E-mail: raim0007@umn.edu
Blog: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/RaeSpot
Background
Born to a Puerto Rican mother and a Jewish father, and raised Upstate
New York, Rachel Raimist began making videos at the age
of 14. Since emerging as a powerful and insightful voice of hip-hop
feminism with the award-winning documentary, Nobody Knows My Name,
in 1999, she has established herself as a progressive force in the
fields of academia, arts, and social justice movements. She teaches
feminist media theory, practice, and activism in Gender, Women, and
Sexuality Studies, at IFP Minnesota, and youth she mentors in the
Twin Cities.
Education
M. F. A. 1999. University of California, Los Angeles (Film Directing/Production)
B. A. 1995. University of California, Los Angeles (Film & Television)
Research interests
Feminist praxis, feminist filmmaking, hip-hop feminism, personal
narratives, personal diary documentary videos, writing resistance,
incarcerated intellects and poets, performance and social change,
video activism, blogs, feminist pedagogy, and using technology in
the classroom.
Awards
- University of Minnesota, Office of University Women Rusty Barcelo Collaborative Grant, 2005
- University of Minnesota Graduate Research Partnership Fellowship with Gwendolyn Pough, 2004
- University of Minnesota, Department of Women's Studies
Susan Geiger Memorial Fellowship, 2003
- UrbanWorks Film Festival Best Documentary Freestyle (Co-Videographer/Co-Editor), 2000
- Dever Pan-African Film Festival Best Documentary Nobody Knows My Name (Director), 2000
- Los Angeles Pan-African Film Festival Best Doc Freestyle (Co-Videographer/Co-Editor), 1999
- Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Best Soundtrack
Freestyle (Co-Videographer/Co-Editor), 1999
- UCLA Verna Fields Memorial Fellowship from Women In Film, 1998
- UCLA Graduate Division Fellowship, 1996-1998
- Motion Pictures Association Award, 1996
- Ion Pictures Endowed Scholarship, 1995
- Mohonk Consultations Award for Environmental Sensitivity, 1993
Community and/or University Activities
- Instructor/Mentor, Plymouth Christian Youth Center Alternative School (PYC) 2007 – present
- Mentor, Hope Community Center 2007
- Women's Studies IT Fellow 2004 – 2006
- Member of Independent Feature Project – MSP Chapter (IFP)
- Co-Director of The University of Minnesota Graduate Hip-Hop Collective
- Member of Mujeres Activas En Letras Y Cambio Social (MALCS)
- Member of National Association of Chicano/a Studies (NACCS)
- Member of The Popular Culture Association
- Member of The Women In Film Foundation
- Member of International Documentary Association
- Member of The Puerto Rican Alliance of Los Angeles, and
- Former Co-Coordinator of the UCLA Chicano/Latino Film & Television
Association.
Conferences/Presentations
- Panelist – "Neither Model nor Muse:
Women and Artistic Expression:, Duke University, 2007
- Panelist – Minnesota Center for
Photography, Minneapolis, 2007
- Panelist – "Total Chaos: The Art
and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop", Walker Art Center, 2007
- Guest Lecturer – "Language of
Hip Hop", UCLA, May 2007
- Panelist – "Remixing Hip Hop:
On Gender, Violence and Sexism", SUNY Old Westbury, March
2007
- Panelist – B-Girl Be: A Celebration
of Women in Hip Hop, Minneapolis, 2006
- Speaker– Hip Hop Film Festival,
Flint Institute of the Arts, August 2006
- Guest Lecturer – HECUA City Arts
Social Justice program, February 2006
- Invited Artist/Panelist – Media
Arts Film Series, University of Arizona, Tucson, 2005
- Invited Artist/Speaker – Activism
in the Vernacular, Gettysburg College, 2005
- Curator/Panelist – B-Girl Be:
A Celebration of Women in Hip Hop, 2005
- Panelist – Hip Hop Feminism Conference,
University of Chicago, 2005
- Invited Artist/Speaker – Incarcerated
Intelligence, Macalester College, 2005
- Panelist- 2004 National Hip-
Hop Political
Convention, Rutgers University
- Invited Artitst/Panelist
– 2004 GirlFest
Hawaii
- Invited Speaker &
Panelist –
2002, 2003 & 2004 Hip-Hop Generation: Hip-
Hop As A Movement
Conference, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Invited Speaker – 2001
Grrrl’s
Revolution, Cal State Los Angeles
- Panelist – 2002 B-Girls Because
You Can: A Conference about the Influence of
Women in Hip Hop”, Macalester College
- Panelist – 2000 Media
[Re]volution!
