Public defense of two doctoral dissertations prompts call for a theatre production

11 December, 2005. RIF/FIRE

Utilizing a tradition of the past two decades of feminism at the local, regional, and international levels, a 鈥淭ribunal of Conscience鈥 was organized by Ana Constanza Rangel N煤帽ez and Mar铆a Suarez Toro, in order to present, share and defend their doctoral dissertations from the University of LaSalle in Costa Rica on December 9, 2005.

With an audience comprised of more than 42 relatives, friends, students, academics and two members of a dissertation jury, Su谩rez explained the purpose of the activity: 鈥淲e wanted to present the results of our research while giving continuity to a feminist tradition of 聽the women's social movements, which for more than two decades have organized their own tribunals, outside of any formal system鈥.

Su谩rez continued, 鈥淥n this occasion we designed a tribunal that was different from those in the past in many ways.聽 We created this event to present and share with you the results of our three years of investigation, because traditional formal dissertation procedures often do not allow the participation of relatives, friends and colleagues who have also put a lot of effort in this process".

Every aspect of the tribunal was designed in a way that differed from traditional dissertation presentations.聽 Both dissertations, that of Rangel, entitled 鈥淎bout the opacity, the unconscious, the uncertainty, and the feminine,鈥 and that of Su谩rez called: 鈥淲omen: On the edge of paradigmatic changes,鈥 were presented in multimedia format involving radio combined with audiovisuals to illustrate how pedagogical mediation can contributes to the appropriation of complex ideas by a broad array of peoples.聽 This approach was particularly important due to the diverse nature of the audience at the event in terms of age, experience and education levels, and was held at the university where the women had worked from 2003 to 2005 to complete their doctorates.

During the presentation, the young girls and children were at awe during the audiovisual presentation with the images of women projected on the wall, while the adolescents focused on the musical background of the radio program, and the adults concentrated on the content, which was illustrated with radio dramatization, stories, and interviews.

Pedagogical mediation is a major emphasis of the Ph.D. in Education which focuses on the contribution of quantum physics, complex and chaos theory to an emerging holistic paradigm.

Judging by the audience reactions, the presentation was a successful example of pedagogical mediation in complex thinking. 鈥淢y limited academic and activist experience in human rights would have not allowed me to understand half of what this research was all about, had it not been for the way in which you presented such complex ideas though the combination of art, text and music, all fueled by their passion in defending their research,鈥 said one of the young women students in the audience, Diana Montealegre of Colombia.

Journalist and academic dean in the university of Costa Rica Sonia de la Cruz had read the dissertations and interviewed both doctoral candidates for the presentation. 鈥淔or me it was a privilege to have had the opportunity to participate in the presentation of such profound and creative works that focus on themes of tremendous importance today, when science greatly needs the contributions of women鈥.

Another difference in the presentation was the opportunity given to the audience to make comments, before the jury presented their judgments and conclusions.聽 One of the other students in the doctoral program who attended the event, Jan Axelsson from Sweden, stated in regard to Suarez's work, 鈥淚 am convinced of the seriousness of this research and how the content is a mediation (bridge) on the paradigmatic experience of women throughout history that has often not been taken into account by others鈥.

Costa Rican teacher, Dr. Alicia Gurdi谩n asked the researchers if they thought the 鈥淣ew Paradigm鈥 discussed in their work is really 鈥渘ew.鈥 Both Rangel and Su谩rez responded that that it is 鈥渘ew鈥 because of the historic invisibility of women's experiences, as well as those of other groups such as indigenous and African descendents and, that of 鈥渢he feminine鈥 in general, contributions that are not made visible.

By making visible some of these contributions, the researchers demonstrated that the paradigm is not actually 鈥渘ew鈥. 聽鈥淗istorically, hegemonic 鈥渓ogo-phallus-centrism鈥 negates contributions by others.聽 The authors of this proposed new paradigm 鈥渕ostly men-- have suggested the importance of the emotional, communication expressions and the importance of subjectivity in the human and scientific process, but they do not explore more deeply or in greater detail dimensions linked to political construction and subjective desires. By associating these to 鈥渇eminine or femininity鈥, they disregard these dimensions even though聽 they are present in all constructs, as both feminist epistemology and quantum physics recognize.聽 And part of the problem is that in this 鈥渄etail鈥, the gender expressions are denied, which runs the risk of ahistoric, fundamentalist and mechanicistic approaches that leaves outside, opaque and render invisibile the contributions of women among others鈥 said Rangel.

