lower east side librarian

Fierce and Fabulous: Feminist Women Writers, Artists, and Activists class taught by Ileana Jiménez at the Little Red School House/Elisabeth Irwin High School

Ileana's bio:
Ileana Jimenez has been teaching English in independent schools for twelve years. For the first seven years of her career, Ileana brought a feminist vision to single sex girls’ schools in Baltimore and Washington, DC. Working with girls and encouraging them to write personal stories about race, class, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and body image became the focus of both her classroom and scholarly work. She now teaches at the Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School (www.lrei.org), where she offers courses on feminist women writers, artists, and activists; race, class, and gender in American culture; LGBT literature and film; Latino/a literature; memoir writing; and a seminar on Toni Morrison. Ileana also coordinates a professional affinity group for LGBT independent school educators in New York, and continues to be involved in national conversations about education and social justice. She frequently leads presentations on integrating Latina/o and LGBT authors in the classroom as well as creating inclusive programming for LGBT students of color and their allies at the annual NAIS People of Color Conference and the NYSAIS diversity conference. She is also a frequent panelist and speaker at Smith, particularly for the college’s diversity, alumnae admissions, and alumnae affinity group initiatives. She is currently the board vice chair and secretary of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (www.astraea.org) and is a judge for the Lambda Literary Awards, one of the nation’s premier LGBT awards. Ileana received her MA in English Literature at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English and her BA in English Literature at Smith College.