The Women’s Studies program has a new leader.
Seretha Williams, an associate professor of English, is now the interim director of Women’s Studies since Christie Launius left in the summer of 2008.
“We don’t have a search role now,” Williams said, “so I will be in place this year and the 2009-2010 academic year. It’s not a changing, it’s an adding on, (and) I love it.”
As an interim director, Williams is responsible for coordinating the minor program, and she is also chair of the Women’s Studies committee that speaks to different departments on campus, such as the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice; the Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy; and the Department of Psychology.
Williams is helped by Rachel Langley, a senior communications major, who has been the Women’s Studies’ student assistant since Fall ’07, and Shannon Bruckner, a senior English literature major, who is the president of the Women’s Studies Student Association (WSSA).
“As student assistant, I maintain and update the Women’s Studies Web site, make flyers and brochures for promotional purposes and help to keep students’ files updated during advising (and) registration,” Langley said.
Langley said that unfortunately not a lot of people are aware of the numerous events that the program offers.
“I think the program is important, but people don’t seem to have a good idea of what it can offer, so it’s easily overlooked,” Langley said. “This semester, there are a lot of events happening that I hope can give the program more publicity among the general student population.”
Williams said that there is Women’s History Month in March, and for the occasion, the program and the Department of History, Anthropology, and Philosophy are hosting a special scholar from Sweden named Bodal Formark. Then, the WSSA is having a conference March 28th on “Emerging Narratives.”
Moreover, Augusta State is University is working in collaboration with the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) to raise money and participate in the production of “The Vagina Monologues.” Thus, a fund raiser has been created to ask people to give their spare change.
The Women’s Studies program is hoping that students and faculty will attend the spring events it has organized, according to Langley.