| Friday, April 20, 2007 |
| Biography/Autobiographical Information/Current Status/Curriculum Vitae |
Laurel Richardson, famous Feminist Sociologist, spent a lifetime adding to her list of published works and academic accomplishments. But the achievements did not stop there. Ms. Richardson also has received honors for her accomplishments in the arts, particularly creative writing and poetry. More is provided through her academic journey and biography than anything else--a journey that crosses over the states and brings her to many a prestigious establishment.
Laurel Richardson received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago, and her Ph.D from the University of Colorado. After her graduation, Ms. Richardson worked at the California State University, Denison University, and finally at the University of Ohio, where she is currently located. During this time, Laurel Richardson worked to complete NUMEROUS published works in the field of sociology, while simultaneously pursuing creative writing (such as poetry) for pleasure. Furthermore, Laurel Richardson has kept a strong feminist perspective throughout her works, particularly focusing on the study of sex and gender. In the mid 80's, she became the president of the North Central Sociological Association.
Today, Laurel Richardson is teaching in the sociology department of the University of Ohio.
Laurel Richardson's Curriculum Vitae can be found at this address: http://www.sociology.ohio-state.edu/lwr/cvitae.php
On a more personal level, Laurel Richardson is a mother of two sons, both of whom she is very proud of. She is also a grandmother. After interviewing Laurel Richardson, I found her to be a very creative, easy-going, friendly woman who has a passion for her career that goes above and beyond a mere paycheck and the recognition--she truly loves what she does. She has worked steadily in the field of sociology, but also has accomplished much in the field of writing and art--such as book altering--in a long, continuing lifetime career.
Laurel Richardson has gained many impressive awards and achievements in her lifetime--but the work she is most proud of is her most personal work, such as bringing up a family, or writing a book for a close friend of hers who passed away. (http://www.lcoastpress.com/book.php?id=91)
More about Laurel Richardson's life can be uncovered through reading her work and from her interview itself; I hope that these articles will give a closer look at a woman who I was honored to interview. |
posted by J Mancini @ 3:50 PM  |
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| The Way She Became An Acedemic |
Laurel Richardson is pretty straight-forward when it comes to things that she would like to know more about, and the things she enjoys spending her time learning. When asked about her choice to follow an academic career that led to so many important achievements in her life, Ms. Richardson said:
"I decided to become an academic AFTER I started graduate school. I totally fell in love with sociology. I read a lot of sociological theory and thought about some big questions, particularly: How do we know we know what we claim we know?"
Laurel Richardson attended graduate school at the University of Colorado(http://www.colorado.edu/), under the teaching of Edward Rose, Robert Hanson, and Alex Garber; all of whom are influential sociologists at the University of Colorado. (http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/archives/acquisitions.htm) Perhaps it was because of these teachers that Laurel Richardson was inspired to seek answers in the field of sociology, a quest which she still follows to this day.
It was interesting to me to hear that she did not decide to become a sociologist until after she had already attended undergraduate school and graduate school. This could have been because of her later discovery of sociological theory, or simply because she came to realize how interested she had become in the field. On a minor note, it was curious to learn that all of her most influential sociology teachers at the University of Colorado were men--could she have known that she would one day become just as prominent in the field as her academic career progressed?
On that same note, during the time that Laurel Richardson was attending graduate school, the male-female ratio was entirely different. It probably was not the easiest decision for her to choose sociology as her academic career, as opposed to a more traditional female job for the time, or becoming a housewife. Luckily, Ms. Richardson knew what she loved to learn about, and was not hesitant to make feminist sociology her career.  |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:49 PM |
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| Teaching |
When I asked Ms. Richardson about her style of teaching and her pedagogy, she responded:
"I most like teaching graduate classes in feminist theory. My teaching style is feminist...a lot of silence in the room, while we all think about the questions; a lot of discussion; a lot of writing and exploring of the "personal as political,:" a lot of challenging of our assumptions, including the feminist ones; a lot of thinking outside the box..."
