2007

Valerie was invited to participate in the months-long planning stages and June '08 conference by United Way of Orange County to further assist and support women of all ages across the lifespan.

July- Valerie presented "The Power of our Authenticity" at the CSUF Women's Center Conference conference was "Knowledge is Power III"

 

2006

March In Anaheim, Valerie's proposal to present at the 2006 combined annual convention of ASA/NCOA,  has been accepted.  The conference theme is centered on investing in one's future and Valerie will be presenting the original "Re-Arcing the Rainbow"® to encourage women to invest in themselves to have a more purposeful and meaningful future.
Valerie has presented modified versions of "Re-Arcing the Rainbow"® for ASA/NCOA conferences, most recently at the San Francisco conference in 2004; but this will be the first time for the original since the 1996 conference in San Francisco, (at which time ASA had not combined with NCOA.)

Valerie has been designated as "Lead Faculty" for the period November 1, 2005 through October 31, 2006, at the SoCal Campus of the University of Phoenix.  Lead Faculty are selected based on a range of considerations, foremost of which is their documented performance as course facilitators.  Often when there is a particularly difficult assignment in an area for which a Lead Faculty has been approved, that will be the person asked to instruct the course.  Lead Faculty also may take on other tasks as guided by the Chair of the College/s for which they are approved and teach.  For the 11/05-10/06 period, there will be only three Lead Faculty in Valerie's group.


Valerie has also been named as the UOP SoCal University College Area Chair in Social Sciences.  Area Chairs serve as the principal liaison between faculty and administration for the SoCal campus.  Valerie was nominated for this assignment by her UOP mentor and approved by UOP SoCal Academic Affairs. 

In addition, the SoCal campus of UOP is launching a new Master's Degree, in Marriage, Family and Child Therapy and Valerie has been solicited to participate in this new program as an instructor at the graduate level.

Spring Semester     The course Valerie designed on gender and the media -"Gender: Constructed, Deconstructed, Reconstructed and the Media" for the Women's Studies Program at CSUF has been accepted as a "special" and will be offered in the Spring 2006 schedule with Valerie as the instructor.

2005

Fall Semester  Valerie is currently teaching two sections of Introduction to Intercultural Women's Studies, as she has previously; and both sections experienced maximum enrollment, 40 students each, for the Fall 2005 semester (at CSUF.)

Earlier this year Valerie was asked to be the speaker at the last formal meeting of Women in Management in the Los Angeles/Orange County area.  This was a poignant honor.  She was invited to participate in these closing events because of the connection local WIM board members felt had been forged with her during previous presentations.  She spoke about transitions.

Women in Management was founded over 30 years ago, growing out of a college course about business offered at UC-Irvine.  For years this organization supported the efforts of women to advance in the world of business and, as well, provided a touchstone for those needing additional resource and encouragement.  Today the world of work remains challenging but the needs have shifted and many women have become entrepreneurs rather than employees.  It was apparent that the members of the various Southern California WIM chapters will remain in informal contact with one another, but the organization has closed its books.

 

2004

Fall Semester   Valerie added teaching assignments in the Women’s Studies Dept. at CSUF with two sections of the course"Introduction to Intercultural Women's Studies" - WMST 302.  This is one of the core courses and is open to both Women's Studies majors and minors and is also a General Elective. The course represents a broad opportunity to explore women's issues - where we are, how we got to where we are, where we want to go, how we get there. While built on the model of a "lecture" course, it is, more accurately, a course which calls upon students' classroom participation and active dialoguing, with an emphasis on critical thinking and anaylsis.  Books to be used in the course include The Handmaid's Tale and Mismeasure of Woman.  Appropriate contemporary films are also used.

April 17 ASA San Francisco Presentation- "A Dialogue of Generations."

2003

Fall Semester Valerie taught courses at Cal State/Fullerton, at both the main Fullerton campus and the new El Toro campus

September 15 Valerie presented "Re-evaluating our Lives: Who am I? Where am I going?" at Long Beach Chapter of Women in Management.

September 24  Valerie presented "Re-Arcing the Rainbow"® at the Women's Center -Main Campus/CalState-Fullerton as part of a special series of noon time programs sponsored by the Center.

April 2004 - San Francisco - Joint Conference of ASA/NCOA - Valerie presented  "Exit the Yellow Brick Road"

April 19 The Women's Center, in partnership with Western State University College of Law, (Orange County), presented their annual conference on Domestic Violence. This all-day event - 7+ hours - included panels of experts in this field, workshops, plus several keynote speakers, including Douglas Dutton, of Canada, one of the leading researchers and authors on this subject.

Spring Semester Valerie taught two sections of Age 9 through Adolescence and one section of Human Growth and Development - all at CSUF.

 

2002

Fall  Valerie was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Women's Center on the campus of California State University/Fullerton. The appointment was initiated by Barbara McDowell, Director of the Center. This facility, which is multi-faceted in terms of the supports it offers, is the model used by other campuses,including the University of California-Berkeley.

Fall Semester Valerie taught two courses in Adolescent & Early Adulthood Development in at California State University/Fullerton: Early Development was a new course added to the curriculum for Child Studies majors and explored psycho-social and related development, (biological, physical, etc.) in later childhood and adolescence. Emerging Adulthood was taught by Valerie in both Spring and Fall semesters of 2002; it studied psycho-social issues in the 2nd and 3rd decades, including adolescence and early adulthood.

October  Valerie presented a signature workshop called Re-Arcing the Rainbow® for the Women's Center at CalState/Fullerton.

In May Valerie was accepted as Faculty at the University of Phoenix/Southern California, with courses starting August 2002.

 

2001

July at the 17th Congress of the International Association of Gerontology, Vancouver B.C, a workshop titled "Recruiting and Retaining the Mature Worker" by Valerie and Ellen Blizinsky was accepted for presentation at the 17th Congress of the International Association of Gerontology, Vancouver B.C.

May 8 at WorldatWork Conference, in Nashville,TN  Valerie co-presented a workshop with Ellen Blizinsky

Spring Semester at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, CT Valerie taught two courses: Psychology of Development Across the Lifespan
Psychology of Work, a course about the dynamics within the workplace and between men and women in the workplace.

Spring Semester at the University of Hartford, Hartford, CT Valerie taught: The Adult Journey

October 27-29 in San Francisco, CA  at the First Annual International Conference on Health Issues for Men and Women, Presented by the Third Age Wellness Center in cooperation with The American Society on Aging Featured Speaker-Jed Diamond, author Male Menopause, Valerie was an invited speaker.

Fall  Semester at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, CT  Valerie taught two courses: Psychology of Women and Social Psychology, which looked at the ways our exterior environment(s) build our "interior environment"; i.e. our "self." .

May - June  at Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, CT Valerie taught a Psychology course: Lifespan Development Psychology of Adults/Aging

April 8 at Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT Valerie presented a "Re-Arcing the Rainbow"® workshop in the afternoon portion of an all-day program for women.

March 25 -  28 at the Annual Conference of the American Society on Aging (ASA) San Diego, CA Valerie co-presented with Jed Diamond Men: Women: Midlife - If I Ask You To Dance, Who's Going To Lead? Act Two.  Valerie co-presented with Joyce Cohen of Unconventional Wisdom®, From Mystery To Mastery: The Next Chapter