PNW’s month-long recognition began March 7 and
features a Frida Kahlo-themed celebration, a luncheon for student leaders, and
interactive presentations on topics of intersectionality, representation,
social justice, and equity.
PNW’s Building Community Through the Arts program hosts a Kahlo Karnival on
March 24, an event celebrating the legacy of renowned Mexican painter Frida
Kahlo. The evening celebration includes a digital exhibit, musical
entertainment from Chicago-based artist Rosalba Valdez, a flower crown craft
activity, instructor-led painting sessions, and a “best-dressed Frida” contest.
The Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies
program, Intersectional Feminist Alliance of PNW, and LGBTQ+ Alliance will
host three thought-provoking lectures with guest speakers on March 10, 27 and
30. The sessions will highlight collective activism, the secret language of
South Asia’s transgender hijra communities, and art’s capacity to foster
racial and economic parity. The lectures are funded by the Department
of English and World Languages and College of Humanities, Education, and Social Sciences.
“I like to treat Women’s History Month as an
opportunity to educate, promote and raise consciousness about social issues
relating to equity and justice,” says Colette Morrow, professor of English.
Two of the invited guest speakers, Kayla
Greenwell and Lorrell Kilpatrick, are PNW alumnae who have exhibited
exceptional activism in Northwest Indiana, says Morrow.
“Sometimes people have a hard time imagining
what activism can look like in their own lives,” Morrow says. “In reality, we
could all do it on a daily basis, we could all find our ways within our
resources and our vision to be activists and be leaders in the community.
That’s one of the things I hope people get out of the sessions.”
Women’s History Month, typically celebrated
during March, recognizes the pivotal roles women have played, their
achievements, and their contributions in many areas throughout U.S. history.
In addition to the public
events, PNW will invite women student leaders from around campus to a luncheon
on March 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall on the Hammond campus.
The keynote speaker will be Dawn Reynolds Pettit, a PNW alumna who serves as
regional vice president of human resources at Hard Rock Casino Northern
Indiana. Academic unit leaders will be able to nominate members of the PNW
community to the Office of Student Life for an invitation to attend.
“The luncheon is a
celebration of women leaders in our student body and across our campuses,” says
Colin Fewer, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs and dean of
Students. “It recognizes the contributions of the women leaders in our campus
community and is a way to make students feel appreciated.”
PNW’s Women’s History Month events - free
and open to the public
- Speak Your Truth: The Ladies Get Paid
Story
12 p.m.-1 p.m., March 9
In this month's Lunch and Lead session, author and founder Claire
Wasserman will share lessons from her journey starting and building Ladies Get Paid, a platform, global community,
and book that helps women level up professionally and financially.
Claire Wasserman is an educator, author, and
founder of Ladies Get Paid. She holds a Master’s Certificate in Behavioral
Finance and Financial Psychology and is the host of the John Hancock podcast,
Friends Who Talk About Money.
A highly sought-after expert for Fortune 500 companies working to improve
diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, Claire has traveled the country
teaching thousands of women how to negotiate millions of dollars in raises,
start businesses, and advocate for themselves in the workplace. She was named
one Marquis Who's Who 75 Most Influential Financial Leaders of 2021, as well as
Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women.
Claire has spoken at places such as Harvard Business School, Facebook, NASA,
and the United Nations, and has appeared on Good Morning America and in the New
York Times, among others.
Claire’s book, Ladies Get Paid, is available wherever books are
sold.
The Lunch and Lead Series is presented by the Leadership Institute and the
Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest.
RSVP
for free.
- The Necessity of Collective Action for
Resistance: A Candid Dialogue with NWI-Gary’s Black Lives Matter
Co-founder, Lorrell Kilpatrick
2 p.m.-3:30 p.m., March 10
Lorrell Kilpatrick, a
sociologist teaching at Indiana University Northwest and longtime regional
activist and disabilities rights advocate, argues that collective action is
imperative in achieving social equity and justice. This session will be a
dialogue among attendees and Kilpatrick will share strategies that regional
anti-racist, environmentalist and immigrant and disabilities rights activists
have used to effect change in Northwest Indiana.
Watch via Zoom.
Contact Colette Morrow, professor of
English, at 219-989-2256 or at cmmorrow@pnw.edu
for more information.
- Kahlo Karnival: Building Community Through
the Arts
5 p.m.-7:30 p.m., March 24
Alumni Hall on the Hammond campus
Join us for our first ever Kahlo Karnival
during Women’s History Month. This event is part of the university’s Building Community Through the Arts initiative and will honor the legacy of the artist through
art and music.
This event is free and open
to the public but requires registration for the instructor-led art workshops,
which are limited to 15 participants per workshop. Additionally, a general
admission registration is requested for food.
Visit pnw.edu/bcta
for more information and registration links.
- What 'Secret' Reveals: Secret Languages of Women and LGBTQ+
Communities Worldwide
5 p.m.-6:30
p.m., March 27
Fulbright Scholar Mashrur
Hossain, Professor of English at Jahangirnagar University and a sexuality
studies specialist, surveys secret languages such as Nüshu (“women's writing”
in Chinese) and Polari (London’s “gay language”) and examines Oolti Bhasha, the
secret language used by transgender South Asian hijras. He contends that
“HijraSpeaks,” as it is called, trans-gresses the hegemonic poetics and
politics of the gender binary, troubles and disrupts female/male gendering, and
has its own politics of empowerment. Watch via Zoom.
Contact Colette Morrow,
professor of English, at 219-989-2256 or at cmmorrow@pnw.edu
for more information.
- Let’s Talk About Artivism: Creating Racial,
Gender, and Economic Justice through Art, Dance, and Music
12 p.m.-1 p.m., March 30
Vershawn Sanders-Ward is
the founding artistic director and CEO of Red Clay Dance Company in Chicago,
which strives to awaken “glocal” change ending cultural and socioeconomic
inequities by creating, performing and teaching dances of the African Diaspora.
Her choreography has been presented in New York, San Francisco, Martha’s
Vineyard, Toronto, Dakar, and Kampala.
Sanders-Ward is on the faculty
at Loyola University Chicago and has received choreographic commissions from
Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, Knox College, and the
National Theatre in Uganda. This is a Women’s History Month event sponsored by
the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program and the Intersectional
Feminist Alliance of PNW, a student organization dedicated to intersectional
feminist, anti-racist change. Watch via Zoom.
Contact Colette Morrow, professor of
English, at 219-989-2256 or at cmmorrow@pnw.edu
for more information.