Athens, Ga. – In recognition of the 2013 national Women’s History Month theme “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination—Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics,” the University of Georgia Institute for Women’s Studies will sponsor numerous events in March.
The month’s festivities will be highlighted by a keynote address from Alondra Nelson, associate professor of sociology and gender studies at Columbia University. Her lecture on “Sisters in Black Berets and White Coats: Engendering the Black Panther Party’s Health Politics” will be held March 28 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 148 of the Miller Learning Center. A reception will follow in the rotunda.
An interdisciplinary social scientist, Nelson writes about the intersections of science, technology, medicine and inequality. These themes are incorporated in her most recent book, “Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination,” which was the winner of the Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Book Award from the race, class and gender section of the American Sociological Association. Nelson’s essays, reviews and commentary have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Science, Scientific American, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Dissent and the Guardian.
The Institute of Women’s Studies also will continue its tradition of hosting a film festival that features documentaries highlighting women’s issues. The three films, listed below, will be shown at 7 p.m. in Room 148 of the Miller Learning Center on their respective dates.
This year’s festival will kick off March 4 with “The Gender Chip Project,” a documentary that follows five women majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as they share their experiences and struggles stepping into traditionally male-dominated fields. “It’s a Girl,” a film exploring abandoned and trafficked girls and dowry-related violence against women, will be shown March 18. “Red Moon,” a film exploring the cultural stigmas and superstitions surrounding women’s menstruation, will be featured March 25.
The other keynote event for the month will be a panel discussion featuring noted UGA women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Hosted by the institute, it will be held March 20 at 2:30 p.m. in Room 250 of the Miller Learning Center. The speakers will include Angela Birkes-Grier, director of the Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance Minority Participation in the Office of Institutional Diversity; Samantha Joye, Athletic Association Professor of Arts and Sciences in the department of marine sciences; Robin Shelton, an associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy; and Patricia Yager, an associate professor in the department of marine sciences. A reception hosted by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost will follow in the Miller Learning Center’s Reading Room.
For more Women’s History Month events, see http://iws.uga.edu/events/womens-history-month.
Cosponsors of Women’s History Month events at UGA are the department of anthropology, the College of Education, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Higher Education, the Honors Program, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the Office of International Education, the department of sociology, the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Peabody Awards, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and the Jane and Harry Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.
The Institute for Women’s Studies is a unit of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, see http://iws.uga.edu/.
