Nancy Folbre, researcher of political economy, feminist theory to speak at URI Oct. 23

Talk will be the fifth of fall colloquium series

Nancy Folbre. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Seguino
Nancy Folbre. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Seguino.

KINGSTON, R.I.- October 12, 2018- Nancy Folbre, professor emerita of economics and director of the Program on Gender and Care Work at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Senior Fellow of the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College will discuss “The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems” as part of the University’s 2018 Honors Colloquium.

The Reimagining Gender: Voices, Power, Action series is free and open to the public and takes place in Edwards Hall, 64 Upper College Road at 7 p.m.

Folbre’s research explores the connection between political economy and feminist theory, with a particular emphasis on the value of unpaid care work. In addition to numerous articles published in academic journals, she is the editor of For Love and Money: Care Work in the U.S. (Russell Sage, 2012), and the author of Greed, Lust, and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas (Oxford, 2009), Valuing Children: Rethinking the Economics of the Family (Harvard, 2008), and The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values (New Press, 2001).

She has also written widely for a popular audience, including contributions to The New York Times Economix blog, The Nation, and The American Prospect. Folbre is a MacArthur Genius Fellowship recipient, a five-year fellowship with the MacArthur Foundation in 1998, and the Leontief Prize of the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University in 2004.

Folbre was elected president of the International Association for Feminist Economics in 2002, and has been an associate editor of the journal Feminist Economics since 1995. As of 2004 she was a member of the National Academy of Science Panel, which studied the design of non-market accounts. She has been a board member of the Foundation for Child Development since 2000, a member of the National Advisory Commission of Child Care and Early Education as well as the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund since 2004.

Reimagining Gender: Voices, Power, Action will explore, at this pivotal time in society, the relevance of gender in shaping human rights and how our rising consciousness about gender issues is leading to vibrant social discussions, rearrangements of power and perceptions, and new possibilities. The series includes lectures, exhibits, a theater production and a film screening, all intended to help demonstrate the significant impact of women in society and to deepen the conversation about gender roles and stereotypes and the impact they have on our actions.

Coordinators of the 2018 colloquium, marking its 55th year, are Rosario Pisa, professor and director of URI’s Gender and Women’s Studies program; Kyle Kusz, associate professor of kinesiology; Helen Mederer, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology; and Smita Ramnarain, assistant professor of economics.

MAJOR Sponsor URI Honors Program

Sponsors URI Office of the President • URI Office of the Provost • The Mark and Donna Ross Honors Colloquium Humanities Endowment • The Thomas Silvia and Shannon Chandley Honors Colloquium Endowment • URI College of Arts and Sciences • URI College of Arts and Sciences Kenneth and Susan Kermes Distinguished Lecture Endowment • URI College of Pharmacy • URI John Hazen White Sr. Center for Ethics and Public Service • URI Gender and Women’s Studies Program • URI Office of Community, Equity and Diversity • URI Theatre Department • URI College of Engineering • URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences • URI College of Health Sciences • URI College of Business • URI College of Nursing • URI Division of Student Affairs • URI Department of Communications and Marketing • URI Department of Publications and Creative Services • URI ITS Instructional Technology and Media Services • URI Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Education and Professional Studies • URI Department of Computer Science and Statistics • URI Department of Economics • URI Department of English • URI Department of Sociology and Anthropology • URI Gender and Sexuality Center • URI Multicultural Student Services Center • URI Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science.