Gender and Community Projects in South Africa will be the topic of the next WVU Fireside Chat in Womens Studies to be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the Mountainlairs Shenandoah Room.

“This presentation by Ann Oberhauser, associate professor of geography, will examine women’s community projects in the context of rural economic transformation in South Africa,”said Barbara Howe, director of the Center for Womens Studies.

The research was conducted in 2000-2001 by WVU and South Africas University of Venda faculty and graduate students in South Africas Limpopo Province through interviews with community leaders, groups and individuals, explained Dr. Oberhauser.

“The community projects under study provided the potential for economic and social empowerment among poor women and their communities, despite the patriarchal institutions that maintain a stronghold in many rural areas,”she said.

“This study draws from contemporary feminist analyses that are couched in post-colonial theory and feminist geography,”Oberhauser added.”The overall research contributes to gender and development literature that addresses community livelihood strategies in transition societies.”

The next Fireside Chat will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 7, in the WVU Creative Arts Centers room 227A. J. Bernard Shultz and Mary Louise”Cookie”Schultz, visiting lecturer in humanities, will present Blanche Lazelle from Maidsville, WV to Paris, FranceEarly Modern American Artist.

For more information, call 304-293-2339.