Friday, February 25, 2011

The University of North Carolina Wilmington will offer a series of unique presentations and interactive events for this year's Women's History Month celebration. Incorporating the national Women's History Month theme of "Our History is Our Strength," UNCW's events explore women's struggles and achievements historically and today through lectures, films and discussions.

UNCW's Women's Studies & Resource Center (WSRC) will host events throughout March to promote and support learning and informed dialogue of women's history and issues. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public.

Friday, March 4, 3:30 p.m., Randall Library Auditorium
Leigh Ann Wheeler Lecture
Scholarly lecture and Q & A by Leigh Ann Wheeler, associate professor at Binghamton University and editor of The Journal of Women's History. She will speak on the topic of "Where Else But Greenwich Village? Love, Lust and the Birth of the American Civil Liberties Union's Sexual Rights Agenda, 1920-1932." Wheeler's scholarly work revolves around one key problem-understanding the gendered and changing nature of sexual culture in 20th-century America.

Wednesday, March 9, 5 p.m., Kenan Hall Auditorium
Mary Ombonga Lecture and Reception
Mary Ombonga, faculty member in UNCW's Department of Educational Leadership, will speak from her research on girls being educated in a Center of Excellence in Kajiado District, Kenya. The topic of the lecture is, "From Wives to Students: Opportunities and Challenges of Educating Girls Rescued from Early and Prearranged Marriages in Kenya."

Wednesday, March 23, 5:30 p.m., Randall Library Auditorium
Film: Demand
This documentary centers on investigative footage of human trafficking and prostitution around the world. This is the closing event for Stop the Traffik's Freedom Festival.

Friday, March 25, 6:30 p.m., Center for Marine Science
LUNAFEST Film Festival
LUNAFEST is the 10th annual national film festival, reception and fundraiser benefiting the Breast Cancer Fund and Wilmington's Women in the Center. It will include 10 selected short films, diverse in both style and subject matter, united by a common thread of exceptional storytelling by, for and about women. A reception with refreshments will take place prior to show time at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. For more information contact: 910.962.7870.

Wednesday, March 30, 4:30 p.m., Warwick Center
Merri Lisa Johnson, Girl in Need of a Tourniquet Event
Author of Girl in Need of a Tourniquet: Memoir of a Borderline Personality and editor of Jane Sexes It Up, Merri Lisa Johnson will blend the jarring strangeness and dramatic urgency of performance art with a traditional literary reading. Johnson is an associate professor of Women's and Gender Studies and English at the University of South Carolina Upstate.

Friday, April 8, 3:30 p.m., Randall Library Auditorium
Film: Generation M
This documentary looks specifically at misogyny and sexism in mainstream media, exploring how negative definitions of femininity and hateful attitudes toward women are often constructed and perpetuated at the very heart of American popular culture.

For a full listing of events UNCW's Women's History Month events, visit: www.uncw.edu/wsrc

Media contact:
Dana Fischetti, media relations manager, 910.962.7259 or fischettid@uncw.edu