Events and Speakers: The Community of Knowledge Supporting WOST
WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
Since the 1970s, the marquee programming for the Women's Studies community has been Women's History Month, held in March of each year. As the focal point for the women's studies calendar, WHM programming has traditionally included events such as special topic workshops and discussions as well as film screenings at local cinemas featuring the latest domestic and international cinema on women's studies. The annual month-long lineup always represents a diversity of topics, presenters and creative and academic fora celebrating women's studies on campus and in the Fort Wayne community. One example of the WHM program displayed in the media gallery above - from 1996 - includes a panel on activism on campus with students from IPFW and local high schools; the play Womanspeak showcasing famous historical women; a book lecture featuring Paula Kamen discussing her book Feminist Fatale: Voices from the 'Twentysomething' Generation Explore the Future of the Women's Movement; and undergraduate research and creative presentations highlighting the work WOST students were engaged in through the Women's Studies Program.
WOST ONE BOOK PROGRAM (2009 - 2016)
The One Book Program hosted influential authors from at home and abroad whose writings on gender topics defined the cutting-edge discussions of the day. Through this series, (I)PFW faculty and students engaged the most important issues in contemporary gender studies with internationally-renowned authors. Guests included the 2010 featured speaker Susan J. Douglas, whose lecture "Enlightened Sexism: How the Media Took Us From Girl Power to Girls Gone Wild" was one of several talks looking at the representation of women in media that Prof. Douglas gave around the country. In 2012 featured Speaker Michelle Goldberg discussed her book "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World", which centers the struggle for female emancipation at the heart of the advancement of human rights, with students and faculty in a lecture and small discussion series of events. Since 2016 the ONE Book program has been incorporated into the Women's History Month events.
WOMEN'S STUDIES PRESENTS... BROWN BAG LUNCH SERIES
The Brown Bag Lunch series has been favorite vehicle for departments across the disciplines at (I)PFW to connect students and faculty with researchers and community leaders in an informal setting to discuss the latest work being done in a particular field. Brown Bag Lunch topics have included women and science, the representation of gender in media, women in politics and much more. Although the Brown Bag Lunch themes could include single events, the Women's Studies Presents... Series - emerging in the early part of the Women's Studies Program in the 1980s - created semester-long programs featuring different topics and speakers each month to raise awareness for women's issues. For example, the Fall 1985 lineup (featured in the media gallery above) include the panel looking at international women's experiences (Women in France, India, and Iran: Personal Experiences); Sexual Harassment on Campus, including steps students could take to alert campus authorities about incidents of sexual harassment; and Women and the Holidays: A Reader's Theater, an open-mike night where students read their original prose or poetry celebrating the holidays.
INDIANA UNIVERSITY WGS (WOMEN AND GENDER STUDIES) UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH CONFERENCE
A long-standing tradition in the Women's Studies program has been sponsoring WOST students to attend and present at the annual Indiana University Women and Gender Studies Undergraduate Research Conference held at different regional IU campuses each spring. Since 1988, the IU WGS Undergraduate Research Conference has provided an opportunity for students to learn about the latest research being conducted in the Indiana University university network and to gain professional experience by presenting their own work. Conference themes have ranged from "Representations and Realities" held at IU South Bend in 2014 to 2019 when IU Northwest held the conference featuring "Women in Power: Policing Gender in Public Spaces".
GENDER AND JUSTICE INSTITUTE
Advanced WOST students have the opportunity to engage with high school students in these workshops, which explore the role of gender in public life. These three-day workshops have been offered for over half a decade to local students interested in learning more about how gender impacts their lives.