The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics is pleased to recognize the accomplishments and activities of its alumni, faculty, staff, students and affiliates:
Amy Aronson, a 2009 recipient of the Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, presented a paper and has a publication forthcoming from a research project supported by the award. She presented “Crystal Eastman, the Dilemmas of Intersectionalism and the Struggle for World Peace” at the Living War, Thinking Peace: Feminist Thought and International Relations conference at Ca Foscari University in Italy in November 2015. Aronson’s forthcoming publication, “Feminist, Mother, Pacifist, Wife: Private Interventions and the Public Memory of Crystal Eastman,” will be published by the University of South Carolina Press in “Female Reputation: Historical Recovery and Restitution” in 2017. Aronson, who is an associate professor of journalism and media studies at Fordham University, won the Catt Prize for her research project, “’To Live Greatly – That is the Thing’: The Life and Times of Crystal Eastman, the Woman Behind the ACLU.”
Narren Brown, the Catt Center’s Rice-Neville Legacy of Heroines graduate assistant in 2009-2010, began serving as the executive director of research and institutional effectiveness at South Central Community College in North Mankato, Minnesota, on Oct. 24. He previously served as associate director of the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment at Grinnell College. Brown is a graduate of Iowa State University with a master’s degree in political science (2008) and a Ph.D. in higher education (2013).
Dianne Bystrom, director of the Catt Center, gave presentations on “Women and Politics 2016” to the Ames chapter of the American Association of University Women on Sept. 13, to the League of Women Voters of Ames and Story County on Sept. 15, and to Women for a Stronger America in Des Moines on Oct. 19. She also gave the opening remarks and participated in roundtable discussions at the Des Moines Downtown Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Education and Advancement Pipeline workshop on Oct. 7. The workshop featured Iowa women who have served in public office, are currently serving or were running for election in 2016. On Nov. 3, Bystrom presented a concurrent session on “Why Women’s Leadership Matters” at The Way Up: Developing Women Leaders to Enhance Iowa Higher Education conference in Coralville, Iowa. Bystrom also has participated in numerous radio, newspaper and television interviews in this election cycle, including appearances on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” on Sept. 9, KCCI’s “Close Up” on Oct. 23 and WHO-TV’s election night coverage on Nov. 8.
Amber Manning-Ouellette, lecturer in leadership studies, is the co-author — with Katie Black, a senior in industrial engineering with a certificate in leadership studies — of “Learning Leadership: A Qualitative Study on the Differences of Student Learning in Online Versus Traditional Courses in a Leadership Studies Program,” which was accepted for publication in the Journal of Leadership Education. Manning-Ouellette also recently presented “The Art of Leadership: Five Capacity Builders” at the Institute of Transportation Engineers Midwest Student Leadership Summit on Sept. 17 to transportation engineering students, faculty and business leaders. On Aug. 26 and Sept. 16, Manning-Ouellette presented leadership workshops for the Iowa State Graduate College’s Emerging Leaders Academy.
Zoey Shipley, the 2016-2017 Jane Greimann Legacy of Heroines scholar, was selected to represent the ISU political science department at the 68th annual Student Conference on U.S. Affairs at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. The theme for this year’s conference, which was held Nov. 9-12, was “Democracy and Democratization: Challenges and Opportunities.” The purpose of the annual conference is to examine and discuss pertinent and engaging aspects of United States public and foreign policy; to facilitate an increased appreciation for the complex nature of the policy-making process among a group of outstanding college students; and to establish and enhance civil-military relationships and broaden delegates’ contact with their contemporaries in an academic endeavor. Shipley, a sophomore majoring in political science from Dayton, Iowa, is also an Andrew Goodman Foundation ambassador working with the Catt Center on campus election engagement activities.
Lissa Villa, an Elverna Christian Legacy of Heroines scholar from 2013 to 2016 and former Archives of Women’s Political Communication intern at the Catt Center, joined BuzzFeed as a political reporter on Oct. 31. She will be a general assignment reporter for the politics desk in the District of Columbia. Villa was back on campus Oct. 27 to participate on the Multimedia and the 2016 Presidential Election panel sponsored by the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. Following her May 2017 graduation from Iowa State with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and mass communication and political science, Villa interned at Time magazine over the summer and National Public Radio this fall. She is originally from Webster City, Iowa.