So, lovely Nonstop staff, what’s your Genderfuck costume idea?

Carole, Joan, Joyce and Nancy

Carole- Urkel, except I don’t have a really suave alter ego like he did.

Joan- I’d be Pat from SNL

Joyce- Dolly Parton.

Meghan- An androgynous love doll.

Chelsea- One time I was femme. That was pretty funny.

By Jeanne-Kay

Research: Brian Springer, Kathryn Leahey, Jeanne Kay

Prelude: The Discourse of Toxicity

“Toxic Culture.” Steve Lawry’s infamous phrase is now part of the vocabulary of virtually all Antiochians. The year before the Antioch University Board of Trustees (UBoT) resolved to close the college, the key political issue on campus and the polemic that reached alumni revolved around the question of Toxic Culture–whether there was one, how it manifested itself, how to fix it or how to debunk its myth.

To alumni whose only contact with the community in years had been filtered through Media and University intermediaries, “toxic culture” meant a steady decline in academic excellence and increased political narrowness from their time at Antioch onwards; to conservative reporters, “toxic culture” came to be the perfect excuse to write diatribes against political correctness at liberal arts colleges; and to many observers “toxic culture” was a perfect shortcut to explaining how Antioch College had found itself in such an incomprehensibly dire situation: Antioch students were narrow-minded, unstable, out of control–they chased away new students, driving down retention and preventing Antioch from achieving financial stability. The toxic culture narrative made sense–and it was useful.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Emily Mente, Lauren Soldano, and Iveta Jusova about their experiences on the Summer 08 Antioch Education Abroad Women’s Studies Program. Emily is a third year student at Antioch / Nonstop from Pittsburgh. Lauren is a second year Antioch / Nonstop student from Hamilton, Ohio. Iveta Jusova has led the Women’s Studies Abroad Program for the past five years, and currently teaches at Nonstop.

About the program:

Iveta: This program was created by Antioch College Women’s s Studies faculty in 1984. Marianne Welchel and Jean Gregorek are some of the College faculty who have been involved in developing and improving the WGSE program over the years. The structure of the program is wonderfully conducive to combining classroom academics and experiential learning. I love the constant back and forth between theory and practice on the program.

Emily: It is a thirteen week program. You take four classes:
Situated Feminism, Feminist Methodologies, Feminist Theory, and an independent research project. This year, we started in Utrecht in the Netherlands. The program starts out wherever the NOISE Summer School conference is which is a two-week program on European Women’s Studies. From there we went to Krakow, Poland, and from there to Prague, then to Berlin, and back to Utrech for two weeks. Then we flew to Istanbul where we spent ten days, and then back to Utrech. It was quite a trip.

Fashion Dance

On a cold February night, creepy undead Nonsters and high-schoolers rose from their piles of homework and took over Michael Casselli’s studio to celebrate none other than: Undead Prom! The space was transformed into a cemetery complete with fog machines, tombstones, cobwebs, an open-coffin snack and beverage bar and an eerie hologram of demented men’s faces with mouths for eyes, singing along to the music. Clad in DIY costumes, fake blood, and hallowed eyes and cheeks, the undead creatures danced to MJ’s “Thriller” and the “Monster Mash” and, of course Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” They posed and flaunted their stuff in a high-fashion photo shoot taken by Jonny No and Rose Pelzl. And what’s a prom without prom royalty? Jeanne Kay, Jonny No and Nic Viox were voted Prom Queen, King, and Gender-Queer Hierarchical Power Reference, respectively.

In planning for the next year of Nonstop, we all have a lot of hard questions to ask ourselves. Like why haven’t we had a mascot this whole time and what should it be?

Jeanne: A pink phoenix (with piercings) building a plane while flying it and while reading Foucault’s “power, gender and aerodynamics”

Chelsea: Xena, Warrior Princess

Gerry: A badger.

Shea: Cicada swarm. They live underground, come out in increments of prime numbered years to avoid the life cycles of their predators, and use the power of choral singing as defense. I love cicadas.

Molly: Chartreuse Buzzards

Lincoln: The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle

Rose: Cicadas and Moths of Ohio. We are a metamorphosis, like the phoenix.

Eva: an anti-ochtopus.