Suarez explained that what is 鈥渘ew鈥 are the contributions of quantum physics during the past nearly 100 years, which validate in the field of physics what feminists already knew through their historic experience and the everyday science of women: That all knowledge is shaped by the subjectivity of the person who constructs it.

鈥淢y dissertation consists of 26 narratives that document the invisible contributions of women in different situations with their tasks, thoughts, desires and feelings, and powers that fuel the actual conflicts between the old Newtonian Paradigm and the proposals for emerging holistic paradigms in the world today鈥.

Rangel and Su谩rez finished the presentation by demonstrating that for them the democratization of the knowledge and the capacity to recognize the contributions of all people, not just 鈥減eople in science鈥, when they requested that the jury, comprised of Dr. Arturo Fournier and Alda Facio, both with advanced law degrees, to formulate their conclusions.聽 鈥淚t is necessary to connect these findings with the dynamics of other social movements that are searching for answers; feminism should not do it alone鈥, said Fournier.

For her part, Facio noted that after having read both dissertations and listening to the discussions: 鈥淚 am convinced that your contributions are of great value and should be published, and may well become a best seller.聽 I would award these women their doctoral degrees and urge them to continue development of these important themes.聽 It is true what they say:聽 Women are made invisible, but this happens for all things feminine.聽 And this impacts any paradigm鈥.

In addition to serving as a juror for the tribunal, Facio was a visiting lecturer in the Gender Course in the doctoral program and served as advisor in both dissertations. She was also reader of聽 Su谩rez dissertation.

  • Making use of the Internet, the researchers sent a communiqu茅 about their dissertations to numerous organizations and friends, and received 28 letters of congratulations and requests for copies of the research:
  • 鈥滿y congratulations and hugs, along with many thanks for such a public presentation!聽 It is a great way of approaching politics!聽 I'm sorry I cannot be there but I accompany you in spirit!鈥澛 Hugs, Marcela Jager, Costa Rica.
  • 鈥淐ongratulations for this work, I hope to soon be able to read something more than a summary.聽 Good luck with the presentation鈥.聽 Marcos Salgado, director of TELESUR for Central America, Venezuela.
  • 鈥淔rom La Paz, Bolivia, we congratulate Ana Constanza Rangel and Maria Su谩rez Toro for earning their doctorates, which is an honor for the women.聽 Our Bolivian representatives of the city of Sicasica, Bolivia, include: Clotilde Marquez and Luisa Silvestre who also send many congratulations. Attentively, Felix Gutierrez Matta, Network of indigenous communications, 聽Apachita,聽 La Paz, Bolivia鈥.
  • 鈥淭hank you for serving as an example because the academic space is difficult 聽and oftentimes dry, and at times so solitary.聽 Your work inspires me to continue on this same road.聽 A warm hug, Ana Silvia Monz贸n, University Francisco Marroqu铆n,聽 Guatemala鈥.
  • A second presentation of the dissertations took place on Monday, December 19 at 6 p.m. at ALFORJA in San Jos茅 for an audience of 53 people from different disciplines, including physicists and other scientists, academic deans of the University of Costa Rica, economists from the University of Heredia, nurses, ecologists, feminists, university students, colleagues from the LaSalle University doctoral program, teachers and the national Ombudswoman for Costa Rica.

The two women presenters talked about what each had contributed to their collaborative investigation, to which Rangel responded that Su谩rez had encouraged her to develop her political activism. Su谩rez added that Rangel had given her a greater academic perspective; thus the 鈥渟treet鈥 and the 鈥渁cademy鈥 were brought together in these dissertations.鈥淔eminism is political always, no matter where it is鈥 they concluded.

Several ideas for future initiatives have blossomed from this collaborative effort, including Costa Rican singer and composer, Guadalupe Urbina's commitment to convert Su谩rez dissertation into a theatre production.

Another proposal included the organization of a Congress of Feminist Epistemology of Quantum Physics, suggested by a professor of the University of Costa Rica who stated that he thought the link made between feminism and quantum was outstanding.

In addition, the Costa Rican Women Writers Association has invited the researchers to hold a third presentation on March 8, 2006, International Women's Day.聽 Also, two academic publications, one in Cuba and another in Puerto Rico, have asked the authors for information about their dissertations to be published in their magazines.