Women's Studies Program
Faculty & Staff
Beth Berila
Ethnic & Women's Studies Department Chairperson
Associate Professor and Director, Women’s Studies Program
esberila@stcloudstate.edu
My current focuses on the integration of feminist pedagogy and yoga.I recently completed my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification with Senior Anusara practitioners, Martin and Jordan Kirk. The theories of embodiment and the mind/body connection that I am exploring through that training inform my teaching and my scholarship. In addition to offering some yoga classes for the campus and broader community, I am also incorporating some of the theory and practice into my Gender and the Body class, as well as into my scholarship on feminist pedagogy.
My other areas of teaching and research include Feminist Theory, Gender and Women’s Studies, LGBT studies, Popular culture, Environmental Justice, and Community Based Arts. I completed my doctorate at Syracuse University in 2001 with my dissertation entitled “The Art of Change: Experimental Writing, Cultural Activism, and Feminist Social Transformation.” I am interested in public art as a form of social change, and in popular culture as a contested space around representations of gender, race, class, and sexuality. My article, “Toxic Bodies? ACT UP’s Disruption of the Heteronormative Landscape of the Nation” appeared in the anthology, New Perspectives on Environmental Justice: Gender, Sexuality, and Activism, edited by Rachel Stein, (Rutgers University Press, 2004). I also participated in a cluster of articles about the role of men in Women’s Studies. The article cluster is entitled, “His Story/Her Story: A Dialogue about Including Men and Masculinities in the Women’s Studies Curriculum,” and is co-authored with Ozzie Mayers, Jean Keller, Jason Laker, and Camilla Krone (Feminist Teacher). I have also presented regularly at the American Studies Association Conference and at other national and regional conferences. My current community interests involve community-based arts and activities that address anti-racism efforts and women’s and LGBT issues.
Mumbi Mwangi, Ph.D
Ethnic & Women's Studies Department
Associate Professor, Women’s Studies Program
mmwangi@stcloudstate.edu
Dr. Mumbi Mwangi received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in education from Kenyatta University, Kenya, and later obtained her Ph.D in education with a minor in Women's Studies from Iowa State University. Her scholarly and research interests include curriculum and pedagogy, international education, feminist methodology, qualitative methodology, women and education, international/transnational motherhood, and global issues affecting women, particularly, in the third world.
Currently, Dr. Mwangi is a faculty in the Women’s Studies Program at St Cloud State University. In addition to teaching, “Introduction to Women’s Studies” and “Women of Color” courses, she is also working towards completing writing two papers for publication from her dissertation entitled, "We will have gained ourselves: Narrative experiences of African women pursuing higher education in the U.S." Dr. Mwangi is passionate about initiating and establishing partnerships between universities in the U.S. and Africa. Recently, she helped develop an exchange program between Iowa State University and a university in Africa in the areas of Women's Studies and Education.
Barbara Ringstrom
Office Manager
Phone: 320-308-4928
E-mail: bwringstrom@stcloudstate.edu
Advisory Board Members
Affiliated Faculty and Staff
Catherine Fox
English Department
cofox@stcloudstate.edu
I have been teaching rhetoric and research classes in the English Department since 2004 and I regularly teach a graduate course titled “Feminist Pedagogies and Rhetorics”. My research areas are feminist rhetorics, critical theory, and queer/lgbt studies.
Kate Gill
Philosophy Department
kagill@stcloudstate.edu
In 1987 I was the first woman hired in a tenure-track position in my department. As a result of a successful lawsuit brought by Mary Craik, SCSU at that time was under court supervision to rectify discriminatory practices against women faculty. I am, therefore, a “Craik hire.” In 1995 I was one of five faculty to file yet another lawsuit (the third in three decades) against SCSU and MnSCU for discrimination against women. It became a successful class action suit that served as a model for women faculty throughout the state university system. In honor of my role as the first female tenure-track hire in this department, I have created a scholarship fund for women who major or minor in philosophy.
I frequently teach Philosophy & Feminism, typically focusing on international human rights. My research interests include philosophical issues arising in the context of local history. I am currently thinking about Jane Grey Swisshelm, a prominent abolitionist and women’s rights advocate who lived in St. Cloud around 1860. After the 1862 attack by some Dakota against settlers in Minnesota, she became an active proponent of “extermination.” Given this mixed record, should Minnesota continue to honor her?
