Everyone is invited to join the Northern Illinois University Women's Studies Program and the numerous other sponsors for Women’s History Month! Our theme for 2007 is “Re-Defining Motherhood,” a critical examination of how the "institution" of motherhood and its relevance to women's lives are changing. Our programs and activities will examine all forms of motherhood. All events are open to the public and (unless otherwise noted) are free. Sign language interpreters will be provided upon request; call (815)753-6515 (one week’s notice is preferred). For further information, call the Women's Studies Program at (815)753-1038..

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Thursday-Sunday, February 22-25
"Yerma." "Yerma," a Spanish play by Federico Garcia Lorca set in the 1930s, is about a peasant woman who desperately wants a child but believes she is infertile. Tickets are available in the Stevens Building Box Office. Student rates are available with an NIU OneCard at $7 per ticket. General rates are $14, and $8 for seniors. Sponsors: NIU School of Theatre and Dance. Location: NIU Stevens Building, Players Theatre.

Wednesday, February 28
4:30 p.m. Women’s History Month Essay & Poster Contest Winners Recognition. Sponsors: Women's Studies Program and University Bookstore. Reavis 211.

Thursday, March 1
All day. “This is What a Feminist Looks Like” Sticker Day. Stop by Reavis 103 to pick up a sticker and wear it with pride! Stickers are available after February 14, 2007. (NIU's sticker day has gone national!)

All day. "Re-Defining Motherhood." The university library will display books, images and other materials related to motherhood. The displays may be viewed during the library's normal operating hours. The displays will be up between March 1-31. NIU University Library, 1st floor and 4th floor (Rare Books & Special Collections).

5:00-7:00 p.m. “The Little Black Dress” Exhibition & Opening Reception. Barbara Cole Peters, private collector of women’s twentieth-century fashions, curates this exhibition showcasing the evolution of 20th century fashion through the (long & short) black dress. The exhibition will be open March 1-31. Sponsors: Nehring Center Gallery, DeKalb Park District, NIU Alumni Association, School of Art, Dept. of Communication, School of Family, Consumer & Nutrition Sciences, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences External Programming, University Women's Club, College of Visual & Performing Arts, Women's Studies Program. Nehring Gallery, 111 S. 2nd Street, DeKalb. Gallery hours: 11a.m.-3p.m. Wednesdays, 1-5 p.m. Saturdays, and by appointment. For more information, call (815) 758-6363. (Visit the Nehring Gallery's website.)

4:00-6:00 p.m. Women’s History Month Annual Art Exhibit Opening Reception. Group exhibition of visual art by NIU School of Art women faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students. Call (815) 758-1351 for gallery hours. The show runs from March 1-30. Sponsors: DeKalb Area Women’s Center, School of Art, Women's Studies Program. DeKalb Area Women’s Center, 1021 State Street, DeKalb.

Thursday-Sunday, March 1-4
"Yerma." "Yerma," a Spanish play by Federico Garcia Lorca set in the 1930s, is about a peasant woman who desperately wants a child but believes she is infertile. Tickets are available in the Stevens Building Box Office. Student rates are available with an NIU OneCard at $7 per ticket. General rates are $14, and $8 for seniors. Sponsors: NIU School of Theatre and Dance. Location: NIU Stevens Building, Players Theatre.

Friday-Sunday, March 2-4
4:00-6:00 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), 2:00-4:00 p.m. (Sun.) “The Vagina Monologues.” Women’s Alliance sponsors this annual theater performance. Sponsors: Women's Alliance. Holmes Student Center, Diversions Lounge. (Visit the V-Day website to learn more about the monologues & V-Day)

Monday, March 5
3:30 p.m. "Researching Women in the Media." Susan J. Douglas, Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professor and Chair of Communication Studies, University of Michigan, will introduce students to the process of conducting research on representations of women in the media, as well as methods for analyzing media images. Sponsors: Women's Studies Program, Graduate Colloquium Committee, College of Business, Dept. of Marketing, & Dept. of Political Science. Holmes Student Center, Heritage Room. (Visit Dr. Douglas's website)

7:00 p.m. "The Mommy Myth—The Idealization of Motherhood and How it Has Undermined Women." Susan J. Douglas will lecture on women and the media. Specifically, she will examine the rise of "the new momism," a romanticized notion of the perfect mother in which the standards for success are impossible to achieve. Sponsors: Women's Studies Program, Graduate Colloquium Committee, College of Business, Dept. of Marketing, & Dept. of Political Science. Barsema Hall, Barsema Auditorium 200. (Learn more about Douglas's book and read an excerpt.)

7:30 p.m. "Honor Thy Mother." This panel discussion will examine motherhood in the African-American community. Sponsors: NAACP, Center for Black Studies, Women's Studies Program. Stevenson Multipurpose Room.

