Turns out the New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs isn’t the only place women aren’t being published. Just came upon this uplifting little tidbit, via Inside Higher Ed, about a paper by MIT philosophy professor Sally Haslanger on the limits of progress for women in philosophy. The paper won’t appear until next year, in the journal Hypatia, but Haslanger posted a version of it online and it’s attracting considerable attention. (Total non sequitor: I will always have a soft spot for Hypatia. They published my first academic article, as part of their special “third wave feminism” issue back in 1997.)

Here’s the scoop:

Haslanger studied the gender breakdowns in the top 20 departments (based on The Philosophical Gourmet Report) and found that the percentage of women in tenure track positions was 18.7 percent, with two departments under 10 percent. She also looked at who published in top philosophy journals for the last five years and found that only 12.36 percent of articles were by women.

As Inside Higher Ed goes on to note, “While Haslanger hasn’t made formal proposals for reform, in her essay and in the interview, she spoke of the importance of ensuring that women receive equal treatment through blind review of journal submissions and that ‘efforts ought to be made to make sure women aren’t solo in graduate programs.’”

Interesting discussion going on about it all over at Crooked Timber, an academic group blog I just discovered.

This is cool: At Rutgers, the Office of Promotion of Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics has created a Girl Geeks / My Story website, where female faculty get personal and fess up about why they became scientists. The pic is of a young Joanna Burger, now a professor in the Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, pictured with a gull chick. Aw.

Keep an eye out for girl geek Debby Carr’s story, which I believe be up there soon. Debby is a sociologist and a friend of mine from my Madison days. Her first “crossover” book comes out this spring. It’s about generational conflict among mothers and daughters who make different choices around careers, kids, and, well, life, and when the time comes, I’ll blog bout it here! As may Debby, too.

In a departure from our usual fare, I’m taking a moment to pay homage to a writer my guy Marco adores: Jack Kerouac. It’s the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road. (To Marco’s credit, he’s equally obsessed by the writings of the Beat women — Hettie, Joyce, and Diane — go Beat girls!) Check out my dude’s post today over at his blog, Hokum. You won’t think of “scrolling” the same way again.

Please come say hello tonight if you happen to be in Brooklyn! Thanks to the karaoke-wielding Sam, I’ll be reading from and talking about Sisterhood, Interrupted at Barnes and Noble in Park Slope (267 7th Avenue) at 7pm. (Note: there will be no karaoke, just lots and lots of books.)

Marco and I are considering moving to the Slope eventually, so I’m going to pretend this is my neighborhood bookstore and see how it feels.

One lil clarification regarding info in the mammoth newsletter just sent out: Sisterhood, Interrupted is being promoted by the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the College of Charleston (not the city, the college!) as the official “book group book” for Women’s History Month. (Thank you, Alison!)

Back by popular demand 🙂

MAKING IT POP: Translating Your Ideas for Trade, with Deborah Siegel (er, me)
Tuesdays 11/6, 11/13, 11/20, 11/27, 12/4, 12/11
8:00 – 9:15 pm ET
Format: Online forum + weekly conference call
Fee: $250 ($275 after Oct. 19)

Public debate lacks a sensitive discussion of the complex forces shaping the lives of women and girls. Researchers, nonprofit workers, and savvy writers everywhere have the opportunity to frame public debate about these issues. Too often, however, important work fails to reach an audience outside the academic and advocacy worlds. Writing a trade book is one way to join the debate. To sell a book in today’s competitive publishing climate, one must be able to write engaging, accessible prose that will appeal to a wide audience. These skills can be learned.

Participants will learn from exchanges with New York City-based agents and editors why it’s essential to think about audience and market in a different way, and why you need a book proposal. We’ll explore the differences between popular and academic writing, why a dissertation or a monograph is not a trade book, and how to write an effective book proposal-meaning one that has the best chance of being sold. We’ll also consider the latest aspects of book publicity, focusing in particular on new media. (See what past participants are saying about the course here.)

