VOL II, No 9

May 1996

COORDINATOR'S CORNER

This month we introduce you to S. Carol Theisen who contributes to our program as teaching faculty and as Executive Council member from the College of Education. She is among the few of us with formal educational credentials in Women's Studies and she has research experience in women's health.

I call your attention to two activities we will sponsor in May. Thursday, the 9th, at 3:30 PM in the Sage Room (Educ. Bldg), Priti Kumar will beguile us with tales (illustrated, of course) of her latest trip to India. At 2 PM the following Thursday, the 16th, in Special Collections (Stewart Lib.) Dr. Sharon Emerson will present the talk originally planned to kick off the Winter Quarter video series. Sharon will discuss her research with flying frogs in Southeast Asia which contributed to her recognition last year as a MacArthur Fellow. She will also share with us some perspectives on what it has meant to her to be a woman in science. Her visit had to be postponed from the January date, because of the series of winter snowstorms that always seemed to happen on the day of a video. We invite all interested persons to attend these exciting opportunities and to share companionship and light refreshments with us. For more information on either event, please call the Women's Studies office (626-7632).

The statewide meeting of women's programs proved to be a very worthwhile and enjoyable experience. At that time, we made initial plans for a meeting of program administrators to discuss articulation of coursework across campuses. This is tentatively scheduled for later in May.

The traditional student scholarship in Women's Studies and the Patti O'Neal Memorial Dance Scholarship have been established. A contribution to either or both can be sent directly to the Development Office (1008 University Circle, 84408-1008) or to the Women's Studies Program (1217 University Circle, 84408-1217).

The refurbishing of the Soc. Sci. Bldg. over the summer will close the office completely. We plan to maintain the voice mail (626-7632); if that doesn't work, try my Zool. Dept. office (626-6169.)by running, hiking, biking and skiing

FACULTY PROFILE

Dr. S. Carol Theisen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Human Performance, joining the Weber State faculty in 1992. In her home department, she teaches Healthy Lifestyles, Stress Management, Community Health, Foundations of Health Promotion, Principles of Nutrition and Cultural Nutrition. With all the extra time left over, she also developed the course on Women's Health Issues, cross-listed with Women's Studies and taught every spring quarter. In addition to WS teaching, she is also a member of the Women's Studies Executive Council for the College of Education.

Originally from upstate New York, she has a baccalaureate degree in Food and Nutritional Science from the University of Rhode Island, an MEd in Counseling and Human Development from St. Lawrence University, and a PhD from Pennsylvania State University in Health Education (with a minor in Women's Studies). Her dissertation research involved a qualitative participatory study of the effect of social support groups on women's transition through menopause. In addition, she has done course work at the University of Massachusetts in Counselor Education. Prior to coming to WSU, Carol pursued a wide variety of professional opportunities in the East and Mid-west, including educational positions as teaching assistant, instructor and graduate lecturer. She worked also as a dietitian, a counselor, a research assistant and an intervention coordinator for private, public, and academic organizations. Immediately before coming to Weber, she was a research associate for the Center of Health Promotion, Research, and Development in the School of Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. She says that one of Weber's drawing cards was the Women's Studies program with an opportunity for her to teach and pursue research in that area. She continues to publish and deliver scholarly presentations to national and regional audiences and serves the community via work with Planned Parenthood & the American Heart Assoc.

Since moving to Ogden, Carol has made several personal transitions as well and is currently married with two daughters, ages 2 yrs. and 5 months. Her husband, Paul Curry, whom she met in graduate school at Penn State, holds a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and develops drug delivery systems with Theratech in Salt Lake City. Her own plunge into the arena of balancing family and career has piqued her interest in pursuing research in that area.

For all who have wondered about her name preference for Sue or Carol or both, she reports her own identity crisis in the midst of many "Sue's" and "Carol's" (her mother-in-law included.) So she chose (she thought) more unique names, Alyssa and Julia, for her daughters. Meeting more and more "Alyssa's" recently makes her ponder our ability to predict social trends!

Carol fills "spare" time by running, hiking, biking and skiing in our spectacular suroundings (much more impressive, she says, than the "mountains" of upstate NY.) Closer to home, she enjoys gardening and baking bread.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

- to Robin Wilks-Dunn, former WSU faculty member, who taught African-American Women Playwrights spring, 95. She will be directing the world premiere of "Napoleon's China" for Salt Lake Acting Company.

- to Natasha Kap, WS senior, for election to Alpha Delta Mu social work honor society & acceptance to graduate school (St. Louis.)

- to Thom Kuehls for publication of his book, Beyond Sovereign Territory: The Space of Ecopolitics (Univ. Minn. Press.)

Women's Studies is now on the Web. Our address is: http://www.weber.edu/ws\wmnstdy.htm

CALENDAR

30 April - 4 May - "Marisol"

6 May - Exec. Coun. mtg., 3:30 PM, SS137

9 May - Open Meeting, Priti Kumar, Sage Room, 3:30 PM

11 May - TCB presents: A.Sophia M. Kartsonis, winner of QPB short story contest, creative writing workshop "Writing a Horse of a Different Color," 1-4 PM, $15 registration 392-3949.

15 May - TCB presents: Chris Ames, poet, Melanie B Howard, poet, Christina Graff, poet, and Guy Lebeda, essayist. 7-9 PM.

16 May - Dr. Sharon Emerson, 2 PM, Stewart Library Special Collections