UNCA Offers a Variety of Program Celebrating Women's History Month

UNC Asheville will celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March with 16 diverse cultural programs. Among the highlights will be a brown bag lunch lecture series and the second annual "F-Word Film Festival," featuring six feminist films. Topics covered this year range from the Women of NASCAR and female bullies in the workplace to women composers and women artists. Events are open to the public and free unless otherwise indicated.

The opening event will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, March 1, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. The film "Miss Congeniality" will be shown followed by an open discussion moderated by Bob Toplin, UNCA visiting history professor.

** The 10-part Brown Bag Lunch lecture series will be a central focus of UNCA’s Women’s History Month events. Guests are invited to bring a packed lunch to eat while they listen. All Brown Bag Lunch talks will be given at 12:15 p.m. These include:

-- "When the Wrong Woman Wins" will be discussed on Monday, March 4, in the Ramsey Library Glasshouse. Penny Brunner, UNCA management and accountancy associate professor, and Melinda Costello, UNCA management and accountancy assistant professor, will discuss women bullies in the workplace. Research shows that 70 percent of bullies in the workplace are women and that 84 percent of their targets are female. Brunner and Costello will describe their original research in this area.

-- Grace Campbell, UNCA Humanities lecturer, and Wayne Ewing, UNCA adjunct professor of humanities, will discuss "Interventions in Domestic Violence: Observations from Historical and Cultural Perspectives" on Tuesday, March 5, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. They will cover the contemporary history of legal and clinical interventions in domestic violence, following the cultural and social trail beginning with male violence in the late 1970s.

-- UNCA Assistant History Professor Dan Pierce will examine "Racey Women, the Women of NASCAR" on Thursday, March 7, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Pierce will discuss women competitors in the early (1948-1955) NASCAR Grand National division, the highest level of Southern stock-car racing. His talk will focus on the three most prominent early female drivers, the encouragement of NASCAR’s president for their careers, their success and sudden disappearance from the sport in the mid-1950s.

-- "Women Travelers in 19th-Century Appalachia" will be the focus on Monday, March 18, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Gwen Ashburn, UNCA assistant professor of literature and language, and Helen Wykle, assistant professor of library science, will discuss narratives by Margaret Morely, Rebecca Harding Davis and Constance Woolson. These women’s perspectives come from close observation of politics, people and the environment. Widely published and read, their work helped shape the public perception of the Carolinas.

-- Senior history majors Sherrie Bowser and Emily Hickman will present their original research on powerful women in U.S. and world history on Tuesday, March 19, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Bowser will examine 1920s African American Blues women while Hickman will explore the life of Chinese Communist Soong Ching Ling.

-- Ellen Perry, UNCA assistant coordinator of advising and retention, will examine "She Likes the Old Ways: Women’s Quilts and Remembrance in Lee Smith’s ‘Fair and Tender Ladies’ and Sheila Kay Adams’ ‘Come Go Home with Me" on Wednesday, March 20, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Perry will explain the central theme of both works: that women who remember and preserve folk culture are remarkable and worthy of recognition. Both authors maintain a special interest in Appalachian mountain women and quilts, an aspect of folk culture that reflects the heroines’ respect for female identity, heritage and memory.

-- "Is ‘Christian Feminist’ an Oxymoron?" will be the topic of the panel discussion on Thursday, March 21, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Women with careers in the ministry will serve as panelists, including Rev. Judith Whelchel of All Soul’s Cathedral and Rev. Kerry Purselle of the First United Methodist Church in Brevard. Sandra Smith of Holy Ground will serve as moderator.

-- A panel of UNCA professors will discuss "Contextualizing Our Bodies in the Classroom" on Friday, March 22, in Private Dining Room 200, Dining Hall. Lori Horvitz and Sheryl Sawin, assistant professors of literature and language, and Tracey Rizzo, associate professor of history, will share instances where gender shaped their teaching philosophies and practices and then will explore how physicality affects the intellectual learning environment.

-- UNCA junior history majors Spencer Bolejack and Heidi Rollins will present their original research on European women’s history on Thursday, March 28 in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Bolejack will focus on women’s self-imposed borders, while Rollins will discuss Eleanor of Aquitaine.

-- Louly Peacock Konz and Ella Smith of Warren Wilson College’s art department will give the final talk in the series on Friday, March 29, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. They will discuss "Bad Girls in Art and Rock: Relationship Between Feminist Expressions of Sexuality and Control" and the contemporary feminist art world.

** The second annual "F-Word Film Festival: A Celebration of Images By and About Women" will present six documentary video screenings followed by group discussions. The two-evening event includes:

-- At 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, three videos will be shown in the Humanities Lecture Hall. Gretchen Trautmann, UNCA assistant professor of foreign languages, will moderate the discussion following the screenings.

"Shinjuku Boys" introduces three onnabes who work as hosts at the New Marilyn Club in Tokoyo. Onnabes are women who live as men and have girlfriends. As the film follows them at home and on the job, all three talk frankly about their gender-bending lives, revealing their views about women, sex, transvestitism and lesbianism.

