Cal State Long Beach faculty members Adriana Verdié and Rashida Crutchfield will be the featured speakers at the university’s Spring 2014 Women’s Research Colloquium at 5pm on Wednesday, April 9, in the Pointe of the Walter Pyramid. This year’s theme is “Beginning the Future.”
The colloquium is an opportunity to learn about research done by women and/or research related to women’s issues and concerns. The event highlights CSULB scholars and provides an opportunity to learn about their work and engage in discussions about their findings.
Verdié, a lecturer in CSULB’s Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, will discuss “From Muses to Creators, Opera by a Female Composer,” a topic spurred by research that shows the huge disparity between male and female opera composers.”
“While researching the body of recently composed operas, I landed by pure accident on a Wikipedia page,” Verdié explained. “After citing 69 male opera composers, Wikipedia shows this disclaimer: ‘A number of reasons [!] have been suggested to explain the relatively few women who have been composers of opera, and no woman composer met the criteria for inclusion above. However, some experts in our sample disagreed and named one or all of the women below as comparable to those (men) already listed.'”
Verdié, disagreed, too. She kept reading and found only three women composers’ names listed as “comparable.” She decided to attempt to contribute a wok in a highly underrepresented category and started a collaboration with Argentine librettist Adriana Fontana to compose a children’s chamber Cron-Ópera, a work that will premiere at CSULB on April 23.
Crutchfield will talk about her research on “A Struggle to New Heights: The Experiences of Female Homeless College Students.”
She notes that despite the challenges, women who are homeless do persevere and attend college. This group, however, is relatively unknown to higher education institutions. In fact, Crutchfield noted that college systems are inadvertently creating supports and obstacles for them. She believes a greater awareness to their needs can ensure retention of these homeless college students.
Presented by the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the Women’s Research Colloquium was created in 1986 to highlight current research of CSULB women faculty and staff members. Founded through the joint efforts of the CSULB branch of California Women in Higher Education, the Women’s Resource Center and the Office of University Research, the colloquium is an occasion for these researchers to present their work to the entire university community.
The cost to attend the colloquium is $20 for faculty, staff and guests, and it includes a dinner that begins at 5 p.m. The presentations begin at 5:30 p.m.
RSVPs for the colloquium should be made by Monday, April 7, to Cynthia Angiuli at Cynthia.Angiuli@csulb.edu or (562) 985-1688. After the RSVP, payment may be made in advance or at the door.
Source: CSULB
