Women's History Month at Rowan to highlight "Women's Art: Women's Vision"

February 29, 2008



"Women's Art: Women's Vision" is the theme of Rowan University's celebration of Women's History Month.

Here is the schedule of events, which includes presentations by artists, authors, musicians, scientists, and scholars:

Rock legend Patti Smith and acclaimed poet Janet Hamill perform for one night together on the campus where they began their lifelong friendship (7:30 p.m., Pfleeger Concert Hall).

Counselors will provide anonymous eating disorder screenings and will discuss how to develop positive body images (11 a.m.-1 p.m., Pit of Chamberlain Student Center).

Dr. Harry Gershenowitz will present "Sylvia Plath: A Woman's Foresight" (12:30 p.m., Room 226, Campbell Library).

"Women in Black," a silent vigil against the Iraq War (10:50 a.m.-1 p.m., patio of the Chamberlain Student Center). All campus women are invited to dress in black and join the vigil.

"Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach: A Creative Exploration of Dance and Literature," a performance which uses dance as a medium to explore the themes of community, empowerment and individuality (11 a.m.-noon, Esby Gym).

"Ordinary Capacity and Extraordinary Persistence: The Educational Philosophy of Maria Mitchell," a lecture by Janet Schulte, director of the Maria Mitchell Association of Nantucket, Mass. (2 p.m., Edelman Planetarium, Science Hall). Schulte also will give a talk from 7-8 p.m. in the planetarium.

"Faith Ringgold Day at Rowan University" includes a tribute to the artist and writer, whose first children's book, Tar Beach, was a Caldecott Honor Book and winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration. From 9:45-10:30 a.m., Ringgold will present an interactive reading of Tar Beach with local middle school students (Room 221, Chamberlain Student Center). From 10:50 a.m.-12:30 p.m., she'll chronicle her life and work, as well as her involvement in the Civil Rights and Women's Rights Movements during the annual Women's Studies Luncheon (Eynon Ballroom, Chamberlain Student Center). Her appearance concludes with a book-signing (12:45-1:30 p.m., Eynon Ballroom).

Rowan's Lucy/Vox group will present a screening of "Iron Jawed Angels," a 2004 film that profiles a group of dynamic women who put their lives on the line to fight for American women's right to vote (6 p.m., Room 144, Chamberlain Student Center).

"Dying of Love: Women of the Opera Stage," which will discuss female characters in 19th and 20th century operas, will be presented by music professors Lourin Plant and Adeline Tomasone (9:25 a.m., Room 114, Wilson Hall).

Author Phyllis Mariani will read from her book, ...and Baby Makes Three, which focuses on adoption, to children in Rowan's preschool. A book signing will follow. (11 a.m.-2 p.m., small lobby of Education Hall).

Fran Pierce will present a lecture on the "Engineering a Path to the Executive Suite." She will explore the communication, interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills that, once acquired, can catapult engineers to unqualified workplace success (1 p.m., Rowan Hall auditorium).

Rowan education professor Holly Willett will present "We Build Together: Charlemae Rollins and African American Children's Literature" (1:45 p.m., Room 3091, Education Hall).

Sociology professor Mary Gallant, author Coming of Age in the Holocaust, will present a lecture titled "Women and the Holocaust" (11 a.m., Dewey Lounge, Robinson Hall).

St. John's University professor Mary Ann Maslak will discuss "Teaching Muslim Girls in Northwestern China" (12:45 p.m., Dewey Lounge, Robinson Hall).

"Domestic Oversights: Ann Petry's The Street and Black Class Hierarchy," presented by Professor Candice Jenkins, will examine Petry's novel and its theme of class-based hierarchical distinctions between African-American women (Room 226, Campbell Library).

"Susan B. Anthony, The Invincible! The Fight for Equity," a 45-minute dramatization of American heroine Susan B. Anthony, will be presented by Rowan's Lucy/Vox group (6 p.m., Room 144, Chamberlain Student Center).

Philadelphia artist Tremain Smith will speak about the spiritual, intellectual and institutional path of painting as a form of literacy during "Spirit as Path: The Visual Literacy of One Contemporary Artist," a lecture (Noon, Room 3091, Education Hall).

Helen Berger, award-winning author of A Community of Witches, will speak about her research on teenage witches (1:15 p.m., Bozorth Hall 15).

"The Vagina Monologues," the award-winning play about women's sexuality written by Eve Ensler in 1996, will be presented (9 p.m., Pit of Chamberlain Student Center).

"Women in Russia: The Cold War and Today" will be presented by Adele Lindenmeyer (9:25 a.m., location to be announced).

"Women at Work: Build Your Future," a morning of workshops and conversations designed for personal and professional development, featuring keynote speaker Dr. R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of the College of New Jersey (8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Eynon Ballroom, Chamberlain Student Center).

Rowan's Women's History Month celebration is sponsored by the following: Remington & Vernick Engineers; the Office of Multicultural Affairs; the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs; the College of Fine and Performing Arts; Friends of the Campbell Library; the College of Engineering; the President's Office; the Provost's Office; the College of Education; the Thomas N. Bantivoglio Honors Program; the College of Business; and the Gloucester County Commission on Women.