Linking Struggles, Shifting Consciousness,
Independent Media
Center, Seattle
- Panelist – 2000 The Art
of Revolution,
Multi-Cultural Student’s Association,
University of
California, Santa Barabara
- Panelist – 2000 Hip
Hop- What It
Is? What It Aint. What It Could Be! The Pan-
African Resource
Center, Cal State University, Long Beach
- Invited Speaker – 2000
Gender Leadership
Retreat, Chicano Studies Center, University of
California,
Berkeley
- Panelist – 1999
Intersections Conference
“Multi-Ethnic Literatures @
Century’s End, Department
of English and Comparative Literatures,
University of Cincinnati,
Ohio
- Panelist - 1999 Mid-Atlantic
Popular Culture
Conference, Penn State, Harrisburg, Valley
Forge, Pennsylvania
- Panelist - 1999 MALCS
(Mujeres Activas
en Letras Y Cambios Sociales) Summer
Institute, University
of Minnesota, Minneapolis
- Invited Artist – 1998
NACCS Conference
“Crossing The Border”, Mexico
City, Mexico
Publications:
Books:
Raimist, R., Pough, G., Richardson, E., Durham,
A. (Eds.) (2007) HomeGirls Make Some Noise: A Hip Hop Feminism Reader.
Los Angeles, CA: Parker Publishing.
Book Chapters:
Raimist, R. (forthcoming). "Inside/Out: Feminist Filmmaking
Praxis Within Prison Walls." Reclaiming the
Archive: Feminism and Film History, Vicky Callahan,
Alison McKee, ed., Wayne State University Press.
Peer Reviewed Online Articles:
Raimist, R. and E. Hornsby-Minor (2007). If I Could Hear my
Mother Pray Again: An Ethnographic Performance
of Black Motherhood. In Liminalities: A Journal
of Performance Studies. http://liminalities.net/3-3/pray.htm
Encyclopedia Entries:
Raimist, R. (2007. Rap Music. In Malti-Douglas, Fedwa (Ed.),
The Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender. Michigan:
MacMillan Press.
Raimist, R. (2005) Feminist Filmmaker. In Heywood, L.L.
(Ed.), The women's movement today: An encyclopedia
of third wave feminism (pp. 122123). Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press.
Raimist, R. (2005). Hip-Hop Feminism. In Heywood, L.L.
(Ed.), The women's movement today: An encyclopedia
of third wave feminism (pp. 240-242). Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press.
Raimist, R. (2005). Hip Hop Terms for Women. In Heywood,
L.L. (Ed.), The women's movement today: An encyclopedia
of third wave feminism (pp. 240-242). Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press.
Selected Interviews:
"Put Your Camera Where My Eyes Can See: Hip-Hop Video, Film,
and Documentary - A Roundtable Curated by Eric
K. Arnold, with Rachel Raimist, Kevin Epps,
and Michael Wanguhu". In Total Chaos: The Art
and Aesthetics of Hip Hop, Jeff Chang (Ed.).
New York: Basic Civatas, 2006, pp. 306-320.
"Nobody Knows My Name and an Interview
with the Director Rachel Raimist". In The Vinyl
Ain't Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization
of Black Popular Culture, London: Pluto Press,
2006, pp. 56-70.
"An Interview with the Director Rachel
Raimist", The Velvet Light Trap, Number 53,
Spring 2004, pp. 59-65.
Courses Taught:
As Graduate Instructor at the University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis:
GWSS 3390 “Feminist
Media Making: Theory
and Practice”,
Spring 2008
GWSS
3307 “Feminist
Film Studies”,
Fall 2007
GWSS 3307 “Feminist
Film Studies”,
Summer 2007
GWSS 1001 “Gender,
Power and Everyday Life:
Intro to GWSS", Spring
2007
GWSS 3307 “Feminist
Film Studies”,
Fall 2006
GWSS 3307 “Feminist
Film Studies”,
Summer 2003
As Teaching Assistant at the University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis:
AFRO
3112 “Heart
of the Beat:
The Poetry of Rap”,
Spring 2003
GWSS
3307 “Feminist Film Studies”,
Spring 2003
GWSS
3302 “Feminist
Thought &
Theory”, Fall 2003
GWSS
1002 “Women Write the World”,
Spring 2002
Other Teaching Appointments:
- IFP Center for Media Arts, Minneapolis,
"Intro to Video Production - Learning the Techniques",
"Advanced Video Production - Shooting the Short Film",
and "Women's Digital Storytelling", 2007 - present
- Mentor, Articulating Our Voices
Now, Hope Community Center, Minneapolis, Summer 2007
- Visiting Instructor,
Women and Gender
Studies Department, Macalester College -
“Women of Color Feminisms/Third Wave
Theory, Practice
& Activism”, Fall 2005 & Fall
2004
- Lecturer, Film Studies
Department,
University of California Irvine “Video
Production”
and “Video Post-production”, Fall,
Winter &
Spring 2000
- Graduate Instructor,
Film Production,
University of California Los Angeles
“Video Production”
and “Post-production”, 1995
– 1999
- Video Instructor,
Venice High School,
Los Angeles, CA, 1998
Favorite Course and Why?
Theater 5117 "Performance & Social Change" with Professor Sonja Kuftinec.
I love when you can get out of your chair and move around to learn.
I really engage with theory when I can embody it, literally. Also
the course is directly connected with my research interests and my
work with Jan Mandell and the St. Paul Central High School's Central
Touring Theater (CTT). I loved this course so much I took it twice!
Dissertation:
Very broadly: A feminist praxis project examining
how art (theater, poetry, media and performance) can
function as a tool for social change. Specifically, I am looking
at the hip-hop feminist movement, incarcerated intelligence, and
a high school theater program to show how feminist theory and practice
can efficaciously work for social justice.
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