Women’s History Month 2021

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 09:54:55 -0500
diversityandinclusion, womenshistorymonth

Celebrate Women's History Month by engaging and learning with these great events happening throughout March! Also check out our Women’s Center blog archive for deeper learning and reflection.

In 1987 the US Congress designated March as National Women’s History Month (with help from Maryland's very own Barbara Mikulski). This creates a special opportunity in our schools, our workplaces, and our communities to recognize and celebrate the often-overlooked achievements of American women. Each year there is a special theme designated by the National Women's History Project. This year's theme is " Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to be Silenced.

For a list of all the campus events, download the calendar below. Follow the Women's Center on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for updates throughout the month.

Highlighted Events Hosted by the Women's Center and Campus Partners:

Women's History Month Trivia Night with the Women’s Center

Tuesday, March 2nd, 6-7pm

Create a team or play solo to show off your women's history know-how and win prizes!

For more details, visit myUMBC.

2021 Korenman Lecture ‘In the Room’: Women of Color Doulas in a State of Emergency with Dr. Jennifer Nash

Thursday, March 4th, 4-5:30pm

"In the Room” explores the work of women of color doulas laboring in Chicago in an era where doulas are increasingly hailed—by the state and by activists—as precisely the innovation that can save black mothers’ lives. Dr. Nash explores the complicated tensions around professionalization and the medicalization of birth that underpins their practice, and considers the place of their work in the ongoing effort to eradicate black infant and maternal mortality.

For more details and to RSVP.

I3B’s Workshop Wednesdays: Identity Conscious Supervision

Wednesday, March 10th, 10am-12pm

Using Identity-Conscious Supervision in Student Affairs as a guide for this conversation, Facilitators will discuss an original and transformative model to address day-to-day supervision challenges. Participants will engage with tools that consider self-work, identity exploration, relationship building, consciousness raising, trust development, and organizational change, ultimately helping them become more adept at supervising people from a range of backgrounds and experiences.

For more details and to RSVP

LLC's 2021 Inaugural Cedric Herring Symposium

Critical Conversations: An Intersectional Perspective to Ignite Social Change featuring Dr. Patricia Hill Collins

Wednesday, March 24th, 4-5:30pm

Dr. Patricia Hill Collins, Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, will be our guest speaker. Dr. Hill Collins is a social theorist whose research and scholarship have examined the intersection of race, gender, social class, sexuality and nationality. She has authored many publications, including Black Feminist Thought, and most recently, Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory.

Visit the LLC’s website for more details.

Brave Space Forum: "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)": Toxic Positivity in a Pandemic (a Women's Center series)

Thursday, March 25th, 4-5pm

During this pandemic, positive stories and uplifting moments have often been hard to come by. Many of us are working through higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety, anger, and loneliness. In answer to these "negative emotional/mental states," some are pushing for us to think on the bright side and embrace positivity at all costs. Often, these well-meaning positivity pushers don't realize that they're enforcing something pervasively toxic. Enter: "toxic positivity," a social phenomenon wherein one compulsively pushes happiness and denies/minimizes/invalidates any negative or uncomfortable feeling. For this Brave Space Forum, we will deconstruct toxic positivity and why it's okay to not be okay!

For more details and to RSVP:

University System of Maryland Women's Forum Scholarship and Awards Alert!

The Women's Forum commends and celebrates the achievements of students, faculty, and staff from across the system through award and scholarship programs. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to apply.

In the spirit of using this celebration to learn and expand your understanding of women’s history, we also recommend you check out some of these archives from the Women’s Center blog treasure trove!

Black Women in History from A-Z

What Happened to the “Working” in International Working Women’s Day?

My Role Model, Senator Barbara Mikulski or “Finding the Worth in Your [Almost Always] Problematic Fave*”

Too Busy Being Black

Trans Women in Women’s Spaces: A Reflection on the Transition of Privilege and Belonging

If your office or student org is hosting an event for Women’s History Month, email us at womencenter@umbc.edu with more information so we can update this post with your event details!

For a full list of all the Women’s Center’s events and programming to include our discussion-based groups, visit our events page.