In an effort to raise awareness for women's health, the UB Gender Institute is focusing its 11th annual Gender Week on the topic of "gender and health."
Each day this week, events and presentations that highlight important issues relating to the topic are being held on UB's North and South Campus. All events, which are organized by the Gender Institute, are free and open to students and faculty.
"The message of Gender Week is really to generate interest in research and education on women and gender specific research," said Dr. Rosemary Dziak, director of the Gender Institute. "We want to expose the students and the whole UB faculty to research that's being done in the field."
According to Dziak, this year's events will specifically highlight research done by members of the UB faculty. In addition, the events, while covering a wide range of subjects, will be focused around one central theme.
"I'm interested in [all of the events,]" Dziak said. "Every one of them has something special to offer. [This year's topic] is concerned with so many different aspects of life, from birth to older age."
Some of Gender Week's events include a screening and discussion of a film on gender violence and body image, a presentation on sexual development disorders and a presentation on female surgeons at UB.
Ruth Goldman, a graduate student in American studies and a graduate assistant at the Gender Institute, feels that this year's Gender Week is promoting noteworthy issues.
"I think gender and health is a very important and timely theme," Goldman said. "Although women make up more than half of our population, their health concerns are often under-researched at best and ignored at worst."
Goldman thinks that some of the events will be especially appealing to students.
"For undergrad students, I think Wednesday's film screening and discussion on Gender Violence and Body Image should be quite provocative," Goldman said. "Other events that might be of interest are disorders of sexual development, adolescent girls' sexual development and gender testing and sports."
The week will conclude on Friday with an awards reception.
The UB Gender Institute, headquartered in Suite 207 of the UB Commons, continues its mission of promoting research and education of gender and sex specific issues throughout the year.
"We have events throughout the year," Dziak said. "We sponsor research in progress, [and] sometimes, if a faculty member is writing a book we'll organize an event for them. They will invite a circle of people who they think can be of immediate help for them and we'll host that discussion or interaction."
The Gender Institute sponsors multiple scholarships each year for undergraduate and graduate students whose studies are focused on women and gender. In addition, the institute has internships open to students.
Jennifer Christian, a senior American studies and history major, is one the Institute's current interns.
"I wanted to intern at the Gender Institute because I am passionate about the societal implication gender has, which can be seen in education, work and daily lives," Christian said.
As part of her internship, Christian helped in organizing and promoting the events of Gender Week.
"I think this year's Gender Week focus is amazing," Christian said. "The presentations for Gender Week are very student oriented. You don't have to be a health or science major to be able to understand the topics being presented."
The schedule for the remainder of the week's events can be found at http://genderin.buffalo.edu/.
Dziak encourages students to come out to this week's events and to get involved with the Gender Institute during the rest of the school year.
"I tend to think that undergraduate students get caught up in the routine of their classes and they don't realize what's going on [around] campus," Dziak said. "I [think] a lot of students aren't aware that many of the results that are coming out concerning women's health are from experts right here at UB."
Wednesday's Events
12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.—Inaugural Lunch Meet and Greet Feminist Research Alliance
Location: Gender Institute, 207 UB Commons, North Campus
3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.—Film Screening and Discussion: Gender Violence and Body Image
Location: Wende 111, South Campus
7:00 p.m. -9:00 p.m.—Disorders of Sex Development: What They Reveal about Gender
Location: Abbot Hall/Health Sciences Library B15, South Campus
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
