Alison Piepmeier Explained

Alison Piepmeier
Birth Date:December 11, 1972
Birth Place:Cookeville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation:Professor
Discipline:Women's and Gender Studies
Sub Discipline:English, Disability Studies
Alma Mater:Vanderbilt University
Workplaces:College of Charleston
Website:http://alisonpiepmeier.blogspot.com

Alison Piepmeier (December 11, 1972 – August 12, 2016) was an American scholar and feminist, known for her book Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism.[1] She was director of Women's and Gender Studies and associate professor of English at the College of Charleston.

Education

Piepmeier was a third-generation graduate of Tennessee Technological University, having completed her bachelor's degree in 1994. She earned her Ph.D in English from Vanderbilt University.[2]

Career and research

Following her Ph.D studies, Piepmeier held the position of associate director of Vanderbilt's Women’s Studies Program. While there, she published the book Out in Public, which chronicles the lives of women who worked in public in the nineteenth century. In 2005, she moved to Charleston and became the first full-time director of the College of Charleston's Women's and Gender Studies program.[3]

Piepmeier was known for her research on third wave feminist activism.[4] Her 2009 book Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism was the first book-length academic study of zines and women as zine creators.[5] She co-edited the 2003 anthology Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century, a collection which is frequently taught in women's studies courses.

In her work at the intersection of feminism and disability studies,[6] Piepmeier explored how women make reproductive decisions when prenatal testing reveals their fetus has Down syndrome,[7] [8] and analyzed memoirs by parents of children with disabilities.[9] In 2013 she presented at conferences for genetics counsellors and genetics educators, raising questions around the value of eradicating disability from the human population.[10]

In addition to her academic writing, she contributed a column for the Charleston City Paper[11] and had written editorials for The New York Times Motherlode blog.[12] In these writings Piepmeier covered topics such as same-sex parents, women's rights, raising disabled children and the Black Lives Matter movement. She also wrote about personal experiences, such as her and her husband's decision to decline pre-natal foetal testing during her pregnancy in 2012, and her fight against cancer from 2015.[13]

Piepmeier was President of the Southeastern Women's Studies Association (SEWSA) from 2006 to 2008 and was a member of the Governing Council of the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA).[14]

Recognition and honors

In 2014, she was named as one of the 50 Most Progressive people in Charleston by online magazine Charlie.[15] In 2014, she also gained attention for leading the efforts to host performances of the musical Fun Home on the campus of the College of Charleston.[16]

In September 2016, the Southeastern Women's Studies Association (SEWSA) established a $500 "Outstanding Student Award" in Piepmeier's honor, and in December 2016, the NWSA established the $1,000 Alison Piepmeier Book Prize.[17]

Death

On August 12, 2016, Piepmeier died from brain cancer after a seven-year battle with the disease.[18] [19] Three weeks before her death, Piepmeier wrote a farewell column in the Charleston City Paper.[20] The column was picked up by mainstream outlets including Us Weekly[21] and ABC News.[22]

Selected publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Girl zines : making media, doing feminism. June 9, 2016. New York University Press. 646885664.
  2. Web site: Focus on the Faculty at the College of Charleston. harwoodp.people.cofc.edu. July 20, 2016.
  3. Web site: Alison Piepmeier. October 29, 2009. August 13, 2016.
  4. Web site: Alison Piepmeier Bio.
  5. Web site: Clark. Jessica. Girl Talk. The American Prospect. July 7, 2016. November 11, 2009.
  6. Piepmeier. Alison. Cantrell. Amber. Maggio. Ashley. March 18, 2014. Disability Is a Feminist Issue: Bringing Together Women's and Gender Studies and Disability Studies. Disability Studies Quarterly. en. 34. 2. 10.18061/dsq.v34i2.4252. 2159-8371. free.
  7. Piepmeier. Alison. Would It Be Better for Her Not to Be Born?: Down Syndrome, Prenatal Testing, and Reproductive Decision-Making. Feminist Formations. 2015. 27. 1. 1–24. 10.1353/ff.2015.0004. 141614921. 2151-7371.
  8. Piepmeier. Alison. 2013. The Inadequacy of 'Choice': Disability and What's Wrong with Feminist Framings of Reproduction. Feminist Studies. 39. 1. 159–186. 10.1353/fem.2013.0004. 148692034. July 30, 2016.
  9. Piepmeier. Alison. January 25, 2012. Saints, Sages, and Victims: Endorsement of and Resistance to Cultural Stereotypes in Memoirs by Parents of Children with Disabilities. Disability Studies Quarterly. en. 32. 1. 10.18061/dsq.v32i1.3031. 2159-8371. free.
  10. Web site: Feminists We Love: Alison Piepmeier – The Feminist Wire. October 25, 2013. en-US. August 13, 2016.
  11. Web site: Charleston City Paper author archive. July 6, 2016. March 31, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160331224210/http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/ArticleArchives?author=4106575. dead.
  12. Web site: New York Times Motherlode blog.
  13. Web site: Choosing to Have a Child With Down Syndrome. Piepmeier. Alison. August 12, 2016.
  14. Web site: People Alison Piepmeier The Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University. heymancenter.org. August 13, 2016.
  15. Web site: Jones. Annabel. Alison Piepmeier: mama on a mission. Charlie. July 7, 2016. June 2, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20160813035926/http://www.readcharlie.com/50-most-progressive/2016/2/16/alison-piepmeier. August 13, 2016. dead.
  16. Web site: We're having to fight our asses off to protect academic freedom .
  17. Web site: Menchaca. Ron. Book Prize Honors Legacy of Alison Piepmeier. The College Today. College of Charleston. 28 December 2016.
  18. Web site: The College Remembers Beloved Professor Alison Piepmeier. August 12, 2016. College of Charleston. Perkins. Erin. August 12, 2016.
  19. Web site: Alison Piepmeier, CofC professor and writer, dies after long battle with brain cancer. Gidick. Kinsey. August 12, 2016. August 12, 2016. August 27, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160827062618/http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2016/08/12/alison-piepmeier-cofc-professor-and-writer-dies-after-long-battle-with-brain-cancer. dead.
  20. Web site: Piepmeier: Thank you for my beautiful life. Piepmeier. Alison. July 20, 2016. Charleston City Paper. August 12, 2016.
  21. Web site: Writer With Terminal Brain Cancer Pens Heartbreaking Final Column. Abrahamson. Rachel Paula. July 25, 2016. Us Weekly. August 12, 2016.
  22. Web site: Journalist With Cancer Says Life Was 'Rich and Beautiful' in Final Column. McKenzie. Joi-Marie. July 22, 2016. ABC News. August 12, 2016.
  23. Book: Dicker. Rory Cooke. Piepmeier. Alison. Catching a wave : reclaiming feminism for the 21st century. 2003. Northeastern University. Boston. 9781555535711. June 10, 2016. registration.
  24. Book: Piepmeier. Alison. Out in public : configurations of women's bodies in nineteenth-century America. 2004. University of North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill. 9780807829042. 55078159. June 10, 2016.
  25. Book: Piepmeier. Alison. Girl zines : making media, doing feminism. 2009. NYU Press. New York. 9781441633835. 646885664. June 10, 2016.
  26. Web site: Unexpected. 2021-01-14. NYU Press. en-US.

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