Folk Musician and Activist Peggy Seeger
December 7
 Folksinger, songwriter and activist Peggy Seeger will perform "Females and Folksong: A Marriage or A Mismatch?" on Monday, December 7, at 7 p.m. at the Theatre Arts Arena on the Rockville Campus. Are your students exploring issues related to social justice or civil rights? Would you like to augment your teaching of American history, politics and activism? Do you think that music is great a way to inspire your students? Then please plan to attend and bring your students to this unique program! Co-sponsored by Montgomery College Women's Studies and the Paul Peck Humanities Institute, this exciting event combines lecture, discussion and live performance and is free and open to the public. In addition to her work as an instrumentalist, theorist and songwriter, Seeger is considered to be among North America's finest female folksingers. She has made 22 solo discs and has taken part in more than 100 recordings with other performers. Please take a look at Peggy Seeger's very fine Web site at: http://www.peggyseeger.com/front-page. Listen to a musical preview here: http://www.peggyseeger.com/listen-buy More about Peggy Seeger: Born in 1935, Peggy is Pete Seeger's half-sister and Ruth Crawford Seeger's daughter; her first life partner was the English songwriter Ewan MacColl, who wrote First Time Ever I Saw Your Face for her and to whom she bore three children. She is known for her excellent renditions of Anglo-American folksongs and for her activist songwriting, especially in the field of feminism. Her best-known pieces are Gonna Be an Engineer and The Ballad of Springhill, which latter is rapidly becoming regarded as a traditional song. Ms. Seeger asserts, "Almost all of the songs in which women are the central figure involve (1) men (2) love (always heterosexual, familial or maternal) and (3) the family. Songs in which men are the central figure cover these three areas but they also frequently place men in venues that do not involve women: in field or factory, on the battlefield, in the bar, or in various humorous plots both bucolic and urban. There is far more variety in man-hero songs than there is in woman-heroine pieces." She also writes, "Folk songs reflect aspects of the history of our society, complete with certain assumptions about its values and customs. They do so quite charmingly so that we often sing them without comprehending the true nature of their content. For instance, women (now widely regarded as an oppressed majority) have been so thoroughly internally colonized (to use the current jargon) that we cheerfully sing songs in which we are battered, victimized, marginalized, trivialized, cubby-holed, jeered at, discarded and murdered." Faculty who wish to bring their classes may make reservations writing to the email addresses below. Reservations are not required but are useful for faculty who would like to keep their students sitting together. For more information, please send an e-mail to genevieve.carminati@montgomerycollege.edu or esther.schwartz-mckinzie@montgomerycollege.edu. To request accommodations for a disability, please contact us no later than November 23. We hope to see you and your students on Monday, December 7! Genevieve Carminati Coordinator, Women's Studies Dr. Esther Schwartz-McKinzie Director, Paul Peck Humanities Institute |
THE WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM
The Women's Studies Program offers courses about women and gender for both women and men. The program is designed to explore the experiences and contributions of women to their cultures. Informed by feminist theory, Women's Studies courses:
- challenge false assumptions and theories about women, race, and class
- encourage rigorous critical thinking
- raise issues of gender bias and the subjective nature of knowledge
- support women's development as individuals and as participating members of their larger communities
- expand women's and men's options beyond the limits of traditional gender roles.
These writing-intensive courses help students consider the difference that gender makes in family relationships, friendships, education, and work. They are comfortable settings for delving into feminist scholarship and theory.
In addition to the interdisciplinary introductory course on women's studies, courses in the program include: women's history, literature, sociology, psychology, physical education, and women's health.
Honors modules are available for some classes. Service learning and internship opportunities are frequently offered. Opportunities to pursue independent study projects are also available.
Index page last updated November 20, 2009