The definition of a pedagogy (from www.dictionary.com) is "1.the function or work of a teacher; teaching. 2.the art or science of teaching; education; instructional methods." A feminist pedagogy, however, is a little bit different. It derives from Paulo Freire's work, and is directly in line with a post-modernist belief system. According to Carolyn Shrewsbury (http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~cbury/web/Welcome.html) the four main themes in the feminist pedagogy are empowerment, community, social action, and reflexivity. It is also important to know that a feminist pedagogy does not teach the belief in female dominance--it is instead a more discussion-based format for learning without a patriarchal structure. The summary of this is simply that the teacher is not standing in the front of the room lecturing, the students sit in a circle and are active participants in learning and discussing the material. Finally, a classroom that uses the feminist pedagogy will be more open to peer and teacher evaluations--in order for the student to have an upper hand in their own education.
When Ms. Richardson said that she likes to explore the concept of "the personal is political" she is referring to a theory that began in the 60's--that problems that certain races or genders or classes were suffering were not simply a personal inadequacy, but rather a flaw in society as a whole. The horrible things happening to these women an men were not happening in small, under-rug-swept cases, they were happening in mass to many people. This means that their situation needed attention on a government level--"the political".
Laurel Richardson basically defined her pedagogy as a feminist one, but I was surprised to learn that this style of learning was not a dictorial kind of feminism, but a theory that could be used by men and by all kinds of classes. It makes both the teacher and the student share an equal standing--everyone is being challenged to think differently, and to express themselves without fear of being ridiculed. |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:48 PM |
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| Community Action or Involvement or Activism |
Besides giving back to the community through teaching and writing, Laurel Richardson also informed me that she is heavily involved in activism. Her word-for-word response was:
"In college (the University of Chicago) I was part of the "team" that integrated the stools at the drug store (yeah, even up north in the big city, we had segregated stores) and I was part of the team that "tested" whether whites were given preferential treatment for rentals over non-whites. In California, I was secretary of the newly founded CORE (Congress of Racial Equality.) In Columbus (where I live now), I have been active in feminist causes (early member of NOW and faculty advisor for a fledgling Women's Liberation.) I do a lot of travel and gi ve lectures and workshops on feminist issues---and they are work--and use my honorarium for various causes. I am most proud of having won OSU"s first award for Affirmative Action and for having won the first state of Ohio's award for the same....I write and teach....these are community services, too."
I personally felt strongly about what she had to say about stopping segregation when she lived in Chicago--her work to stop racism continuing in California. I feel like activism should be ACTED upon, not merely a group that meets once a week to donate pennies and talk about suffering. Laurel Richardson is a woman of action, not merely of theory. It reminds me of the women of the first wave of feminism, forming places like the Hull House and going out into the streets of the city to perform research.
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE http://www.core-online.org/) was founded in 1942 and is able to boast of The Montgomery Bus Boycott (http://www.core-online.org/History/montgomery%20boycott.htm) and many other affirmative actions in the field of stopping racism in America. I was surprised to learn how this organization was involved in so many protests and famous gatherings of activists in the past--I was impressed by Laurel Richardson's involvement in this group where she was a secretary.
Finally, Laurel Richardson's activism included a wide range of feminist organizations like NOW (http://www.now.org/) --the website of which was so interesting that I was caught up in reading and almost did not finish this piece! (see this article about offensive magazine advertising: http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/offensiveads.html)
In conclusion, Laurel Richardson's activist causes really stood out to me personally, maybe the most out of her numerous other accomplishments: because the woman took ACTION! |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:48 PM |
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| Research |
Laurel Richardson's life work through her research is impossible to summarize. When I asked her about her research and the things she has gained from it, she mentioned several important conclusions she drew:
"Again, you have my vita. The most important conclusions I draw from my work are: (1) Knowledge is culturally created and socially received. How can we create cultures and societies which nurture knowledge (and knowledge makers) who focus on ways to calm--yet change--the world, reduce strife, yet affirm difference, develop pathways which honor the walker upon the path. (2) The Personal is the Political. The division between writing about the self and writing about the society is a false and limiting one. (3) There are multiple ways of telling the story---poetry, narrative, statistic charts, music, dance...no reason to limit the telling mechanism, nor the teller. (4) Life is good. I'm having fun. "
The link to Ms. Richardson's curriculum vitae is found here: http://www.sociology.ohio-state.edu/lwr/cvitae.php. In particular, the list of research she has taken interest in, according to her website, include: Qualitative Methodology, Gender, Contemporary Theory, Feminist Theory, Interpretive Studies, Theory and Practice of Ethnographic Representation, Cultural Studies, Arts-Based Research. Her main focus, is of course, sociology, although she delves into other branches related to sociology, and some research into the arts that isn't based on sociology at all.
