Posts from — April 2010

We are happy to announce that our very own Women’s Studies professor, Victoria Rue,  is directing the Pulitzer prize winning play [07'] , Rabbit Hole, at the Santa Cruz Actors’  Theatre.   Details follow….

Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre, the longest running theater in Santa Cruz, is proud to announce it’s play to close our twenty-fifth season. Actors’ Theatre will bring to life David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama “Rabbit Hole,” running May 14 to June 6, 2010, at the Santa Cruz Actor’s Theatre, 1001 Center Street, Santa Cruz, CA.

Lindsay-Abaire’s play, which garnered five Tony nominations and won the Pulitzer for drama in 2007, tells the story of Becca and Howie, a married couple whose 4-year-old son, Danny, was killed by a car eight months earlier. Struggling to cope and unable to reconcile their different ways of grieving, their relationship has begun to unravel: Becca is trying to forget the pain, Howie is holding onto his fading memories, and other family members are complicating the situation. Hope is reignited when Jason, the teenage boy driving the car that killed Danny, comes into their lives. Despite its heavy subject matter, Lindsay-Abaire’s play is a balance of comedic moments with serious themes.

The production is directed by theatre titan Victoria Rue. Dr. Rue’s work as a theatre director and playwright has been seen in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum, San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre and New York’s Shakespeare Festival, among other theaters.

“This is a play about compassion,” said Victoria Rue. “Grief and rage and love rise up. We also laugh. We recognize this as our human condition.”

A quietly moving play, the story explores the reconnection of relationships and the possibilities of hope after tragedy. Rabbit Hole, is a beautifully observed and heartfelt look into the grief and healing one family experiences dealing with a death in the family. Meticulously mapped, Lindsay-Abaire never indulges with sentiment.

“Lindsay-Abaire’s story is about how grief is often held so tightly to the chest that it is difficult for our arms to embrace the present.” said Victoria Rue.

“Rabbit Hole” is Lindsay-Abaire’s first naturalistic work, a departure from his trademark style of dark comedy seen in previous plays such as “Fuddy Meers” and “Kimberly Akimbo.” Despite the differences, Lindsay-Abaire said all his plays deal with the same underlying dilemma: “… it’s about characters finding themselves in an upside-down world and trying to find clarity in a world that doesn’t make any sense.”

The cast includes Kristin Brownstone as Becca; Steven Capasso as Howie; Nan Dejarlais as Becca’s mother, Nat; MarNae Taylor as Becca’s sister, Izzy; and Taylor Closs as Jason.

Dates for “Rabbit Hole” are: Friday, May. 14 (Opening), and closing Sunday, June 6.

Performances are Friday through Saturday at 8PM and Sundays at 3PM.

All performances at Actors’ Theatre, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz

Tickets are $16 general; $13 students/seniors. Buy tickets at the theatre box office one hour before show times.

To make a reservation, call 831.425.PLAY (831.425.7529). You can also purchase tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com or Visit Actors’ Theatre website at www.santacruzactorstheatre.org

http://www.santacruzactorstheatre.org/

Writing Contest for Women’s Studies Students

 Is there a woman in your life whose made a difference for a reason, a season, a lifetime? If so, enter this writing contest and share with others your story.

If you are enrolled in a Women’s Study program at any accredited college or university in the United States, you are eligible to enter The Godmothers Writing Contest:  Here are the rules:

• Write and submit a 300-500 word story on a woman in your life who made a difference in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
• Deadline: June 1, 2010
• Three winners will be chosen from the entries and announced on or before September 1, 2010.  In addition to being published by The Godmothers Club, winners will receive:
  • 1^st Prize: $250 — $125 Donated to a Charity of Your Choice and a $125 American Express Gift Certificate for you
  • 2^nd Prize: $100 — $50 Donated to a Charity of Your Choice and a $50 American Express Gift Certificate for you
  • 3^rd Prize: $50 — $25 Donated to a Charity of Your Choice and a $25 American Express Gift Certificate for you
• Three honorable mentions will also be published
• Each winner and honorable mention will receive a Certificate of Honor
• Entries and winners will be judged and selected by Editor
• Winners will be contacted via email
• One entry per person
• Story and entry information must be emailed to me through Facebook
• Contest void where prohibited by law
• Provide the following information along with your story:
  • Name
  • Age
  • City and State of home residence
  • Email Address
  • College/University

http://www.thegodmothersclub.com/godmother-notes/2010/04/writing-contest-for-womens-studies-students.html

Angela Davis Comes to SJSU

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Morris Dailey Auditorium

$15 general admission
$5 for students

SJSU students:
Present your SJSU ID and visit any of these locations to receive a $3 coupon

Cesar Chavez Community Action Center
Building BB, #105
One Washington Sq.
San Jose, CA 95192-0265
(408) 924-4144
Email: cccac@as.sjsu.edu

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center (LGBT)
Building BB, Room 101B
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0161
(408) 924-6157
sjsulgbtrc@gmail.com

MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center
Student Union, 3rd floor
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0238
(408) 924-6255
mosaic@sjsu.edu

I’d like to share here an interview and discussion that the Social Science 195 Spring class did with Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Professor of Education and Director of the Texas Center for Educational Policy at the University of Texas, Austin.

Dr. Valenzuela spoke with us about the concept of “subtractive schooling,” a critique that traditional schooling divests Mexican and Mexican-American youth of “important social and cultural resources, leaving them progressively vulnerable to academic failure.”  She goes on to discuss several new projects, including the National Latino Education Research & Policy Project (NELRAP) that seek to address these kinds of consistent inequalities in American education.

Click here to see the interview on the SJSU server (or click image)

Some excerpts:

On Mexican identity: “We have been traumatized in this society, and we continue to be traumatized, harmed, because of the languages we speak, the identities that we hold….virulent campaigns that don’t ever seem to stop, against Mexican immigrants, and Mexicans in general, by association….”

“Where is that common discourse, within the mass of silent people, where is that discourse that is really trying to reach out for fairness within this system?”

Demographics: “What people need to know and understand, lead on, is that the way that Texas looks now demographically is the way the whole nation will look in 2050.”

The next step: “A systems approach, a systems analysis. We have many piecemeal programs…we have the intellectual knowhow. We really don’t need another study that shows us bilingual education works if it’s well-funded, well-trained, well-staffed. Now it’s about leadership, critical, respectful partnerships…. We need to work together to change systems….”

See the interview here