"A Place Called Home" explores filmmaker Persheng Sadegh-Vaziri’s decision to move back to Iran after living in the U.S. for nineteen years. In this personal documentary, Sadegh-Vaziri interviews family members and reveals the complex layers of expatriate, national and cultural identities. The film also features a rare glimpse at women’s lives in contemporary Tehran.

"No Means No" is a stylish and imaginative exploration of date rape. It helps to raise consciousness for both men and women about how misunderstandings can lead to date rape. A combination of evocative images and text, dialogue recreation of a date rape and personal testimonies demonstrate how deeply problems of communication and understanding between the sexes relate to this problem.

-- At 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, three different videos will be shown in the Humanities Lecture Hall. Lori Horvitz, UNCA assistant professor of literature and language, will moderate the discussion following the screenings.

"Grrlyshow" is an 18-minute powerful and rebellious message from the voice of fringe feminism and print media. Filmmaker Kara Herold examines the girly ‘Zine revolution and culture, focusing on feminism’s postmodern third wave. The video successfully bring to the surface alternative voices and projects that are vital to the continuation and expansion of feminism.

"The Righteous Babes" delivers a lively mix of music, pop-culture and academia that critiques how feminism has influenced women in rock, and how in return contemporary women in rock have revived the message of feminism. Filmmaker Pratibha Parmar intercuts performance footage with interviews, featuring Ani DiFranco, Madonna, Camille Paglia and Gloria Steinem.

"Macho" provides an in-depth profile of Men Against Violence and its ground-breaking work towards eliminating attitudes of male chauvinism that have perpetuated violent acts against women in Latin America. The film explores the group’s success in providing a model that is used by men worldwide to discuss issues of violence and to advocate for the rights of women.

** Afternoon and evening events include:

-- UNCA students in the women’s studies senior seminar will serve as panelists in a Forum on Ecofeminism at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 6, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Students will define, critique and explore this branch of feminist theory and activism, which joins the causes of environmentalism, animal rights and pacifism to women’s liberation.

-- Candyce Leonard, associate professor of humanities at Wake Forest University, will discuss "Cross-Dressing in Hollywood Movies and Spectator Response" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Leonard will speak about cross-dressing and gender stereotypes in major Hollywood movies and spectator response to those images and messages.

-- "An Evening of Music: Contributions to the French Horn Repertoire, a Recital of Selected Works by Women Composers" will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 21, in Lipinsky Auditorium by Jacqueline Mattingly on horn and Vance Reese on piano. A donation of $5 will be suggested at the door.

** A number of related events will take place in March and April. These include:

-- An exhibition entitled "May All Cups Be Full," featuring 24 mixed media compositions by UNC Asheville senior Lauren Gibbes, will be on view March 1-19 in UNCA’s University Gallery. The show is the culmination of Gibbes’ work toward her bachelor of fine arts degree at UNCA. An opening reception will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, March 1, in the gallery, which is located on the first floor of Owen Hall.

-- "Honoring Women," an exhibition of 24 pieces of art in a variety of mediums, will be on view March 4-29 at UNC Asheville’s Blowers Gallery, located on the main floor of Ramsey Library. The exhibition is presented by HandMade in America. Seven members of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild will show their work, including works in clay by Cynthia Bringle, machine embroidery on cloth by Edwina Bringle, wall quilts and published books by Georgia Bonesteel, hand-marbled paper and fabric and published books by Patty Schleicher, hand-marbled paper and fabric by Mimi Schleicher, metal sculpture by Paige Davis and baskets by Billie Ruth Sudduth. Norma Bradley, HandMade in America arts and education director, serves as curator.

-- The third annual Buncombe County Women’s Commission Forum will focus on "Are You a Part of the Heard, or Are You Heard? Getting Appointed to and Serving Effectively on Government Boards and Commissions" from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 23, at UNCA’s Private Dining Rooms, Dining Hall. The forum provides training to women interested in seeking appointment to county and city boards and commissions, and offers tips for women already on such boards who wish to serve more effectively.

-- UNCA’s Art Department, Women’s Studies Program, Social Life Task Force and Art Front student art club will host a talk by painters Dorothea Rockbourne and Sue Weil at 5 p.m. Friday, April 19, in UNCA’s Owen Conference Center. These nationally known abstractionist painters will give a slide presentation and lecture. A reception will follow.

-- Poet Robin Becker will give a reading of recent work at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, in UNCA’s Owen Conference Center. The author of five books, Becker is associate professor of English and Women’s Studies at Penn State University. Her fourth book, "All-American Girl," won the 1996 Lambda Award in Lesbian Poetry. Her most recent book is "The Horse Fair."

For more information about UNCA’s Women’s History Month events, call the Women’s Studies Office at 828/251-6122.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Tracey Rizzo, UNCA Women’s Studies Program Director, 828/251-6315
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526