The conclusion she wrote about that most interested me was when she said that "The division between writing about the self and writing about the society is a false and limiting one." This is evident in her latest book, "Last Writes: A Daybook for a Dying Friend," in which she takes a very personal look into a social situation, and is able to draw conclusions which can be related to society as a whole, or other similar situations. (The concept, once again, of "The Personal Is Political")The ethics of this personal situation, as well as what can be learned about the situation as a whole, are all taken into account to relate to society on a much broader scale.
Another such example of her writing reflecting "the personal is political" is in her book "The New Other Woman" (http://www.amazon.com/New-Other-Woman-Laurel-Richardson/dp/0029268915) In this book, Ms. Richardson interviews individual cases of "other women" to give a picture of a much larger scale. Some of the facts she uses to relate these individual stories to a much larger scale. For example, in the first chapter of her book (p.1), Ms. Richardson lays out the facts: "In the 1980's, somewhere between 40 and 50% of men report having had affairs and for those with incomes above $60,000, the figure rises to 70%. Over 15% of husbands report having a series of affairs." The topic of her book definitely is the personal story of the "other woman," but the facts (or the political, if you will) stand behind her statements and conjoin the personal and the science behind it.
Laurel Richardson's work reflects her personal belief system that supports the self and the science; the personal is political. |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:47 PM |
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| Accomplishments |
Laurel Richardson's curriculum can be found in full here.
When I interviewed her about this, she made note to look here for all her major awards!
http://www.sociology.ohio-state.edu/lwr/cvitae.php |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:45 PM |
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| Interesting Facts |
When I asked Laurel Richardson what where some interesting facts about herself that she would like others to know about, she replied:
"I am a visual artist. I make books--not just write them--and alter books. I love Sedona, Arizona and Oro Valley--North of Tucson. I call myself a "poststructural feminist" and see the world through those wonderful lenses...wonderful, because I'm looking at the world as a place of possibility, constant renewal."
Ms. Richardson makes it clear that her interests are not solely academic: she is also an artist of many mediums. On top of that, Laurel Richardson contributes to writing poetry and creative writing through books that are not related to sociological pursuits. But where does she find the time?! According to her website, (http://www.sociology.ohio-state.edu/lwr/curriculumvitae.php_) her poems have appeared in several volumes of poetry, and she has presented them in poetry readings for the past 25 years.
Laurel Richardson also mentioned the art of altering books, which is basically a creative process like painting used over books of poetry, etc. The best way to describe this would be to see a few examples, which can be found here:
http://www.logolalia.com/alteredbooks/
http://www.alteredbookartists.com/
http://fragileindustries.com/sitebuilder/images/untitled_page6_full-600x474.png
(I was AMAZED to see the different mediums used with altering books--and a thorough google-search proved to be a lot of fun--I recommend taking a look yourself!)
Many more interesting hobbies and facts about Laurel Richardson will be covered in the upcoming sections--it is easy to see what a diverse and creative woman Ms. Richardson is in all fields of art and academia. |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:45 PM |
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| Her Thoughts On The Future of Feminism |
The future of feminism isn't something that Laurel Richardson is worried about. When asked about it, she simply replied:
"Each "wave" of feminism will do what it needs to do...I have total faith in that....Some of the "old work" will have to be re-done, but that's not so bad."
