College to Host Museum of Motherhood Event on Oct. 8

Three scholars will discuss representations of motherhood and pregnancy in popular culture.

On Wednesday, Oct. 8, Roksana Badruddoja, Ph.D., assistant professor of sociology and women’s and gender studies at Manhattan College; Joy Rose, curator and executive director of the Museum of Motherhood (MOM); and Laura Tropp, author of A Womb With A View will discuss media, politics and representations of pregnancy, motherhood and families in popular culture. The event will take place at noon in the Alumni Room on the first floor of Manhattan College’s Mary Alice and Tom O’Malley Library.

Laura Tropp is chair of communication and media arts at Marymount Manhattan College. Her book, A Womb With a View: America’s Growing Public Interest in Pregnancy, explores the cultural shifts in pregnancy, as it moves from a private to a public experience in society. She also has written chapters in journals and anthologies exploring postpartum depression, fatherhood and the implications of new media technology. She is on the board of the Museum of Motherhood and writes about work-life balance for MamaPhd at www.InsideHigherEd.com.

Joy Rose, founder and producer of the internationally acclaimed music festival Mamapalooza, has been featured on CNN, NPR, People magazine and USA Today. She is a NOW-NYC Susan B. Anthony Award recipient, and has a special interest in gender studies, women’s issues, history, policy and family systems. Her work has helped to pioneer new areas of study in mother studies. Rose is the founding director of the Museum of Motherhood, the first and only museum of its kind devoted to the science, art, and history of mothers, fathers and families.

Roksana Badruddoja is the author of Eyes of the Storms: The Voices of South Asian-American Women and the editor of X Does Not Mark My Spot: Voices from the South Asian Diaspora. She is currently working on an anthology in the field of mother studies. The anthology attempts to represent the ideological cracks in motherhood by uncovering the everyday experiences of being a mother. 

The Oct. 8 event is presented by the Sociology department, and the local community is invited to attend.

For more information about the event, please contact Roksana Badruddoja at roksana.badruddoja@manhattan.edu or at (718) 862-7406.

By Pete McHugh