Enrichment Programs
Spelman's Independent Scholars
Collage of SIS Images Displayed at Historic Unveiling of Volume I,
Their Memories, Our Treasure
Spelman's Independent Scholars (SIS)
in the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (LEADS)
The Dogwood Chapter of Links, Inc.
and
The Robert W. Woodruff Library in the
Atlanta University Center
cordially invite you to the celebratory signing for
THEIR MEMORIES, OUR TREASURE:
CONVERSATIONS WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN
WOMEN OF WISDOM
Volumes III-IV
The SIS Oral History Project
Sunday, June 25, 2006
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Manley Student Center
June Gary Hopps Atrium
Spelman College
HONOREES
Mrs. Georgia W.Allen Mrs. Cornelia Bailey
Mrs. Leila Barfield Mrs. Julia Bond
Mrs. Faye Bush Dr. June Dobbs Butts, C'48
Mrs. Ann Cooper Mrs. Mary Stephens Dansby, C'46
Mrs. Elizabeth DeGraffenreid Mrs. Jennie Drake
Mrs. Anna English Mrs. Elizabeth Gross
Mrs. Lillie Harris Dr. Carrie Johnson
Ms. Annie Jewell Moore, C'43 Dr. Zelma Payne
Mrs. Laura Lynem Rates Mrs. Ruth Scott Simmons, C'37
Miss Marguerite F. Simon, C'35 Mrs. Nell Simms
Mrs. Emmanuella Spencer Mrs. Earnestine Vick
Mrs. Ella Mae Yates, C'49
Addtitional Book Signing
National Black Arts Festival
July 15, 2006
5:00 p.m.
Auburn Avenue Research Library
1101 Auburn Avenue | Atlanta, Georgia 30303
_______________________________________________
"Priceless! Invaluable! That's how I would sum up my experience as a Spelman Independent Scholar. What an honor to be part of a revolutionary project that tells Black women's stories and gives us voice!"
Taneya Gethers, Writer/Communications Coordinator Brooklyn Public Library
"SIS is the kind of experience I wish every student of every ethnicity and gender could have. What better way to learn about the history and future direction of our country than to listen to African American women whose lives are rich testimonies of courage."
AeuMuro Lake, medical student University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Who are Spelman's Independent Scholars?
We are a very diverse group of young scholars. We are sophomores, juniors and seniors, majoring in African American studies, biology, economics, English, math, political science, psychology, philosophy, sociology, Spanish, and women’s studies.
Who are the SIS Mentors?
As a group, our mentors are as diverse as we are. They are professional secretaries, caterers, receptionists, social workers, domestics, cooks, nurses, school teachers, high school counselors, journalists, college professors, school administrators, entrepreneurs, notary publics, artists, preachers, theologians, published scholars and community activists.
They are women who earned college and graduate degrees and women who earned GEDs; women who grew up in rural farm communities and women who grew up in urban areas; women who lived in housing projects and women who lived in middle class communities; women who came from families of three children and women who came from families of thirteen; women who have never left the confines of the community in which they were reared, and women who have traveled all around the globe; women who birthed daughters and women who adopted daughters. They range in age from seventy to ninety-five. All of them now reside in the South. All of them are remarkable women.
Clearly, with such a diverse group of women, we expected different stories, and yet we discovered that, at the very core of this difference, there are commonalities about belief in family and community, education and integrity, resistance and change, and in our future as leaders. All of us heard the same message from our mentors: “You are special, and you must achieve.” Because SIS is such a special course and a special experience, it is no coincidence that WOW is not only the acronym for Women of Wisdom, it is also the response we often make to our mentors’ stories.
What is SIS?
Spelman’s Independent Scholars (SIS) Program is a two-semester independent, interdisciplinary and intergenerational learning experience open to students across all majors. In SIS, we enhance our critical writing and critical thinking skills. In weekly seminars we share our research, sharpen our skills and grow in knowledge about oral history. In addition to learning sessions with the SIS faculty mentor, we are privileged to lectures by guest scholars including a gerontologist, two oral historians, a museum curator, an archivist and a physician-researcher in traditional knowledge. The first semester in SIS focuses on research and interviewing. The second semester focuses on transcribing and editing.
The concept paper included in our SIS Research Notebook gives a rationale for the learning experience:
Throughout our history in this nation -- indeed before we were brought to these shores -- older women in our families and in our communities are griots and sages, seers and prophets whom we are taught to honor and revere. Their stories teach us about values and beliefs that shaped their reality and, in immeasurable ways, impact our own. For reason, then, we see their memories, anchored deep in the soil of wisdom, as cherished treasure. It is this truth, as old as time itself, that undergirds the SIS Oral History Project.
As explained by Danielle Phillips, Spelman Independent Scholar
Posted By: Jehan Bunch
Tuesday, June 20th 2006 at 1:58PM
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