Women's History Month at Daemen!

March is Women’s History Month! Please join the Women's Studies Program at Daemen to celebrate and explore issues in women's history.

 

 

Suffragetto!  

Tuesday, March 21

11:30 am to 1:00 pm, Alumni Lounge

This recently rediscovered historic board game (from 1909) is based upon British suffragettes’ battle for women’s right to vote. Suffragetto is a strategy game played by two players; suffragettes try to break into Parliament’s House of Commons and confront police who are trying to disrupt a suffrage meeting in Albert Hall while protecting the House of Commons from the invading women. Learn about movements to secure the right to vote while playing this historic game. Co-sponsored by Daemen’s Women’s Studies Program and the Center for Diversity & Inclusion. Refreshments are included. 

  

 

“Hidden Figures”  

Thursday, March 23 

4:00 to 7:00 pm, RIC120

The 2016 film, headlined by Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, and Janelle Monae, traces the stories of three Black female mathematicians, human “computers” whose work for NASA was integral to the success of the US space program. After the film, Dr. Intisar Hibschweiller (Professor of Mathematics) and Dr. Diane Ramos (Chair of Natural Science Department) will discuss women’s role in STEM fields, including challenges and opportunities for women today. Co-sponsored by Daemen’s Women’s Studies Program and the Center for Diversity & Inclusion. Refreshments are included. 

 

“Gendered Norms and Women's Access to the Law in Rural Bangladesh” 

Wednesday, March 29

1:25-2:20pm, DS336 

Lecture by Dr. Nayma Qayum, the author of Village Ties: Women, NGOs, and Informal Institutions in Rural Bangladesh. Qayum will explain how rural Bangladeshi women seek to end practices such as child marriage, dowry abuse, and intimate partner violence, which persist although they have been outlawed. Qayum is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Global and International Studies at Manhattanville College. This event, part of the History & Politics Event Series, is also co-sponsored by Daemen’s Global Studies program, Women’s Studies program, and the Center for Diversity & Inclusion. 

 

 

“Gaslight” 

Friday, March 31

5:00-7:30 pm, RIC120

Are you curious about “gaslighting,” Merriam-Webster’s 2022 Word of the Year? In this classic 1944 thriller, Ingrid Bergman plays a newlywed whose husband manipulates her into distrusting her own experiences, perceptions, and memories (“gaslighting” her). Come for the film and stay for the discussion, with commentary and discussion led by Dr. Shirley Peterson, emeritus Professor of English. Co-sponsored by Daemen’s Women’s Studies Program and the Center for Diversity & Inclusion. Refreshments are included. 

 

 

 

**All events are free and open to the public. Please contact Dr. Penny Messinger, director of the Women's Studies Program, for more information** 

 

Women's History Month -- 2019!

The Women's Studies Program at Daemen is proud to announce this year's Women's History Month roster of events, including lectures, films, a poetry reading, and a meet-and-greet poster-making session.

(Scroll down to the Women's History Month poster for full details about each event.)

 

"Liberty" (Frances F. Noyes) presides over this March 31, 1913, suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., as women sought the right to vote. (National Archives)

Lectures: The History and Political Science Department is sponsoring two lectures as part of its History & Politics Event Series:

• On March 25 (7pm, RIC120), Dr. Alexis Henshaw will speak on "Insurgent Women: Female Combatants in Civil Wars." Dr. Henshaw is a political scientist specializing in international women's issues. She is a professor as well as United Nation consultant. Henshaw's lecture will draw upon her recent book, Insurgent Women, to explore women's involvement in war and peace efforts in several regions: Ukraine, Kurdish groups in the Middle East, and the civil war in Columbia. (For more information, see the event flier or our Facebook event page)

• On March 20 (7pm, Wick Social Room), Dr. Karolina Krasuska will present a lecture on "Women and the Holocaust." Dr. Krasuska, an Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw, Poland, is an expert on transnational modernism, gender, queer identity, and Jewishness. In fall 2017, Krasuska taught a class on 20th century European history at Daemen during her visit as part of the faculty exchange program between Daemen and the University of Warsaw's American Studies Center.  Her lecture will draw upon her recent coedited collection, Women and the Holocaust: New Perspectives and Challenges. Dr. Krasuska's lecture is co-sponsored by the Center for Polish Studies.
  

Films: 

• On March 6 (7pm, Wick Alumni Lounge), the History & Political Science Department is screening the classic 1959 French film, Hiroshima Mon Amour, timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the film's release. Dr. Kevin Telford (Associate Professor of French, Modern Languages Department) will comment and lead a discussion after the movie. 
• On March 27 (7pm, RIC120), the AAUW Student Organization will air the 2016 (remake) of the movie, Ghostbusters, in which paranormal investigators try to prove that ghosts are real. Students will discuss the film through a feminist lens, focusing on the significance of the all-female cast and reframed story.  
• on March 28 (4pm, DS336), Dr. Shannon Lupien and other members of the Psychological Sciences Department will present The Tale as part of the Daemen Film Series. The Tale explores the aftermath of the sexual assault of a child--from the perspective of the adult survivor of sexual assault who is coming to terms with what happened to her as a child and who needs to understand the stories she told herself to survive her experiences.  

Poetry Reading:

• On March 20 (7pm, 3rd floor RIC), the Readings at the RIC poetry series features two female poets from Buffalo: Rachelle Toarmino and Theresa Wyatt

AAUW: Sign-design & Interest Meeting:

• On March 7 (7pm, RIC Den), members of the AAUW Student Organization will come together to make signs and socialize before the 2019 Buffalo Women's March (scheduled for Sunday, March 10). The club promotes gender equality and action in behalf of women's education and gender pay equity. Make a sign, plan for the March, and learn more about the AAUW and its members. 
  

Upcoming events: Visit this page for updates on April's events:

• Dr. Laura Watts, Associate Professor of Art History (Visual and Performing Arts Department) -- will lecture on images of the matria in 19th century Italian paintings (Time/location TBA)

• On April 17 (Academic Festival) the AAUW Student Organization is holding a World Hijab Day Acknowledgement event--and henna booth. Learn about cultural traditions associated with wearing hijab--why do women wear them, and what do they represent? The club will also sponsor a henna booth. Get a henna tattoo and learn about the cultural significance of henna body ornamentation in different cultures. The event is scheduled to run for several hours, but most visitors will want to stay for 15 to 30 minutes so you can stop by between other events at Academic Festival. (schedule will be posted here)

Read more about this year's Women's History Month events in this story from The Daemen Voice and by visiting the History & Political Science Department's Facebook page.

Questions? Contact Dr. Penny Messinger, Associate Professor of History and Director of Daemen's Women's Studies Program.

Insurgent Women: Female Combatants in Civil Wars

March is Women's History Month @ Daemen!

Daemen College invites you to celebrate Women's History Month--join us for events taking place throughout the month of March. 

Naomi Parker Fraley (1921-2018), inspiration for iconic Rosie the Riveter poster

 
Monday, March 5

7:00pm-9:00pm, RIC120

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Film and discussion by Dr. Serife Tekin

An African-American woman becomes an unwitting pioneer for medical breakthroughs when her cells are used to create the first immortal human cell line in the early 1950s. 2017 film, based on the book by journalist Rebecca Skloot.

* Discussion led by Dr. Serife Tekin (Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies)

Daemen Film Series

* Light refreshments provided

Thursday, March 8

7:00pm-8:00pm, RIC120

Redirecting the Gaze: Self-Portraits by Female Artists

Lecture by Dr. Yvonne K. Widenor

Yvonne K. Widenor is Visiting Assistant Professor and Program Director for the Art History program at Canisius College

* Sponsored by the Sister Jeanne File Art History Lecture Series

Tuesday, March 20

10:00am-11:20am, DS219

Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Open Classroom: Victorian Women as Social Activists

Lecture/discussion by Dr. Nancy Marck

Victorian female poets wrote about more than love and romance. Join Dr. Marck's LIT204 open classroom to learn about Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem, “The Cry of the Children,” which explores the use of child labor in British factories.

Wednesday, March 21

7:30pm – 9:15pm, RIC (3^rd floor)

Readings in the RIC: Women’s Poetry

Join Buffalo poets Jennifer Campbell and Janna Willoughby-Lorh, for readings of their poems, at the March meeting of “Readings in the RIC” poetry series.

* Light refreshments provided

Thursday, March 22

6:00pm – 8:00pm, RIC120

Miss Representation

Film & panel discussion

Miss Representation asks, Why are women so underrepresented in positions of power and authority in America? How is women’s low status and power related to the distorted portrayals of women in the mass media? This powerful 2012 documentary connects the dots, arguing, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” 

The PANEL DISCUSSION after the movie features members of the AAUW Student Organization. Students on the panel and in the audience will discuss the issues of media representation and political participation explored in the film.

* Sponsored by the AAUW Student Organization and Daemen’s Women’s Studies Program

* Light refreshments provided

Wednesday, March 28

6:00pm-9:00pm, (RIC101)

Suffragette…and Suffragetto!

Watch the film…and play the board game!

SUFFRAGETTE
A century ago, British women were fighting (literally!) for the right to vote. The 2015 drama Suffragette features a young working-class woman
(Maud Watts, played by Carey Mulligan) who is drawn into the increasingly radical British suffrage movement, led by the dynamic Emmeline Pankhurst. Secret meetings, terrorism, and police suppression endanger Maud’s status as a worker, wife, and mother.
 

BONUS: SUFFRAGETTO!
After the film, we will pair off to play the vintage 1908 board game Suffragetto! In this two-person board game, radical suffragettes try to enter the British House of Commons while dodging arrests by the police barring their way.

* Sponsored by the AAUW Student Organization & Daemen’s Women’s Studies Program

* Light refreshments provided

COMING ATTRACTIONS (April):

Sunday, April 15

8:30am to 5:30pm

Day trip to Seneca Falls Women’s Rights National Historic Park (NPS)

Visit the birthplace of the Woman’s Rights Movement in the US on a day trip to Seneca Falls. Tour the Wesleyan Chapel and Women’s Rights Museum, with options to visit the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Home and other sites in historic Seneca Falls. 
* Tickets are only $10 per person (includes transportation and snacks; admission to the museum is free).    
* Deadline to sign up is April 7
Purchase your ticket here:  https://daemensenecafallstrip.eventbrite.com

* Sponsored by the AAUW Student Organization & Daemen’s Women’s Studies Program

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

See Academic Festival schedule for location/time

Acknowledgement of World Hijab Day

The hijab is a type of religious covering worn by many Muslim women across the world. Have you ever wondered what it really means to wear a hijab? Or how to put one on? Or what you'd look like covered? Join Daemen's American Association of University Women (AAUW) to explore the answers to these questions.

* Sponsored by the AAUW Student Organization 

** All events are open to the public**

** For more information about any of these events, contact Dr. Penny Messinger Women’s Studies Program Director, at pmessing@daemen.edu **

Farida Jalalzai: Why are there so few women in political leadership postitions?

Dr. Farida Jalalzai, the featured speaker for Women’s History Month, presented her research on women, gender, and politics in a March 28^th event in the History & Politics Event Series. In her guest blog post below, Brianna Zichettella (junior, PSC), discusses Dr. Jalalzai’s presentation, “The Global Dimensions of Women’s Executive Leadership,” which examined the relationship between gender and political leadership in the international setting.

 Dr. Farida Jalalzai

By Brianna Zichettella (guest blogger)

In the wake of an American presidential election where a woman won the popular vote for the first time in American history, Farida Jalalzai’s research is especially relevant to both domestic and global politics. Her work focuses on the women who occupy and run for executive leadership positions such as prime minister or president. Despite significant increases in female leadership over the last sixty years, gender representation in executive positions is far from equal. According to Jalalzai’s statistics, there have been 144 female executive leaders between 1960, when the first female prime minister was elected, and 2017. Women are more likely to be prime ministers than presidents, but there are still 61% of countries have never had a female leader. Additionally, in 2017, only 6% of executive leaders are women.

There are many different factors that can influence a woman’s chances of becoming an executive leader. Jalalzai cites increased elite control, multi-party political systems, and liberal-leaning government as a few of the factors that tend to result in more female leadership. Regardless of the existence of these structures, many claim that more women do not hold executive leadership positions because women do not run.

Jalalzai disagrees. Her argument is that women run for executive office, but because many voters associate masculine traits with those positions, women are not often elected. For example, it is possible that more women tend to be prime ministers because the position emphasizes cooperation over the top-down hierarchical power structure of a presidency, and the role of a prime minister corresponds more closely with societal expectations for women’s’ behavior.

In addition to this, Jalalzai demonstrated that people tend to support the idea of a qualified female candidate from their party, but if pressed, those same people are more critical of women’s capabilities. Therefore, another reason for why more women are prime ministers could stem from the biases that people bring into the voting booth. Jalalzai’s research indicates that women are more successful in systems that do not choose executives through direct public input, such as prime minister positions that are chosen by a party rather than the voters.

Jalalzai argues that women candidates are often more qualified than their male counterparts. Despite this, they are held to higher standards and face more criticism about their appearance, speaking styles, and whether or not they smile. All three types of judgment can be seen in a lot of the criticism of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.

For the American political system, Jalalzai argues that a shift in social opinion will need to occur for a woman to become president. She states that continuing political activism, such as the Women’s March on Washington, is central to illuminating the social, political, and economic inequality faced by women in America today.

Members of the History & Political Science Department faculty pose with guest speaker Farida Jalazai. L-R: Drs Jay Wendland, Aakriti Tandon, Lisa Parshall, Farida Jalazai, Penny Messinger, Elizabeth Campbell, & Andrew Wise. Missing from photo: Joseph Sankoh