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

UNC Asheville will celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March with 15 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. Events are open to the public and free unless otherwise indicated. For more information about UNCA’s Women’s History Month events, call the Women’s Studies Office at 828/251-6122.

** The opening event, "Phenomenal Women Share Their Stories," will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 1, in the Owen Conference Center. Women of color and professional storytellers will gather to share their stories of overcoming challenges at work, in love, with family members and in the community.

** UNCA literature and language instructor Ellen Perry will discuss " ‘Coal-Mining’ Women in Appalachian Literature, Music and Film" at 3 p.m. Monday, March 3, in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Since the early 20th century, Appalachian women and mining have been portrayed and reflected in the arts in order to highlight the significance of women’s labor roles and ideals. Perry will examine these artistic and often fictional representations, bringing a better appreciation for the contributions made by real coal-mining women.

** The nine-part Brown Bag Lunch lecture series will be a central focus of the UNCA 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. in Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. These include:

-- UNCA Philosophy Department Chair Gordon Wilson will discuss "Two Medieval Theories of the Role of Women in Human Generation: Thomas Aquinas and Henry of Ghent" on March 4. Wilson will present common medieval theories and their criticisms concerning the human body and women’s role in producing children.

-- "Anti-Poverty Activism in the Age of Welfare Reform: A New Civil Rights Movement?" will be the focus of a talk by Sarah Judson, UNCA assistant professor of history, on March 5. Judson will examine the impact of the Personal Responsibility Act of 1996, which cut federally funded public assistance for thousands of American women and children and turned responsibility for public assistance back to the states. She will also draw comparisons between the Civil Rights Movement anti-poverty activism in the 1960s and the contemporary movement.

-- On March 7, UNCA faculty members will lead a round table discussion on "Women’s State of the Union" with a focus on women’s poverty, wealth, reproductive freedom, health and risk for sexual assault.

-- Helen Wykle, UNCA Ramsey Library Special Collections director, will give a talk on "Fred Seely’s Women: Early Entrepreneurship and Male Mentoring" on March 17. From its beginnings as a local craft enterprise, Seely developed the Biltmore Industries into a nationally recognized producer of woven homespun fabric. Though his contemporaries often banished women from business, Seely encouraged intelligent entrepreneurship, creativity and social enterprise in his female friends and employees.

-- Lorena Russell, UNCA visiting literature and language assistant professor, and her Language 102 class will lead a round table discussion on "Approaches to ‘Black Venus:’ Sex, Gender and the Post-Colonial Description" on March 19. Questions on sex, gender and nationality will be raised in relationship to the "Hottentot Venus" phenomenon of the 19th century.

-- "Imperialism: The White Woman’s Burden?" will be the focus of a talk by UNCA Associate History Professor Tracey Rizzo on March 20. Rizzo and students in her History 364 class will examine the cross-cultural exchanges between women during the eara of European Imperialism. Students will present their research on complimentary subjects, ranging from French women’s anti-slavery work in Brazil to black women’s missionary work in Africa.

-- Heidi Kelley, UNCA associate professor of anthropology, will present "Postcards from the Field: Reflections on 17 Years of Field Work in Galicia" on March 25. She will reflect on the changes that she has witnessed in Galicia since 1985. Using examples from the coastal village of Ezaro and beyond, Kelley will talk about how those changes have been experienced by women -- and the men in their lives. The talk will be accompanied by slides and images by Ken Betsalel.

-- "Why Violence Works" will be the focus of a talk by UNCA Humanities Adjunct Professor Wayne Ewing and UNCA Humanities Instructor Grace Campbell on March 26. During this round table discussion, the two professors will explore the development of intervention programs in domestic violence, especially focused on male perpetrators. Their work is paralleled with observations on the trajectory of feminist analysis of male violence, covering the period of the inception of the safe house in the early 1970s until now.

-- On March 27, a round table of United Methodist clergywomen will consider "Is Christian Feminist an Oxymoron?" This second annual discussion will be facilitated by Amy Rio-Anderson, United Methodist campus minister.

** A screening of "Women of These Hills: Stories of Growing Up in Appalachia, A Living Documentary" will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 19 in the Humanities Lecture Hall. This local film by Tammy Hopkins of T. Hop Productions in association with the Cradle of Forestry in American portrays five women who share their stories of growing up in Western North Carolina. Women ages 91 to 47 are featured in the film.

** At 6 p.m. Monday, March 24, UNCA students in Women’s Studies 100 will discuss "Women Imagine Change." Women’s Studies Program Director Tracey Rizzo and students will examine women’s lives across geographical and chronological divides, debating the degree to which women have shared a common history and have changed the world. The talk will be held in UNCA’s Carmichael Hall room 132.

** The third annual "F-Word Film Festival: A Celebration of Images By and About Women (But For All Audiences)" will screen six feminist documentary videos on two evenings in the Humanities Lecture Hall. UNCA faculty and students will hold a panel discussion immediately following the screenings.

-- "Stripped and Teased: Tales from Las Vegas Women," "Real Indian" and "Tango 73: A Bus Rider's Diary" will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday, March 27.

"Stripped and Teased: Tales From Las Vegas Women" video portrays Las Vegas mothers, maids, wives, casino executives and showgirls who struggle against the sex-object stereotype.

"Real Indian" presents a lighthearted, very personal look at the meaning of cultural identity through the eyes of the Lumbee Indian filmmaker.

On board San Francisco Bay area bus line 73, "Tango 73: A Bus Rider’s Diary" filmmaker meets a feisty nanny, a wheelchair-dependent activist, a Mexican grandmother and a politically incorrect bus driver. The women speak about their love-hate relationship with the bus and the consequences of recent service cuts.

-- "Ever Shot Anyone?" "Lip" and "Writing Desire" will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday, March 28.

In "Ever Shot Anyone?" Israeli filmmaker Michal Aviad provides a women's take on how national culture is informed by male identity through the military experience that bonds her country's Jewish men.

"Lip," filmmaker Tracy Moffatt's video collage, reveals the narrow margin Hollywood has allowed black actresses to shine in.

"Writing Desire" is a compelling video essay on the new dream screen of the Internet and its impact of the global circulation of women's bodies from the third world to the first.

For more information about the film festival, call Lori Horvitz, UNCA Literature and Language assistant professor, at 828/251-6590.

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