APPLETON, WIS. — Jennifer Baumgardner, one of the nation’s prominent voices in the “third wave of feminism,” presents “Climate Change We Can Live With: The Ecology of Justice,” Tuesday, May 19 in the final address of Lawrence University’s 2008-09 convocation series.
Baumgardner’s address, at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, will be followed by a question-and-answer session in the Lawrence Memorial Union at 2 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
A 1992 graduate of Lawrence and recipient of the college’s Nathan M. Pusey Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award in 2007, Baumgardner began her career at Ms. magazine, where she spent five years as its youngest editor. After leaving the magazine, she wrote for a diverse body of publications, including Harper’s, The Nation, Real Simple, Glamour and Elle, among others. She also has written several commentaries for National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”
She co-wrote two books with Ms. colleague Amy Richards, “Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future” and “Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism” and is the author of 2007’s “Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics,” which explores the intersection of bisexuality and feminism. Her latest book, “Abortion and Life,” was released in September, 2008 as part of her “I Had an Abortion” project, which encouraged women to talk about their experiences. The project included t-shirts and a film documenting women’s stories of abortion. Last year she launched a similar awareness campaign called “I Was Raped.”
A resident of Brooklyn, Baumgardner is the co-founder of Soapbox, Inc., a New York City-based feminist speakers’ bureau. In 2003, the Commonwealth Club of California hailed Baumgardner as one of six “visionaries for the 21st Century,” citing her role as author and activist for “permanently changing the way people think about feminism” and helping to shape “the next 100 years of politics and culture.”
