Negotiating Boundaries
(Natural and Not)

Two Lectures on Nature/Culture in relation to Geography and Gender

“Globalization and the Problem of the Nature/Culture Boundary”
Dr. Janel Curry, Calvin College

Friday November 3, 3pm. ICS, Classroom A

New Zealand's oceans policy, a regime driven by globalization, represents an example of policy that is built on a modernist view of the boundary between nature and culture. An alternative to the strict boundary construction represented by this policy regime, is one based on a relational ontology and theology. This alternative makes it possible to develop a view of boundaries that recognizes boundary-making as life giving yet avoids the problems of both modernists and post-modernist viewpoints. Thus boundaries can be viewed as places for relationship building rather than places for strict divisions. This relational, Christian perspective aids in the development of a more nuanced understanding of the intersection of social structure, the nonhuman world, and moral choices in real places.

“Gender, Culture and Care”
Dr. Helen Sterk, Calvin College

Friday November 3, 7:30pm. ICS, Classroom A

It seems we have entered a post-feminist (for some a feminized) era. Women outnumber men in colleges and universities, in law schools, the church pews, and many careers. However, a significant wage gap remains; few women sit in seats of American government; men far outnumber women in business leadership. And, on average, women still spend far more time and energy with family care than men. Popular culture images polarize femininity and masculinity. How might these situations change for the better, leading to equity in gender relations? Care theory offers intriguing possibilities for transforming gender hierarchy into gender coordination. When balancing what is good for oneself with what is good for others orients decision-making, family life, education, government and work life all change for the better.

The lecturers:

Janel Curry (Ph.D. University of Minnesota) is Dean for Research and Scholarship and Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Calvin College. Dr. Curry did her graduate work in geography at the University of Minnesota. She has received research fellowships from the Pew Charitable Trusts Evangelical Scholars Program as well as a Fulbright Fellowship to the University of Guelph. She has published papers in such journals as The Geographical Review, the Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Society and Natural Resources, and Agriculture and Human Values. In 2002 she published the book Community on Land: Community, Ecology, and the Public Interest, with Steve McGuire.

Helen Sterk (Ph.D. Iowa) is Chair of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College and teaches and writes on rhetoric, feminism, gender, and popular culture. She co-authored Who's Having This Baby? Perspectives on Birthing (Michigan State University Press) and co-edited several books, including Gender and Applied Communication (Sage). Professor Sterk has published in the Western Journal of Communication and the Journal of Communication, and edited books such as Evaluating Women’s Health Messages: A Resourcebook (Sage, 1996). She edits the Journal of Communication & Religion and has served as the President for the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender, President of the Religious Communication Association, Chapter President for the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and as a member of the state executive board for the AAUP (Michigan).