The thing that I found most significant in Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky’s lecture was the effect that the 1992 Congress had on changing the government’s sexist bias. That year, for the first time, there were close to 50 women in Congress, and their perspective brought to light a number of inequities that were eventually addresses. Before that time, the National Institute of Health had used only males as participants in medical tests to determine the “safe” cholesterol level and the effects o...

Although the two last pieces Rebecca read touched me personally because I have recently lost my father, the piece I'd like to talk about in terms of this class is "The Gift of Sweat." The reason I asked Rebecca at the end of the session whether she had planned to create a reference to the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, is that I saw that reference in two ways. The obvious one is the sharing of the cinnamon rolls and coffee on Sundays--though the food is not bread a...

Professor Katherine Hayles’s lecture was interesting and entertaining on a number of levels for me. For example, my work on my website has taught me many ways in which the printed page and the hypertextuality of the web interact and influence each other. Also, being familiar with the 18th-century novel Tristram Shan dy, which has the “marbled” and black pages as well as diagrams, I was delighted to see how contemporary novelists have picked up on those themes and techniques and have update...

This lecture, like the one by Dr. Abrams, was optional for this semester's course, but I am interested in seeing what you have to say about either one, if you attended. Please add your response by using the link below to "add a comment." Ms. Hall took a personal approach to a community topic, explaining how her parents had been involved in what were then called "social and savings clubs" in the 1950s in Birmingham, and explaining how she herself was involved in the Art Students League, th...

Anyone needing to make up a journal entry for the term may use this space to do so. Please write about what you found most significant about the event you attended and why you found it significant. Be sure to focus your comments on something that relates to the central themes of this course: issues of gender, race, or class.