

            
I find that Deloria’s work and the work of countless other indigenous scholars (of whose work I’m only now starting to engage with) offers important alternatives to approaching research in ways that are inclusive, relevant, and social justice-oriented. Whether or not indigenous epistemologies and approaches offer alternatives that we can adopt within our varied research projects and interests, they nonetheless remind us of the colonial roots that remain a part of western scientific approaches and the value of engaging with relational ways of knowing. Recognizing these alternatives helps us to question the taken-for-granted moments when our research may misinterpret, misrepresent, and obscure important forms of knowledge production at the margins. These roots and routes of research are important for us to explore if we are to create more just and equitable futures through our work.

Deloria Jr. V. 1999. Spirit and Reason: the Vine Deloria, Jr. Reader. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing. 

Recognizing Bias in the World Map-- Brainstorming for Geography Awareness Week

As geographers, many of us are aware that the world map we have been using for the past 500 years is erroneous, reflecting European bias and colonial interests. Unfortunately, most people don't see it that way. The current world map continues to be taught in schools and referenced in decision-making processes that impact our every day lives. So, I was delighted when I saw people discussing the following post on my newsfeed this morning:

We Have Been Misled By An Erroneous Map Of The World For 500 Years 

Perhaps we could develop an activity for Geography Awareness Week that gives students an opportunity to think about these issues?

Cultivating New Worlds: Feminism in science fiction

As Halloween approaches, many of us begin to think of its various, frightful incarnations – the supernatural, monsters, aliens, and the like.  To be sure, the month of October is littered with movies, television shows, books, and stories that evoke such powerful imaginaries: from Ridley Scott’s 1979 movie, Alien, to Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein.  However, after Halloween Day ends, much of this chilling creativity rescinds into the depths of popular culture.  But, while science fiction remains crucial to our Halloween imagination, it also thrives outside of the Halloween season.  In particular, feminist science fiction has, for years, enjoyed relative popularity and posed formidable questions surrounding women’s (and men’s) roles in society.

Feminist science fiction has focused on a variety of topics, primarily, the social construction of gender, political and social implications of reproduction, gender inequalities, and the intersections of race and gender.  Much like feminism, as a set of ideologies or movements, feminist science fiction has also remained just as diverse and fluid.  For over a century, feminist science fiction has taken on a multiplicity of forms and themes through a number of authors.  Notable writers include Mary Shelley, Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, Joanna Russ, and many more.  Perhaps most importantly, feminist science fiction has served as a bridge between theory and practice.  The creations of feminist science fiction authors directly represent the variety of goals envisioned through feminism and gender studies: worlds that have moved beyond gender, worlds that have embraced the diversity of desire and sexuality, and worlds that champion the rights and equality of others.  Of course, dystopias are also critical to the broader feminist science fiction project.  For example, Octavia Butler’s 1979 novel, Kindred, explores the complex and troubling intersection of race and gender through a grim dystopic fantasy. 

In any case, feminist science fiction writes and creates at the center of theory and practice.  Their creations reflect desires, anxieties, traumas, and much more.  However, it must be noted that these ‘fictional’ worlds oftentimes reflect and represent ‘nonfictional’ scenarios and circumstances.  Feminist science fiction has provided critical opportunities to interrogate the complexities of this world and pose important questions about it.  Through these efforts, it is hoped that readers and authors alike may cultivate new worlds and new ways of being.

Recommended feminist science fiction reading

Remembering difference in our mission to support women in geography

As graduate students, most of us will end up teaching at some point; for doctoral students, we can pretty much count on it. Those of us who will teach will invariably draw from our personal and professional lives to help students engage with classroom material. Presumably, I am not the only one who considers personal anecdotes an effective and dynamic way to engage students in the classroom.

So as we teach, we make connections between our personal as well as professional lives in the classroom, asking ourselves: Is this story relevant? Do I feel comfortable sharing a story from my personal life with my students? Does it accurately illustrate the point I'm trying to make? Will the people I’m referencing be embarrassed or annoyed that I used them as an example in my class?

