Honoring Womens History Month at UMass Boston |
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By Carol Hardy-Fanta UMass Boston traditionally offers a wide range of activities to help us celebrate Womens History Month. The McCormack Institute has invited Mary Frances Berry, the chair of the Commission on Civil Rights, to speak at a public forum on March 13. On the following day, she will join a group of women leaders from around Greater Boston in a discussion of one of her books, The Politics of Parenthood: Child Care, Womens Rights, and the Myth of the Good Mother. Sponsored by the McCormack Institutes Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, the event is by invitation. The student-run Womens Center at UMass Boston is developing an exciting line-up of events during March. First, they hope to bring a women filmmaker on campus to preview one of her films. Second, Equalogy, a professional theater company, will come to campus to do a play on acquaintance date rape. At the event the Womens Center will have tables with literature and information pertaining to date rape and domestic violence. They also expect to bring women poets, including students at UMass Boston, to share their works. Greater Boston offers many opportunities for learning and activism around womens history and womens rights. The Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy is pleased to co-sponsor the local celebration of International Womens Day on March 8. This event will be held at Simmons College Conference Center from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. As space is limited, RSVP by contacting the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women at 617.626.6520. New Words Bookstore at 186 Hampshire Street in Cambridge is hosting a number of events in March, including an appearance by Chitra Divakaruni, who will read from The Vine of Desire on March 13 at 7:00 p.m. There also will be an open mic for women on March 15 at 7:30 p.m. Find out more about their offerings at 617-371-7124. This is only a sampling of events around Greater Boston. By March 1, the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy will have a more complete listing on www.mccormack.umb.edu/Centers/cwppp of what to do on campus to join people around the globe who promote the U.N. affirmation that womens rights are human rights. |
Facts About Womens History MonthInternational Womens Day has been celebrated worldwide in a variety of ways since 1909. The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. In 1979, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Congress declared March to be National Womens History Month in 1987. Women Sustaining the American Spirit is the new theme for National Womens History Month 2002. |
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