The University of New Mexico Women Studies program has appointed its first ever Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow. Ime Kerlee, who received her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies from Emory University this summer, will assume the two-year position this fall.
Photo: Ime Kerlee was named the first ever Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow in UNM's Women Studies program.
“Dr. Kerlee was at the top of the committee's list of candidates, and we are very pleased she chose to come here,” Women Studies Director Gail Houston said. “There are so many ways she will enrich the life of UNM, obviously in Women Studies, but also in Latin American Studies, Spanish and Portuguese, Peace Studies, etc. We know the students are going to love her.”
This fall, Kerlee will be teaching Women Studies 200, Women in Contemporary Society and 379, Women and Transnational Migration. “I am a firm believer that Women’s Studies is about the equality of theory and practice, creativity and intellectualism, and open discussion and collaboration among feminisms,” Kerlee said.
Along with more traditional assignments, students in the introductory course will put together a CD of music they consider feminist and create their own social change agency, legislation or product.
The migration course comes out of Kerlee’s research and an essay she accepted for Are All the Women Still White?: Globalizing Women’s Studies, an anthology she co-edited with Janell Hobson.
“The essay asked what Women’s Studies had to do with the lives of poor, immigrant, ESL or non-English speaking women’s lives and then pointed to the strength, commitment and feminism of women who confront poverty, mobility and exploitation for themselves and/or their families,” Kerlee said.
The course will focus primarily on Latin American and Caribbean migration to the United States, as well as women refugees, trafficked women, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, and rural to urban migrants. Students will collectively organize a conference on migration.
In addition to her scholarly experience, Kerlee brings more than ten years of experience in social activism, including work in domestic and sexual violence and as a cultural competence trainer specializing in youth issues, ESL, race, and lesbian, bisexual and transgender services. She has been looking into Albuquerque organizations working on feminist social change to find opportunities for Women Studies students.
“I think direct service makes us all better scholars,” Kerlee said.
Posted by scarr at June 24, 2005 11:03 AM