But it occurred to me recently that when I do begin teaching, I will also have to make a decision about disclosing the gender of my same-sex partner. While professors in heterosexual relationships can reference their partners without fear of hostility or judgment, I am confronted with some difficult questions, such as: Is this story about my partner worth the potential disruption of sharing it? Is there value in disclosing my sexuality to my students, especially to queer students who may require role models and mentors? Will my students notice or even care?

As of yet, I have not been forced to confront these issues, and with the advances made possible by struggles for LGBT rights, they might be on their way to becoming non-issues. However, it is important to remember that women in geography (and science in general) come with a wide range of backgrounds, needs, concerns, and challenges -- all of whom need supporting. Through such support, I hope that we can work together to tackle issues related to gender, as well as sexuality in academia.

Just a few reasons that I appreciate and support the participation of women in our discipline

This week's post is by SWIG member Steven Allison

As a dude working with a women’s group, I’ve considered the reasons for supporting women in Geography. Spending time and money for the benefit of others with no clear benefit for yourself is pretty much the foundation of volunteering, so it shouldn’t be so strange that a man would encourage women in this way. Yet, some might argue that drawing funding and resources away from myself and towards others is foolish in the hyper-competitive and poorly funded world of academia. Slashed budgets and full schedules mean university life can be a kind of archaic zero-sum game in which any resources directed towards others are, therefore, not going towards you. I obviously don’t agree, and there’s a laundry list of reasons for spending at least a little bit of my day working collaboratively with others, but for today I’m gonna go ahead and play this zero-sum game and look at how supporting women in Geography actually has some pretty direct benefits for me.

Anyone studying Geography at SDSU knows the program wouldn’t exist without one woman in particular, Alvena Storm. The university was originally a simple teacher training college, and when Alvena joined the department after graduating from Berkeley in 1926, Geography was not the kind of place to send young impressionable students into the desert or some distant mountain to get their boots muddy. The department certainly wouldn’t have paid for infusing the classroom with a little adventure. Not so for Alvena! Our own campus library is full of tales of wild, Depression-era field trips where students trapped rattlesnakes and honed their survival skills. By the time I arrived, muddy boots fieldwork was de rigueur for SDSU. Denied a PhD herself (cause she was a woman), she developed the SDSU Geography department and its relationship with her former UC campus into the doctoral-granting powerhouse it is today. That’s why the Geography building will retain the name “Storm Hall” even after the remodel is over.

This story is not intended to suggest that only I reap the benefits of elevating women to positions of power in my own little department. For example, many Geographers are critical of the turn-of-the- century theorist Ellen Semple because she promotes environmental determinism. However, among her less noted accomplishments is her profound contribution to making American Geography legitimate in the eyes of the international community. As one of the first and most prolific translators of Friedrich Ratzel (the godfather of Geography, I guess), she maintained a firm stance on the importance of theory in any investigation. Her insistence on theoretically informed research brought a new vigor and seriousness to the discipline, sparking sophisticated debates about the theories she advocated. The international recognition she received has a direct influence on my own ability as a man to conduct fieldwork in Asia- and this is one small example of her legacy.

No matter where I look, from the foundation of my own department to the broader debates that form the backbone of my discipline, I can see the very real ways powerful women in Geography make life better for men and women alike. So to respond to the idea that volunteering for a women’s organization does nothing for me, I can only say it is, in fact, an errant misunderstanding of our discipline. Viewing the intellectual field as a competitive, closed environment, only heightens my sense that advancing women in geography is sure to yield great returns for not just the field in general, but also myself on a personal and professrional level.

Learn more about Alvena Storm and Ellen Semple here:
http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/alumni/ellen-churchill-semple.html
http://library.sdsu.edu/scua/raising-our-voices/sdsu-history/faculty/alvena-storm