Image: Athens, Ga. – In recognition of the 2019 national Women’s History Month theme “Visionary Women: Champions of Peace and Nonviolence,” the Institute for Women’s Studies at the University of Georgia will be hosting numerous programs in March. This year’s Women’s History Month Keynote Address will be presented by Layli Maparyan, Executive Director of the Wellesley Centers for Women and Professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. Dr. Maparyan is best known for her scholarship in the area of womanism and is the author of two groundbreaking texts in the field of womanist studies, The Womanist Reader (Routledge, 2006) and The Womanist Idea (Routledge, 2012). She has also published significantly in the areas of adolescent development, social identities (including biracial/biethnic identity and the intersections of racial/ethnic, sexual, spiritual/religious, and gender identities), Black LGBTQ studies, Hip Hop studies, and history of psychology. Maparyan’s scholar-activist work interweaves threads from the social sciences and the critical disciplines, incorporating basic and applied platforms around a common theme of integrating identities and communities in peaceable, ecologically sound, and self-actualizing ways. Her lecture, titled “Women, Peace, and Nonviolence: Womanist Case Studies of the Contemplative Path to Social Action” will take place on Thursday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries, room 271. A reception sponsored by the Lucy Hargrett Draper Center and Archives for the Study of the Rights of Women in History and Law will immediately follow the lecture. The Institute for Women’s Studies will continue its tradition of hosting a film festival during March featuring documentaries highlighting the often-untold stories of women fighting against discrimination and misrepresentation. All film screenings are free and open to the public and will take place at 6:30 p.m. in room 271 of the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries. This year’s film screenings include: “RBG” on Monday, March 4 “Mankiller” on Monday, March 18 “Dolores” on Monday, March 25 The Institute for Women’s Studies will also host a panel discussion focusing on craftivism, the use of crafts to engage with social and political issues, on Tuesday, March 26 at 3:30 p.m. Panelists will discuss the importance of craftivism, the ways in which it engages community and fosters peaceful protest, and examine the various ways to participate in this form of activism. This event is free and open to the public and will take place in the Richard B. Russell Special Collections Libraries, room 271. A complete list of Women’s History Month programming at the University of Georgia is available here. Women’s History Month at the University of Georgia is hosted by the Institute for Women’s Studies, part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Co-sponsors include the Lucy Hargrett Draper Center and Archives for the Study of the Rights of Women in History and Law, Department of Communication Studies, College of Education, Department of English, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Graduate School, Institute of Higher Education, Office of Institutional Diversity, and the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy.