Wednesday, March 7
11:30 a.m. International Women’s Day Luncheon. Chien-Juh Gu will discuss her research on Taiwanese women immigrants in the Chicago area and key points in their life cycles. Sponsors: Women’s Resource Center and Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. Adams Hall, Chandelier Room. (Learn more about International Women's Day.)

Thursday, March 8
12:00 p.m. "Faces of Women." NIU faculty and students choreograph and perform a variety of dances. Sponsor: Department of Kinesiology & Physical Education. Anderson Hall, Room 135.

Wednesday, March 21
4:30-6:00 p.m. “Literature Panel Series: Motherhood in Literature.” Organized by Lise Schlosser & Valerie Guyant, this will be the first of two thematically organized panels which will focus on women in literature. Sponsors: English Department & Women's Studies Program Program. Reavis 211.

Thursday, March 22
9:30 a.m. “Food, Family, and . . . Marijuana? Weeds Re-Invents the Suburban Mother.” Betsy Beaulieu, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Appalachian State University, will use issues related to race and class that emerge in Showtime's award-winning show Weeds as a springboard for investigating stereotypes of motherhood within a context of feminist and African-American critical theory and scholarship. Sponsors: Women's Studies Program, Graduate Colloquium Committee. Campus Life Building, Room 100. (Visit Dr. Beaulieu's website.)

4:00 p.m. "'Opaque with confusion and shame': Maternal Ambivalence in Rita Dove's Poetry." Dr. Beaulieu's lecture will focus on motherhood in African-American women's literature, specifically, by examining the positive and negative depictions of motherhood in Rita Dove's poetry. Sponsors: Women's Studies Program, Graduate Colloquium Committee. Holmes Student Center, Heritage Room.

Friday, March 23
8:00 p.m. “Women Composers Recital.” Alumnae and current members of Sigma Alpha Iota, Beta Mu chapter, will perform pieces composed by women composers. Biographical information about the composers will be provided and discussed. Sponsors: Sigma Alpha Iota & Music Department. Music Building, Recital Hall. (Visit the Sigma Alpha Iota, Beta Mu chapter website to learn more about them & future performances.)

Sunday, March 25
3:00-5:00 p.m. Women’s History Month Herstorical Tea Program. Call (815) 758-1351 for information. Sponsors: DeKalb Area Women’s Center. $3 donation. DeKalb Area Women’s Center, 1021 State Street, DeKalb. Sponsor: DeKalb Area Women's Center.

Monday, March 26
7:00 p.m. “Eleemosynary.” The Women's History Month Players reassemble this year to present a staged reading of Lee Blessing's masterful story of three generations of women, "Eleemosynary." Actors: Bonnie Anderson, Alexandra Bennett, Lise Schlosser (director), and Lynne Thomas. Holmes Student Center, Diversions Lounge.

Tuesday, March 27
Noon. Brownbag Lunch, "The Politics of Race, Class, Gender & Nationality—U.S. Governmental Policy on International Child Abduction: A Mother's Perspective." Marla Buchanan will discuss her experience as the mother of an international abducted child, and will examine U.S. government policy on international child abduction. Sponsor: Women's Studies Program. Reavis 103.

7:00 p.m. “Vagina Seminar: Re-imagining Women’s Bodies.” What you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask. Sponsors: Women’s Alliance and Women's Studies Program. Location: DuSable 176.

Wednesday, March 28
11:00 a.m. "Our Mothers, Our Poetry, Ourselves." Poets will read and discuss their poetry which focuses on motherhood (tentative description). Location: Reavis 211.

4:30-6:00 p.m. “Literature Panel Series: Motherhood in Literature.” Organized by Lise Schlosser & Valerie Guyant, this will be the final of two thematically organized panels, which will focus on women in literature. Sponsors: English Department & Women's Studies Program Program. Reavis 211.

Thursday, March 29 Noon. "Re-Defining Motherhood: A Panel Discussion." NIU’s Women’s Studies Program will host a panel discussion examining various women’s experiences of motherhood. Panelists will include a mother of a special-needs child (Lynne Thomas, NIU Rare Books Librarian), a lesbian stepmother (Margie Cook, Director of LGBT Resource Center), and an expatriate mother (Siew Sim Chin, NIU alumna). Sponsor: Women's Studies Program. Campus Life Building, Room 100.

Saturday, March 31
8:00 p.m. 15th Annual Midwestern Conference on Literature, Language and Media (MCLLM).
Toril Moi, James B. Duke Professor of Literature & Romance Studies; French, Duke gives the keynote presentation at the MCLLM. Sponsors: Graduate Colloquium Committee, Dept. of English, Dept. of Foreign Languages & Literature, & Women's Studies Program. Holmes Student Center, Skyroom. (Visit MCLLM's website / Visit Dr. Moi's website)

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