Women’s and Gender Studies program readies Women’s History Month events

Now that March is here, the university will begin celebrating Women’s History Month.

Sonja Watson, Women’s and Gender Studies program director, said Women’s History Month is about the importance of women in all aspects of life, including history, literature and politics.

“Women’s History Month is basically a celebration of women across the globe,” Watson said.

The Women’s and Gender Studies program will have a lecture series that will begin March 6. Its first event for this series will be “Global Feminism: Transitional Feminist Activism in the World.” Valerie Sperling and Sylvanna Falcon will be the keynote speakers.

“It’s looking at women’s issues from a global perspective,” Watson said. “We’re looking at issues in Russia, and then we’re also looking at issues in terms of Latin American studies as well.”

Watson also said this event will also touch on feminist activism and women’s rights.

The next event, Women in STEM, will be hosted by the Multicultural Affairs Department on March 22. This event is for women that are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The keynote speakers will be women who pursued those things.

“We coordinated a group of UTA professors that are in the STEM field that are female,” said Sabrina Corsiga, Women’s History Month chairperson.

Corsiga said they will talk about their experiences in the STEM fields and share advice with other students. For the first hour of the event, Lee Ann Frederick, biology assistant professor in practice, will be the keynote speaker. She will speak about her experiences with working in a male-dominated field.

The second half of the event will be a panel consisting of Frederick, and several other STEM professors, answering questions from the audience.

On March 24, Women in Gender Studies will host Luna Fest, a 90-minute film festival that will include a film by a UTA student in fine arts, Watson said.

Watson said Luna Fest is an awareness of films for, by and about women. It’s also an event that holds a fundraiser for the Luna Fest Foundation and helps Women and Gender studies.

“It’s a great event, and you don’t have to be a woman to attend,” Watson said. “Anyone can attend.”