What kinds of "old work" will need to be re-done? Perhaps she means the changing perspectives in feminism--the ever present division between classes and race in feminism, etc. Keep in mind that Laurel Richardson was heavily involved in the second wave of feminism (also keeping in mind that feminist movements were happening, quietly, in the background of biological determinism).
Laurel Richardson is not worried. |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:44 PM |
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| Goals |
I directly asked Laurel Richardson what her goals were, both professionally and personally, and she responded with much humor and wit:
"I also have intentions for my books that they reach the people that need them. The latest book, LAST WRITES, I hope reaches all those who are working through the deaths of loved ones...not the grief, afterwards,but the grief before the death....the losses, the process...
How about a house in Oro Valley for the winter???
A clean desk?
Another cat?
Gathering together the unpublished works (yes there are lots of those, too)--sending them off.
A limited edition book...learning how to print books...."
First of all--she even has UNPUBLISHED books! The woman is my hero! The book that she was talking about 'Last Writes' is in the process of being published as I type--the link to a summary of this book is here:
http://www.bergpublishers.com/uk/book_page.asp?BKTitle=Last%20Writes
The book, in essence, takes a sociological perspective and a personal look at the death of a friend, and the effect of death on others.
I enjoyed hearing about her personal goals for the future, though it is clear her professional work for others where she teaches (The University of Ohio http://www.osu.edu/) Her final goal for publishing a book helping others learn how to publish is evidence of her dedication to educating others much like her other book of a similar nature "Writing Strategies: Reaching Diverse Audiences" (http://www.sociology.ohio-state.edu/lwr/selectedbooks.php#writstrat) |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:44 PM |
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| My Final Thoughts |
Laurel Richardson has spent a lifetime dedicating her time, her precious time, on research and writing: academia, in short. I thought heavily on this subject--the ability to give yourself so fully to a cause, to devote a lifetime to making a difference in such an underprivileged community. I know for a fact that any author who has published half as much as Ms. Richardson would have gained celebrity status as an author--and yet because so much of Ms. Richardson work is academic, she does not receive the praise that she deserves.
I think about my own life in relation to Ms. Richardson. My aspirations and my goals are miniscule in comparison to anything that Ms. Richardson set out to achieve--and did in fact accomplish. How could I even begin to set a goal so high? How could I begin laying out the groundwork for a curriculum vitae filled to the brim with awards and articles and published manuscripts? Furthermore, Ms. Richardson worked in a time when this kind of achievement was difficult, if not impossible, for a woman to accomplish. What would a life with this kind of devotion and determination be like?
The inspiration for this hardwork astounds me. It makes me want to do something--to start a career that would be able to have half the impact on the academic community.
I was honored to be able to interview Ms. Richardson and review her work--the centerpiece of her life did not hinge on academic glory, but instead upon impressive personal satisfaction with her life and life's work. I was happy to find Ms. Richardson to be a friendly, funny, and interesting woman who surprised me with the nature of her answers, and helped me see past the initial shock of her massive vitae. |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:43 PM |
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| Why I Am Interested in Women's Studies |
Why women's studies? Sadly, and I say this with an emphasis on SAD-ly, I wanted DIVERSITY in my education. So I chose a course dedicated to the studies and accomplishments of women in society. Why is this sad? Courses like this wouldn't be in existence, if the appreciation of women's achievement was integrated in the learning system. Word. Women's Studies can feel like the brown pieces of cereal in the Lucky Charms box. Everyone just pushes them aside with their spoon and goes right for the colorful marshmallows. This should not be the case! The little brown pieces of puffed cereal should be just as important as the marshmallow! You can't have raw marshmallows for a cereal! Taking a look at the various works from awe-inspiring, amazing women is just the first step in making sure that all voices in this BIASED academic and social world are accounted for. Let's make everything equally valuable, shall we? |
| posted by J Mancini @ 3:41 PM |
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