2005 Women's Research Center Awards in the Arts and Humanities

ORLANDO, May 2005 -- Lani Harris, an associate professor of theatre, and Claudia Schippert, an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Humanities, received the 2005-2006 Women's Research Center Awards for their research about women.

Each year the Women's Research Center offers two or three awards for faculty members in the arts and humanities whose research focuses on women or women's issues. The awardees each receive a $1000 cash prize and a commitment from the Women's Research Center to aggressively pursue external funding for the awardees' projects.

Lani Harris has acted and directed professionally on stage and in film and video. She is active in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival as a director and adjudicator and is a member of the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Harris will use the WRC Award to defray expenses associated with travel and production of Ken Gray's play Something Missing at the 2005 Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. The play deals with a theme of worldwide relevance, the sexual abuse of children.

Claudia Schippert, Ph.D., will utilize her award for travel, consultation and production of articles, a "coffee table book" and possible museum exhibit on "Performing High Femininity: Dragging Femininity Across Generations." This project examines the definitions and dimensions of femininity from Miss America beauty pageant winners to night club performing drag queens. Schippert's areas of research include American cultural studies, feminist ethics, religions in America, feminist and queer theories, and comparative approaches to bodies and sexualities.

The Women's Research Center was created in 2001 by the College of Arts & Sciences. Its mission is to support research conducted by women faculty and encourage research about women. The center has presented arts and humanities research awards since its inception.

Last year's award recipients were Belinda Boyd, an associate professor of theatre, and Natalie Underberg, an assistant professor of film and folklore.

For more information about these awards or other Women's Research Center activities contact the associate director Fran Ragsdale at 407-823-4240 or fragsdal@mail.ucf.edu.

DATE POSTED
May 23, 2005

CONTACT
Ms. Fran Ragsdale,
WRC Associate Director
407-823-4240
fragsdal@mail.ucf.edu

DOWNLOADS
(none)

LINKS
UCF Women's Research Center
Theatre Dept.
Philosophy Dept.