UB's third-annual Gender Week, titled "Gender Matters 3," will kick off Monday with more than 25 gender-related events organized by the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender.
This year's Gender Week will run from Monday, Sept. 20 to Friday, Sept. 24. Topics range from women in science and engineering, to architecture and planning, to journalism.
"The primary goal of Gender Week is to show that women are important in all fields," said Barbara Bono, director of the Gender Institute and associate professor of English.
Patricia Shelly, the associate director at the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender, said she believes having the event this early in the semester will be beneficial because it will "inform students early in the academic year of the opportunities and broadened perspectives you can achieve by looking at the world through a gender lens."
According to Shelly, Gender Week's main focuses include giving students examples of quality work and research done by women, encouraging them to make gender focus a factor in their own future work, to build self-esteem for women and to raise awareness of gender.
That type of awareness, said Bono, has benefited UB in recent years.
"Since the beginning of the Gender Institute, the percentage of women in full-time faculty positions at UB has increased from 20 percent to 25 percent, which is an improvement, but it is still uneven in various disciplines," Bono said.
Margaret Sullivan, the editor in chief of The Buffalo News, is scheduled to speak about women's advancement in Western New York in Monday night's Center for the Arts presentation "Is the Glass Ceiling Really Broken?"
Christina Spoonley, a junior pharmacy major, said she is looking forward to gaining some enlightenment from the events.
"It would be interesting to see how much women have overcome to get where we are, and to see what we can do to get even farther in the world today," she said.
On Thursday a panel discussion is scheduled on the strategies of equity for women. Some of the considered topics include opportunities for promotion and access to jobs, how women can achieve fair working conditions and pay, and an examination of how this is done nationally and throughout the world.
"I think it's wonderful they have a week where women are presented in such a light where you can focus on their accomplishments and have other people aware of what can be done," said Dharmy Bhatt, a senior industrial engineering major.
On Thursday, at 5 p.m. at the CFA, the Ladies First swing band of Buffalo will jazz up UB for the afternoon.
"Anyone who wants to come there and cut a rug can come out and cut a rug," Bono said.
Following the musical segment will be a screening of the film "Any Mother's Son," about Allen Schindler, a sailor in the Navy, who was murdered by his fellow sailors for being a homosexual in the military.
According to Bono, there will be discussion with Schindler's mother and the producer of the film following the presentation.
Although Gender Week aims to bring awareness to women's issues and spark thought on how to solve them, Bono reassured that men are invited and encouraged to attend each of the events.
"Everybody has gender," Bono said. "Gender is one of the fundamental categories of the human experience. Men should care about gender as much as women, and should understand them historically and culturally. Women should care about gender issues and men who care about women should care about gender issues."
Nikki Mason, a senior political science major, believes the newly annual Gender Week is on its way to gaining the recognition it deserves.
"Until now I don't really think Gender Week has received enough publicity to make it well known," she said. "But I'm excited about the week's upcoming events. I think it's something all females on campus could benefit from."
MondayOs Gender Week Events
Noon: A capella concert: OGirlz to Women, Boyz to Men.O Student Union atrium.
1 p.m.: Lecture: Asst. prof. Christina Milletti, OWomenOs Experimental Fiction.O 306 Clemens Hall.
3 to 4 p.m.: Keynote lecture: Margaret Sullivan, OIs the Glass Ceiling Really Broken?O Black Box Theatre, CFA.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