Phyllis Greenberg
Gerontology Department
pagreenberg@stcloudstate.edu
Kara Hadley-Shakya
Admissions Counselor, Undergraduate Admissions
kmhadley@stcloudstate.edu
Semya Hakim
Department of Human Relations
shakim@stcloudstate.edu
Carla Johnson
Philosophy Department
cajohnson@stcloudstate.edu
Marla Kanengieter-Wildeson
Communication Studies
mkanengieter@stcloudstate.edu
Kyoko Kishimoto
Global, Ethnic and Women's Studies Department and Associate Director of the Multicultural Resource Center
kkishimoto@stcloudstate.edu
Christine Metzo
Assistant Director of First Year & Transition Programs
crmetzo@stcloudstate.edu
Maria Mikolchak
Department of Foreign Languages/Department of English
mmikolchak@stcloudstate.edu
Eddah Mutua-Kombo
Communication Studies
dmmutuakombo@stcloudstate.edu
Emily Newman
Jane Olsen
Director, The Women’s Center
jolsen@stcloudstate.edu
Rose Stark-Rose
Professor, Counseling & Psychological Services
rmstark@stcloudstate.edu
Elizabeth Scheel-Keita
Sociology & Anthropology Department
escheel@stcloudstate.edu
I teach courses in gender and violence, sociology of the body, social deviance, social problems, community organizing, and criminology/delinquency. I am activist/community oriented towards the rights of marginalized people, particularly youth. My research interests are in gender and violence, “deviant bodies,” social movements, restorative justice and women involved in the cj system through men they love. Previous research has examined the anti-rape movement, social support and peer reactions to women who have been sexually assaulted, white collar crime in the pharmaceutical companies specifically with regard to women's reproductive technology, and teaching men about rape. My work has been interdisciplinary, drawing on the fields of sociology, psychology, criminology, legal studies, and feminist studies to understand the complexities of social problems and the relationship between law/legal practices and inequality. Other interests include children's rights, religious movements, state and political violence, alternative families, and alternatives dispute resolution. I am activist/community oriented towards the rights of marginalized people, particularly youth. I also practice the notion that the personal is political and so I read extensively and have interests in bi-cultural relationships, African politics, parenting and educational issues. I have a daughter in college and brand new son.
I teach courses in gender and violence, sociology of the body, social deviance, social problems, community organizing, and criminology/delinquency. My research interests are in gender and violence, sociology of the body, social problems and deviance, sociology of youth, and community organizing. I am activist oriented towards the rights of marginalized people, particularly youth, prisoners, the poor, and am particularly interested in issues of reproductive rights and sexual violence. I research in these same areas as well as women involved in the cj system through men they love.
Tami Spry
Communication Studies
tspry@stcloudstate.edu
Darlene St. Clair
Director, Multicultural Resource Center
dstclair@stcloudstate.edu
I am the Director of the Multicultural Resource Center. We support people who are learning about, teaching about or doing research about people of color in the United States. I am Bdewakantuwan (Sacred Lake) Dakota from the Lower Sioux Reservation in Minnesota. My research and teaching interests include American Indian arts and cultural expressions; American Indian education; oral ways of knowing and learning; the intersections of oppressions, particularly race and gender; and differing definitions and understandings of feminism in communities of color.
Tamrat Tademe
Department of Human Relations
ttademe@stcloudstate.edu
Adrece Thighman-Nabe
Associate Director of Admissions
althighman@stcloudstate.edu
Margaret Villanueva
Ethnic and Women's Studies Department
mvillanueva@stcloudstate.edu
Angie Witte
Sandrine Zerbib
Sociology & Anthropology Department
sazerbib@stcloudstate.edu
My ongoing research focuses on issues of immigration, sexuality and citizenship. My current research analyzes the effect of domestic partnership laws on gay bi-national couples leaving in France. I am also currently collaborating with Dr. Downey on belly dance performance and gender politics. I teach courses in Research Methods, Sociology of Gender, Immigration and Citizenship, and Advanced Research Methods.
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