The 2024 Women's History Month theme established by The National Women’s History Alliance is titled: "Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion." The theme recognizes women throughout the country who understand that, for a positive future, we need to eliminate bias and discrimination entirely from our lives and institutions.
This year also marks the 23rd anniversary of Women's Studies (now Women's and Gender Studies - WGST) at Radford University and will offer the opportunity for us to celebrate the history and accomplishments of Women's and Gender Studies at Radford University.
March 1 - March 31
As part of a campus-wide series of events, for the Twentieth consecutive year, we are re-activating the Her-Story listserv which is dedicated to sharing stories written by members of the extended Radford University community about the women, or the aspects of womanhood, that have shaped their lives. The National Women's History Alliance has declared this year’s theme: "Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion."
How it Works – Sharing Our Stories
Beginning March 1 and extending through March 31, subscribers to the Her-Story Listserv receive a daily posting from one of the list’s members celebrating or otherwise contemplating the impact of a woman or of the aspects of womanhood upon the writer’s life. Please note that pieces selected for publication are shared “as–is.”
Beyond basic formatting, we do not edit, censure, or otherwise intervene with content. The function of the list and the celebration is to preserve and honor the voices and experiences of our contributors. For this reason, you must subscribe to the list to participate and you must agree to abide by the rules of our community.
The Her-Story listserv is a safe space where contributors can share their experiences without fear of judgment or reprisal.
Tuesday, March 19
5 - 6:15 p.m.
McConnell Library, Andrew W. Ross Student Art Gallery
Cynn Chadwick is an American novelist, and author of eight novels including The Cat Rising Series, Angels & Manners, and Things That Women Do. Her books have been nominated for the Lambda, Stonewall, and Bywater Prizes in fiction. She holds an MFA from Goddard College and is a retired senior lecturer of Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains where she writes and paints and adores her beloved Springer Spaniel Andy.
Co-sponsored by Citizen Leader, McConnell Library, The Department of English, The Women's & Gender Studies Program, and Safe Zone.
Murder-Suicide Warning: Women Watch Out
Presenter(s): Wendy Eckenrod-Green, Ph.D., School of Teacher Education and Leadership
9:30 - 10:20 a.m.
Murder-suicide is a disturbingly compounding and “dramatic, violent event” with close to 10 incidences occurring each week with approximately 1,200 Americans dying on an annual basis. Murder-suicide is not a “hindsight is 2020” issue. The warning signs and red flags are present including intimate partner violence. This presentation will review statistics related to domestic murder-suicide and common features including perpetrators, victims, lethal means, and location of occurrence. Risk factors and motivations such as negative factors, feelings of obligation, and sense of mercy will be discussed. The aftermath and trauma of a murder-suicide is far reaching and ripples across to family, friends, co-workers, and community, sometimes leaving children parentless.
Making Work: Gender and Creativity in Contemporary Art|
Presenter(s): Carlee Bradbury, Ph.D., Department of Art; Graduate MFA Students: Brandy
Bembry, Christopher Bradbury, Ashleigh Hillen, Taylen Gearhart, Zach Blevins-Goad,
Amanda Kelly, Mariah Nolan, Toni Pitts, and Logan Singo.
10:45 - 11:45 a.m.
In this collective graduate student showcase, emerging artists will present their work as it relates to gender and its various iterations and interpretations. Including a variety of media, (from sculpture to photography and all points in between) this panel is an opportunity for the Radford campus community to see creative inquiry in action.
Crafting the Spinster: Research Presentation and Demonstration
Presenter(s): Carlee Bradbury, Ph.D., Department of Art; Undergraduate students: Lou
O'Neil and Sara Thompson
Noon - 1 p.m.
Our research project deals with how spinning and spinsters have been represented in art. From old crones to young mothers to witches - what does the spinster signify? Come for a research talk and try your hand at spinning on a drop spindle.
Sexism in Search Engines & AI
Presenters: Alyssa Archer and Lisa Dinkle (Library Faculty)
2 - 3 p.m.
Are Google results sexist? What about Chat GPT? The answer may not surprise you. Learn how algorithms and AI both reflect and perpetuate misogyny and racism in our culture, as faculty from McConnell Library share research by Safiya Noble, Ph.D. and lead attendees through exercises to test out the theories.
Where The Roots Wind About the Heart—Contemporary Voices in Appalachian Women’s Poetry
Presenter(s): April J. Asbury, English Instructor, and facilitator for the Highland
Summer Conference (writing conference, Appalachian Studies); Annie Woodford, English
Instructor, Wilkes Community College, and 2024 Guest for the Highland Summer Conference
(Appalachian Studies)
10 - 10:50 a.m.
This poetry reading and workshop takes its title from a poem by the Radford-educated poet Lou Crabtree, whose deep connection to place, language and, perhaps most powerfully, the often-unheard stories of working-class Appalachian womanhood, provides inspiration for the generations of poets who came after her, especially in the region served by Radford University. Poets April J. Asbury and special guest Annie Woodford, winner of the 2022 Weatherford Poetry Award, will present poems and conduct a generative workshop centered around the stories and experiences of both contemporary and ancestral female voices in the region. The work of Asbury and Woodford is informed by their multi-generational connection to Appalachian Virginia and the NRV. This event will center around sharing that experience and providing guided writing opportunities for the audience’s own exploration of connection to place, history, and voice.
Insight of Chinese Women
1:30 - 3 p.m.
Please join us as we celebrate the conclusion of Women’s History Month events. We will recognize our 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award winners Ann Elliott, Ph.D., and Anja Whitington, Ph.D. We will also offer a donation to the Women’s Resource Center of the New River Valley, and celebrate our students. Light refreshments will be served.