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Mary Kenny Badami

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Mary Kenny Badami
Mary Kenny Badami, a smiling white woman with dark hair cut in a long shag with bangs, wearing eyeglasses and a houndstooth-checked jacket
Mary Kenny Badami, from a 1979 newspaper
Born
Mary Roseann Kenny

August 30, 1941
The Bronx, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 11, 2010 (age 68)
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation(s)Writer, educator

Mary Kenny Badami (August 30, 1941 – June 11, 2010) was an American educator and writer. She was a communications professor at Bloomsburg University from 1981 to 2006, and is known for her 1976 essay, "A Feminist Critique of Science Fiction".

Early life and education

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Kenny was born in the Bronx, the daughter of Francis Gerard Kenny and Ann Frances McElhone Kenny. Her father worked in construction; her maternal grandparents were both born in Ireland. She graduated from Fordham University, and earned a master's degree at Hunter College in 1965.[1][2] She completed her Ph.D. in communication studies at Northwestern University in 1977,[1] with a dissertation titled "Interpersonal Perceptions and Outcomes of Communication in a Simulation Game of Intercultural Contact".

Career

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Badami taught public school as a young woman,[2] and taught English in Münich in the 1960s.[3] She taught at the University of Virginia, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in the 1970s.[1][3] She was a professor at Bloomsburg University from 1981 to 2006.[4][2] She became a full professor in 1988,[5] and chaired the university's Communication Studies department for six years.[4] She lectured for community groups and at conferences, on effective communication,[6] women's careers,[7][8] and gendered vocabulary.[9] At Bloomsburg, she was public in her support for non-traditional-age women students,[8] minority students,[10] and LGBTQ students.[11]

In 1966, Badami was a four-day champion on the Jeopardy! television quiz show.[4] She was a White House Fellows finalist in 1974.[3] She was vice-president of the Science Fiction Research Association.[12] "It helps us predict not the future, but possible futures," she explained of the genre, when she was interviewed about the appeal of Star Wars in 1978.[13]

Publications

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  • "A Feminist Critique of Science Fiction" (1970, 1976)[14][15] (also published in German, in 1980)
  • "Interpersonal perceptions in a simulation game of intercultural contact" (1977)[16]
  • "Four Cheers for Bafá Bafá" (1979)[17]
  • "Interracial Communication in School Social Work" (1984, with R. L. McNeely)[18]

Badami's essay "A Feminist Critique of Science Fiction" was and continues to be discussed by feminist scholars of science fiction.[19][20][21]

Personal life

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Kenny was married to James A. Badami from 1962 to 1974, and had two children, Linda[11] and Scott. In 1994, she was interviewed as an eyewitness to the fatal fire at the Beta Sigma Delta House at Bloomsburg University.[22] In 2001, she spoke to the local press about her experience with LASIK surgery, which she said damaged her vision and health.[23] Badami died in 2010, at the age of 68, at her home in Bloomsburg.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kane, Mary (1979-02-27). "Language takes beating when rules change". The Oshkosh Northwestern. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c Bloomsburg State College, Obiter (1983 yearbook): 42 (feature page, "Badami displays professionalism in communication").
  3. ^ a b c "UVa Instructor Named White House Finalist". The Daily Progress. 1974-05-01. p. 40. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c d "Dr. Mary Kenny Badami; BU professor was 'Jeopardy!' champion". Press Enterprise. 2010-06-13. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Bloom U lists faculty promotions". The Danville News. 1988-06-11. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "AAUW learns strategy for survival in business". The Morning Press. 1983-03-28. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Women's Conference offers career sessions". The Daily Item. 1998-03-17. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b Brandon, Holly (1984-11-01). "Professor sees a 'revolution'". The Danville News. pp. 1, 15. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Workshop at area center on sexism in language". The Morning Press. 1982-06-10. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Dillon, Michael J. (1986-09-16). "BU professor works to help non-whites". Press Enterprise. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b Long, Jeff (1992-03-27). "'Let's rally every day' About 400 turn out at BU". Press Enterprise. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "SFRA Executive Committee Minutes" SFRA Newsletter (October 1982): 5.
  13. ^ Zurawik, Dave (1978-01-27). "The music of the spheres mingles with the sound of the cash register". The Buffalo News. pp. 47, 62. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Badami, Mary Kenny (1970). A Feminist Critique of Science Fiction. Liverpool University Press.
  15. ^ Badami, Mary Kenny (December 1976). "A Feminist Critique of Science Fiction". Extrapolation. 18 (1): 6–19. doi:10.3828/extr.1976.18.1.6. ISSN 0014-5483.
  16. ^ Badami, Mary Kenny. "Interpersonal perceptions in a simulation game of intercultural contact" International and Intercultural Communication Annual IV (1977): 32-45.
  17. ^ Badami, Mary Kenny. "Four Cheers for Bafá Bafá", Intercultural Theory and Practice: Perspectives on education, training, and research 1 (1979): 243.
  18. ^ McNeely, R.L.; Badami, Mary Kenny (1984-01-01). "Interracial Communication in School Social Work". Social Work. 29 (1): 22–26. doi:10.1093/sw/29.1.22. ISSN 1545-6846.
  19. ^ Monk, Patricia (1980). "Frankenstein's Daughters: The Problems of the Feminine Image in Science Fiction". Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature. 13 (3/4): 15–27. ISSN 0027-1276. JSTOR 24780258.
  20. ^ Hemmings, Mary. "The Changing Role of Women in Science Fiction: Weird Tales, 1925-1940." The Influence of Imagination (2018): 83-91.
  21. ^ Larbalestier, Justine (2023-09-05). The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction. Wesleyan University Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-8195-0137-0.
  22. ^ "'I'll never forget it'; Witnesses describe inferno". Press Enterprise. 1994-10-22. pp. 1, 20. Retrieved 2024-06-29.
  23. ^ Hartman, Linda (2001-11-25). "Two area patients see dramatically different Lasik outcomes". Press Enterprise. pp. 1, 5. Retrieved 2024-06-29 – via Newspapers.com.
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