Scholarship established in honor of Dr. Geetha Ramanathan
Honored as one of WCU's 150 most influential women a year prior to her death, Geetha
contributed so much to the university, students and the community who came together
to celebrate her life in October.
To continue to honor this amazing woman, the Geetha Ramanathan Endowment has been
established here at West Chester University which will offer a scholarship to support
undergraduate students studying English or Women's and Gender Studies, ensuring Geetha's
legacy here at West Chester University. If you are able, the family would be deeply
grateful for any contribution you can make to the endowment.
Announcing the WGS Department $100,00 Grant Award from the Mellon Foundation
The grant is part of the Mellon Foundation’s Affirming Multivocal Humanities initiative,
which has allocated more than $18 million to support humanities-based learning at
public colleges and universities across the nation. WCU’s grant will fund the creation
of the Women’s and Gender Studies Collection, an innovative open educational resource
that aims to publish and provide free and reliable information on race, gender, and
sexuality.
The Women’s and Gender Studies Collection is the brainchild of Lisa Huebner, a WCU
professor of women’s and gender studies. Dr. Huebner learned about the Mellon Foundation’s
call for proposals in May 2023 from her department chair, Professor Joan Woolfrey,
and quickly applied. The grant was awarded at the end of July 2023.
The Mellon Foundation grant has already supported a series of free, open-to-the-public
events that brought internationally renowned scholars, activists, and writers to WCU,
with future events coming in fall 2024.
The Women’s and Gender Studies Collection will serve students, faculty, and staff
within the discipline of women’s and gender studies as well as educators, families,
and individuals beyond higher education, Huebner said. The collection will feature
a wide range of formats including written, artistic, and audio/video materials that
focus on the dissemination of free, trustworthy, and valid information about race,
gender, and sexuality.
Receiving the Mellon Foundation grant is a dream come true for Huebner. She has spent
her career, including several years in nonprofit work before joining WCU in 2007,
making knowledge about race, gender, and sexuality free, accessible, and applicable
to all. “This project represents something I’ve tried to do throughout my entire professional
life: bridging the gap between academic discourse and real-world application,” she
said. “This site will be scholarly and offer content that’s accessible and engaging.
Families will be able to use it, as well as teachers and even teenagers.”
The inspiration for the collection is rooted in a conviction that providing accurate
information about race, gender, and sexuality is crucial, especially in the current
political and social climate, Huebner said. She has tapped several WCU departments
and colleagues to collaborate on the project, including the Teaching and Learning
Center and the Center for Women and Gender Equity.
Dr. Ruby's Recent Work
Muslim Women’s Rights: Contesting Liberal-Secular Sensibilities in Canada (Routledge
2019) By Tabassum Fahim Ruby follows the legal debates and public discussions that
surrounded the proposed shari‘ah tribunals in Canada from 2003 to 2006. In her close
readings and discourse analysis of the public and media scrutiny that followed this
discussion, Ruby found that these debates existed at the nexus of complex assumptions
about human rights discourses, liberal-secular sensibilities, and law, which all hinged
on narratives of western modernity and progress and were set against notions of Muslim
women’s rights and agency, or lack thereof. Check out the New Books Network Podcast highlighting Dr. Ruby's book!
Check out the History of Our Department!
This article in Scholars: Research, Teaching, Public Service highlights the evolution of our department.
