The Women’s Studies Research Center (WSRC) at Brandeis University is a hub of interdisciplinary exchange between scholars, artists, faculty, and students, who conduct innovative research and create art with a focus on gender issues and women’s lives.
The WSRC, which hosts the Kniznick Gallery, the Scholars Program, and the Student-Scholar Partnership Program, advances knowledge, public dialogue, and social justice through interdisciplinary inquiry and the creative arts.
Current Happenings at the Center
![Harleen Singh WSRC Director](about/images/singh-harleen.jpg)
January 27, 2025
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/320x320/p0k7v85m.jpg)
This episode, released on January 27, 2025 shares the story of Rani Lakshmi Bai: The Warrior Queen. When her kingdom is threatened, a 22-year-old Indian woman takes on the British Empire on horseback, with a sword in each hand. Harleen provides background and insight into this extrordinary person.
History's Heroes is a BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
![Scholar and Writer Michelle Bowdler](scholars-program/images/bowdler-michelle1.jpg)
January 23, 2025
Award-winning writer and public health executive Michelle Bowdler, also a WSRC Scholar, has recently published a piece "How Do We Make Sense of a World that Disregards Sexual Violence?" in the commentary section of Cognoscenti on WBUR, a Boston local news station. Please link to the article HERE to read her timely and insightful communication. Michelle Bowdler is the author of "Is Rape a Crime? A Memoir, an Investigation and a Manifesto," longlisted for the National Book Award in Nonfiction and named a 100 Must Read Book by Time Magazine.
![circe statue done by WSRC Scholar Donna Dodson](scholars-program/images/dodson-circe-2.jpg)
Photo Credit: artist Donna Dodson
December 10, 2024
An interview with Donna Dodson has been published in Art New England's November/December issue. Located on page 14, writer B. Amore visited her studio and had a lively conversation. Please check it out!
“The Circe Effect: Women’s Creative Power Reclaims the Narrative”, is a group exhibition at the Hotchkiss School's Tremaine Art Gallery, with WSRC Scholar Donna Dodson, among others. The exhibit is inspired by themes explored in the best-selling novel “Circe” by Madeline Miller, and the artists seek to address the issues surrounding the idea of when women orchestrate the narrative, stereotypes are challenged and recast. Find out more about this artistically thought-provoking exhibit.
![Cover of "American Eldercide"](images/american-eldercide-cover.jpg)
January 2025: The University of Chicago Press has nominated Margaret Gullette's book "American Eldercide: How It Happened, How to Prevent It" for a Pulitzer in nonfiction and the National Book Award. Read more about Margaret Gullette's newly published book.
1/9/25: Margaret Gullette has been interviewed on the American Society for Ageing website, on reasons why she decided to write "American Eldercide". Link here to read
![Book Cover for WSRC Scholar Marisol Negron](scholars-program/negrons-book-2024-cover.jpg)
In Made in NuYoRico, Marisol Negrón tells the cultural history of salsa, tracing the music’s Nuyorican meanings over a fifty-year period... and how it capitalized on salsa’s Nuyorican imaginary to cultivate a global audience. Read more about Marisol Negron's newest offering.
![Marjan Kamali](images/marjan-kamali.jpg)
WSRC Scholar and accomplished author Marjan Kamali has published a new book, “The Lion Women of Tehran.” With glowing industry reviews from Oprah Daily and bestselling authors, this novel is not be missed. Read more about "The Lion Women of Tehran".
![Dr. Edith Chears](scholars-program/images/chears.jpg)
WSRC scholar Dr. Edith Chears has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Zimbabwe for the 2024-2025 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Learn more about Dr. Edith Chears' award.
Current Exhibition at the Kniznick Gallery
![A piece of unraveling knit cloth with the words "Rights" knit into the cloth](kniznick-gallery/exhibitions/rights-lisa-anne-auerbach/rights.jpg)
On View: Sept. 12, 2024 - Jan. 30, 2025
"Wrongs & RIGHTS" brings together five decades of work supporting the intergenerational battle for reproductive rights, while speaking in a wider sense to the erosion of rights in America after the June 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade.