Gender and Sexuality Studies Program to Hold Annual Colloquium

This year’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program 2009 Colloquium will be held on Thursday, April 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Sweigert Hall Auditorium Room 115. The free event, which is open to public, will feature student paper presentations, an awards ceremony and keynote speaker.

Last fall, several students enrolled in a GND 200: Introduction to Women’s Studies class organized and/or volunteered for community action projects on behalf of girls and women, including Planned Parenthood, for organizations and physicians focused on breast cancer, Girl Scouts of America, Womanspace, and HomeFront. The students will share their experiences during the colloquium.

There will be three sessions where students from both the Lawrenceville and Westminster campuses will present research papers, which they have written for various courses. Their papers cover a broad range of gender issues in music, film, literature, sociology, history, media and pop culture.

The awards ceremony will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in Sweigert Hall Room 118, where an outstanding student will be recognized with the Dr. Virginia Cyrus scholarship. The Ziegler-Gee Award will also be presented to an administrator, staff member or faculty member who has worked to end gender discrimination. Lunch will also be served.

This year’s keynote speaker is Anya Galli, an art apprentice and a 2008 graduate of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Galli will present The Honest Body, a photographic exhibit that examines cultural ideas of women’s bodies through 33 nude images of St. Olaf College women who volunteered to participate in the project. Galli chose this project for her senior art show as an integration of her double majors in Art and Women/s Studies. During her keynote, the images and accompanying journal entries will be projected on screens. The photos and journal entries will also be on display in Moore Library from Thursday, April 1, through Friday, April 17. 

The schedule of events include:

• 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. – Shaping Culture, History and Law
• 11:30 a.m. to noon – Community Action Projects for Girls and Women
• Noon to 1 p.m. – Lunch and Awards Ceremony
• 1:10 to 2:10 p.m. – Switching the Lens
• 2:20 to 3:20 p.m. – Keynote Address: Anya Galli will present The Honest Body
• 3:30 – 5 p.m. – Breaking Barriers

For more information, please contact Dr. Kelly Noonan, director of the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, at extension 5539 or knoonan@rider.edu