UMaine to Celebrate Women’s History
Contact: Ann Schonberger or Angela Hart, 581-1228
ORONO –Women, the environment and sustainability will take center stage during the University of Maine’s Women’s History Celebration, March 16-31 on campus.
Presented by Women in the Curriculum and the Women’s Studies Program at UMaine, “Sustaining Our Lives: Women Take the Lead to Save Our Planet” underscores the important role women play in protecting the environment.
Highlights include:
•The Composters, 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 20, Minsky Recital Hall
The Composters are an ecofeminist duo who use humor to promote advocacy. Their skit centers on the transformative power of composting.
• Louise Fortmann lecture, “Women and the Environment in the Context of Global Change: More Questions Than Answers,” 7 p.m. Monday, March 23, 100 Donald P. Corbett Business Building
Fortmann, a distinguished professor of forestry and sustainable development at theUniversity of California-Berkeley, will discuss gendered division of labor, gendered property rights and the presence/absence of attention to gender in environmental policies. She will explore how changes such as globalization and climate change will affect both women and the environments in which they live and make their livelihoods.
•”From Maine to Minnesota: Community and Sustainable Projects Across the Country” panel discussion, 12:15 p.m. Friday, March 27, Totman Room, Memorial Union
Kirsten Walter, creator and director of the Lots to Gardens program in Lewiston; Andrea Reed, executive director of the New Forest Institute in Brooks; and Jacquelyn Zita, a professor of women and gender studies at the University of Minnesota and co-founder of the Women’s Environmental Institute in Amador, Minn., will speak about their sustainable agriculture programs and how they impact women.
•The Beehive Collective, 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, 100 Lord Hall
The Beehive Collective, a Machias-based design team that uses graphic campaigns to spark dialogue about social justice issues, will present a series of posters. The posters, with themes of “Free Trade of the Americas” and “Plan Colombia,” allow the audience to come to their own conclusions about the difficult issues presented.
A full schedule follows. Events are on campus, accessible, and are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information or to request accommodation, please contact Angela Hart at 581-1228. A full description of each Women’s History Celebration event is available online at www.umaine.edu/wic.
Women’s History Celebration 2009 schedule:
• 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, WIC Lunch panel discussion,r]Women’s Environmental Activism in Our Own Community,” Bangor Room, Memorial Union
• 4 p.m., Wednesday, March 18, film about Rachel Carson, “A Sense of Wonder,” 101 Fernald Hall.
• All day Thursday, March19, book exhibit featuring new books and periodicals concerned with women’s studies, feminism, and all aspects of women’s lives, 101 Fernald Hall.
• 12:30 p.m., Thursday, March 19, Socialist/Marxist Lunch with Constanza Ocampo Raeder,” Born Without History: The Life of Amazonian Women,” Bangor Room, Memorial Union.
• All day Friday, March 20, book exhibit, 101 Fernald Hall.
• 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 20, “The Composters Haul the Motherload,” The Composters, Minsky Recital Hall.
• 7 p.m. Sunday, March 22, film, “Motherland Afghanistan,” Peace and Justice Center, 170 Park St., Bangor.
• 7 p.m. Monday, March 23, Louise Fortmann lecture, 100 Donald P. Corbett Business Building.
• 12:15 Tuesday, March 24, WIC Lunch, Linda Silka lecture, “Environmental Justice and Refugee Families,” Bangor Room, Memorial Union.
• 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, “The Belle of Amherst,” a one-woman performance about Emily Dickinson, Minsky Recital Hall.
• 4 p.m. Thursday, March 26, lecture by Jacquelyn Zita, “Feminist Agrarian and Environmental Justice in Minnesota, 115 Donald P. Corbett Business Building.
• 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26, film, “Fury for the Sound,” 140 Little Hall.
• 12:15 p.m. Friday, March 27, “From Maine to Minnesota: Community and Sustainable Projects Across the Country,” panel discussion,Totman Room, Memorial Union.
• 7-9 p.m. Saturday, March 28, Spruce Run Silent Auction and Chocolate Buffet, Buchanan Alumni House, $15 per person, for information, call Spruce Run at 945-5102.
• 12 noon Monday, March 30,”The Story of How Agnes, Sister Benigna, and Literacy Volunteers Have Madea Difference in the Lives of Thousands,” lecture and panel discussion, Bangor Public Library Lecture Hall.
• 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, The BeehiveCollective lecture and art display, 100 Lord Hall and Lord Hall Lobby.