CSB hosts Women’s Month events

02/27/2008

You can make a difference. It’s a straight-forward yet complex thought, one that applies to almost anything in this world of ours.

And, it’s the underlying theme of Women’s Month 2008 activities at the College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph.

The theme of the month is, “Global Action Starts with You.” It asks participants to look at the world and see how they can affect change. Activities are planned throughout the month which will make participants ponder that question and others.

Among the activities planned:

• The Century Project will be on display from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, March 3, through Saturday, March 8 at Alumnae Hall, CSB. The project, by photographer Frank Cordelle, is a chronological series of nude photographic portraits of more than 100 women and girls from the moment of birth to nearly 100 years of age. It is a diverse group of photographs comprising women of many ages, shapes and life experiences, and most of the images are accompanied by moving statements written by the women themselves. Cordelle will speak about the project at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, at Alumnae Hall.
• Several Women’s Month events are designed to help people embrace their natural beauty, the beauty of others and to appreciate each other’s whole being. On Tuesday, March 4, students can stop by tables at Gorecki Dining and Conference Center at CSB and Sexton Commons at Saint John’s University to send a “Beauty-Gram” to someone who has added some form of beauty to their life. And, on Thursday, March 6, students are encouraged to give up their make-up for the day.
• “Express Yourself” is from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, March 3 at Sister Nancy Hynes Center for Women at CSB. Participants will be able to express themselves through a chalk mural.
• The sixth annual “Gather the Women” celebration is from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at Gorecki Dining and Conference Center. Two members of the singing group “The Three Amigos” will lead participants in singing, discussion and self-reflection to foster intercultural awareness and appreciation – to “hold our own part while harmonizing with others.”
• Two events will be held Wednesday, March 26. Jo Ann Buysse speaks on “Framing the Female Athlete: Media Portrayals in Sport” at 4:30 p.m. at Alumnae Hall in the Haehn Campus Center, CSB. Then, at 7 p.m. at Alumnae Hall, Donna Hughes speaks on sex-trafficking. Hughes, a professor in the women’s studies program at the University of Rhode Island and the Eleanor M. and Oscar M. Carlson Endowed Chair, is a leading international researcher on trafficking of women and children in the United States, Russia, Ukraine and Korea. Both speeches are open to the public.

Women’s Month 2008 is sponsored by the Sister Nancy Hynes Center for Women at CSB, and the CSB Student Senate. The center is run by CSB students, who set the agenda for Women’s Month activities. Women’s Month began in the 1970s at CSB, and is a month to focus and reflect on the contributions and challenges by women past, present and future to our local, national and global societies.