Women & Gender Studies Faculty Support Regional Activism & Historic Connections to Social Justice
Dr. Bek Orr and Dr. Barb LeSavoy bring their scholarly expertise to social justice activism, community building, feminist archival work, and regional historical connections.
In AY 2022-23 Dr. LeSavoy published two co-authored peer-reviewed articles and one peer-reviewed essay related to the Seneca Falls Dialogues, a collaborative project created by WGS scholars in upstate New York. The Biennial Seneca Falls Dialogues is a conference that invites presenters to lead structured dialogues aimed at fostering collaboration and insightful conversation among students, faculty, and activists. The Journal is a related publication designed to capture the insights gained at the dialogues. In addition to her outstanding contributions to this research and activist community aligned with the history of social justice in our area, Dr. LeSavoy also stepped up as co-chair of the Anthony Mascioli Rainbow Dialogues is a series of community building conversations designed to demonstrate the ways in which LGBTQ+ history and archives are relevant for people today. The annual Dialogues feature presentations and group discussions that reference and contextualize LGBTQ+ life in Rochester—past, present, and future—against the backdrop of local, state, and national social justice issues. On top of this invaluable work, Dr. LeSavoy also published a co-authored peer-reviewed essay titled “Contested Memories: The Intimate Public and Technologies of Affect in Memorializing Holocaust Trauma” in Technologies of Human Rights Representations.
Dr. Bek Orr also had an outstanding year in research connected to activist communities and histories. Dr. Orr’s spring semester was spent on the competitive Dr. Nuala McGann Drescher Diversity and Inclusion Leave Program, working on their manuscript The Ageing of the Archives: Queer Archives, Queer Nostalgia. Dr. Orr additionally edited a special issue of The Journal of Feminist Scholarship focused on queer archival work. They also joined the Board of Girls Rock! Rochester, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using music creation and performance as tools for cultivating self-confidence in girls and LGBTQ+ youth.
Thank you, Dr. Orr and Dr. LeSavoy for your continued contributions to Brockport, Rochester, regional, and national scholarly activist communities!
Publication Citations
- LeSavoy, B., Uman, D. (2021). Creating the Seneca Falls Dialogues Journal. Seneca Falls Dialogues Journal.
- LeSavoy, B., Clark Taylor, A., Cerulli, C., Creamer, E. (2021). Feminist Attitudes, Behaviors, and Culture Shaping Women’s Center Practice. Seneca Falls Dialogues Journal.
- LeSavoy, B., Swiencicki, J., Uman, D., Brandt, M. (2021). Seneca Falls, Strategic Mythmaking, and a Feminist Politics of Relation. In Katie Fredlund, Kerri Hauman, and Jessica Ouellette (Ed.), Feminist Connections Rhetoriac and Activism across Time, Space, and Place. Univeristy of Alabama Press.
- LeSavoy, B., Kowal, D. M. (2022). Contested Memories: The Intimate Public and Technologies of Affect in Memorializing Holocaust Trauma. In Alexandra Moore, James Dawes (Ed.), Technologies of Human Rights Representations. SUNY Press.
- Orr, B. (2022). Feminist Engagements with the Queer Archive: Special Issue Introduction. Journal of Feminist Scholarship, 19(19), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.23860/jfs.2021.19.01
- Orr, B. J. (2022). In Anupama Arora and Jeanette E. Riley (Ed.), Feminist Engagements With the Queer Archive (19th ed., vol. 19, pp. 1-134). Dartmouth, Massachusetts: Journal of Feminist Scholarship. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jfs/vol19/iss19/