2023 Women’s History Month
March 2023
Celebrating Women: Telling Our Stories
Dear Colleagues: Title IX Exhibition
Monday, March 6 – Friday, April 28 | Main Lobby, Simpson Library
Sponsored by the Department of Athletics, Center for Prevention and Education, Office of Title IX and ADA Compliance, and Simpson Library
A history of the 1972 Title IX Education Amendment and supporting guidance to showcase activism on and off the field within higher education. This exhibition will feature Title IX and related guidance through activism, athletics, and legislation.
Great Lives Lecture: Sandra Day O’Connor
Tuesday, March 7 | 7:30 pm | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
Speaker Evan Thomas details the life of Sandra Day O’Connor. At a time when women were expected to be homemakers, she set her sights on Stanford University. When she graduated near the top of her law school class in 1952, no firm would even interview her. When she arrived at the United States Supreme Court, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, she began a quarter-century tenure on the Court, hearing cases that ultimately shaped American law. Thomas provides a remarkably vivid and personal portrait of a woman who loved her family, who believed in serving her country, and who, when she became the most powerful woman in America, built a bridge forward for all women. (From https://www.umw.edu/greatlives/lecture/sandra-day-oconnor-3/)
Body Movement Session
Thursday, March 9 | 5:00 pm | Colonnade Room, Cedric Rucker University Center
Join us for a session of body empowerment as we create a safe space to explore body movement and center your energy. This session is open to movers of all levels. We will begin with some lightweight stretching led by the instructor followed by an easy combination of natural movements that are designed to help movers gain confidence and feel grounded.
Beyond A Single Story: An Evening of Personal Storytelling and Reflection
Thursday, March 9 | 6 pm | Chandler Ballroom A/B, Cedric Rucker University Center
Co-sponsored by the James Farmer Multicultural Center and the Department of Communications and Digital Studies
Inspired by the powerful words of novelist Chimamanda Adichie and the 2023 theme for Women’s History Month, this interactive session will explore the significance of storytelling in teaching about oneself and learning about others. In her 2019 TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” Adichie speaks to the importance of hearing multiple perspectives—or stories—for a better understanding of the world, including people’s multifaceted identities and experiences. After a group screening of Adichie’s talk and a brief discussion of the “single stories” commonly associated with women and intersecting identities, guests will be invited to write their own stories that share a deeper understanding of themselves, whether through personal stories, social critique, or explanations of impactful women in one’s life. At the end of the session, guests will be invited to share their stories with the group to help demonstrate the power of narrative and the value in learning beyond a single story.
Foreign Film Series 2023: Women’s Stories
March 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22 | 7:30 pm | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
Sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures
The Department of Modern Languages & Literatures will be holding its annual foreign filmi series in March, 2023. This year, the theme of the series will be women’s stories. Each night a foreign film from one of the modern languages taught at UMW (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish) will be screened with English subtitles. A short discussion will follow each film.
Great Lives Lecture: Anne Frank
Tuesday, March 14 | 7:30 pm | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
The most common question asked by those who tour the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam is: “Who Betrayed Anne Frank?” 74 years after the Nazis’ tragic abduction of the residents of the secret Annex in August 1944, two Dutchmen decided to take on the unsolved mystery. Attend to speaker Rosemary Sullivan as she takes you through the gripping and historic story. (From https://www.umw.edu/greatlives/lecture/anne-frank/)
2023 Women’s History Month Keynote Speaker; Dr. Gayatri Sethi, PhD
Wednesday, March 15 | 7 pm | Digital Auditorium, Hurley Convergence Center
Gayatri Sethi (PhD) is an educator, writer, and independent consultant. She teaches and writes about Social Justice, Global Studies, and Comparative Education. Born in Tanzania and raised in Botswana, she is of Punjabi descent, multilingual, and polycultural. She reflects on these lifelong experiences of identity, immigration, and belonging in her debut non-fiction book titled Unbelonging.
She is also the co-founder of the Desi KidLit community, an initiative to build solidarity among South Asian diaspora writers for young people. When she is not reading or recommending reads on Instagram as @desibookaunty, she is envisioning traveling and gathering in community safely again.
Population, Reproduction, and Sustainability: Film and Panel
Wednesday, March 22 | 5 pm | Digital Auditorium, Hurley Convergence Center
Sponsored by the President’s Council on Sustainability and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
We will screen the documentary film, My So-Called Selfish Life, which is about the choice to be childfree, the importance of reproductive health/rights, and how gender equity is part of environmental justice. There will be a panel discussion afterwards. Co-hosted with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Great Lives Lecture: Queen Isabella
Tuesday, March 21 | 7:30 pm | Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall
At a time when Christianity appeared to be dying out and the Ottoman Empire was aggressively expanding, a young princess was born into obscurity in a remote village in the weak and splintered kingdom of Castile. Speaker Kirstin Downey will take the audience through the story of one of the most significant monarchs of all time; her controversial legacy survives in the 500 million people who speak Spanish as their first language and the 1.3 million who practice Catholicism. (From https://www.umw.edu/greatlives/lecture/queen-isabella/)
The Art of Solo Female Travel
Thursday, March 23 | 4PM | Room 411, Lee Hall
Sponsored by the Center for International Education
Traveling alone can seem daunting, especially for women, which is why the Art of Solo Female Travel is an essential skill to master. In this program we will explore the rewards and challenges to traveling alone as a woman, address the most common fears and concerns, and role-play real-life scenarios to prepare for whatever might arise on this road less traveled.
Women in STEM Discussion Panel
Friday, March 24 | 4pm | Digital Auditorium, Hurley Convergence Center
Sponsored by the Optica Society of America (OSA)
A discussion about STEM and gender issues with a diverse panel of women in both industry and academic STEM fields.
Women’s Empowerment Through the Arts
Saturday, March 25 | 3 pm | The Underground, Lee Hall
Sponsored by Women of Color
Individuals, clubs, and organizations will have the chance to perform a piece of art celebrating women’s empowerment through the past years and all that they have overcome.
Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Undergraduate Research Forum
Wednesday, March 29 | 4 pm | Room 411, Lee Hall
Sponsored by the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
UMW students showcase their undergraduate research in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. Cash prizes will be awarded.
UMW continues to monitor campus, local, and statewide COVID-19 data and has instituted protocols to protect our campus community. These protocols include requiring proper mask wearing while indoors, requiring proof of vaccination or a recent negative test, reducing occupancy limits at events, or restricting attendance to UMW community members only, obtaining contact information from event attendees for contact tracing, and requesting that the University be notified of any positive COVID test within 14 days of attending an event at UMW. The University may also implement additional restrictions if cases increase on campus or in the region. We encourage you to check our website for updates prior to arriving to campus for a scheduled event.
All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, please contact the James Farmer Multicultural Center at 540/654-1044 or visit www.students.umw.edu/multicultural.
Please email us at umwjfmc@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding disability-related accommodations.