Space is limited. Please send a note describing your rough idea for a popular book in 1 paragraph to deborahsiege (at) gmail (dot) com, and I will be in touch with further details.

Read more about MAKING IT POP in Women’s eNews:
Women’s Studies Scholars Vie for More Media Turf

My bio is here.

I met Grace Paley–activist, teacher, former state poet, feminist extraordinaire, lover of life–when she spoke on a panel I had organized in the early 1990s. I was in my early twenties. She seemed ageless. Grace Paley was magnificent, humble, and real.

Robin Morgan wrote a beautiful tribute to Paley’s life, invoking Paley’s signature style, for the Women’s Media Center. The New York Times obituary is here. And, for those who have yet to have hear it and for those who already miss it, you can still listen to her voice here, on NPR.

Here are two of my favorites, from her New and Collected Poems:

1. My dissent is cheer / a thankless disposition / first as the morning star / my ambition: good luck / and why not a flight / over the wide dilemma / and then good night to sad forever.

2. A stranger calling a dog whistled / and I came running though I am not an afghan / or a highclass poodle and not much like a city boy’s dog with a happy wild tail and red eyes / The stranger said excuse me, I was calling my dog not you / Ah I replied to this courteous explanation / Sometimes I whistle too but mostly for fear of missing the world I am a dog to whistlers.

We’ll be whistling for you, Grace.

Ok ok, I know it’s a fancypants name for a humble endeavor, but heck, I’m running with it. I mean, if the Tooth-fairy can have an institute….

So GWP Institute is going to be the new label for posts here that offer tips, advice, answers to reader questions, and news about workshops and online courses that I’ll be offering over the next year.

To read older posts, just click on the “GWP Institute” category label on the right side of this blog (scroll down to get there).

Have a question about feminist-y publishing or popularizing academic-y ideas and prose that you’d like to see addressed here? Send ’em my way. I’m deborahsiege (at) gmail (dot) com.

(Does the Toothfairy have a blog?!)

Fire-eating ladies? Contortionists? Huh?!

For those of you as yet unfamiliar with the concept of a blog carnival, do run over and check out the 44th Carnival of Feminists over at Reproductive Rights Blog. It’s one of the places I catch up on greatest hits, all wrapped up in an engaging, organized narrative. I’m all for aggregation.

For the newbies: The Carnival of Feminists is held (usually) on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Hosted by a different blogger for each edition, it aims to “showcase the finest feminist posts from around the blogsphere.” Explains the illustrious Natalie Bennett, a British blogger who blogs at Philobiblon and runs the Carnival of Feminists:

The Carnival aims to build the profile of feminist blogging, to direct extra traffic to all participating bloggers, but particularly newer bloggers, and to build networks among feminist bloggers around the world….Posts that celebrate women’s lives and contributions to society – either current-day or historical – are particularly welcome. Posts will usually have been made in the period since the last carnival. (Only one nomination per blog please.)

This week, Carnival host Cara focuses the current round-up on policy, economics and feminism. (Thank you, Cara, for all your hard work over there!)

Check out what The Guardian had to say about it all last year.

And for a big fat listing of other carnivals, go here.

Does the idea of self-marketing make you nauseous? Try to get over it! Harsh words, I know, but I have to say, for authors in our DIY culture, I tend to agree.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed has an interesting piece out on entrepreneurship and academe. Writes Philip L. Leopold, an associate professor of genetic medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University:

The entrepreneurial topic that academics are least likely to embrace might be the most important concept in their career: marketing.

To a professor, the term might carry connotations of profit motives and deceptive practices. Insomuch as marketing represents the dissemination of the product, professors should realize that marketing is an essential responsibility of their profession.

So true, especially when it comes to book promotion; publishing houses can only do so much, then they move on. The article puts it all in a larger, and interesting, context for those on an academic track. Read more here.