UB to celebrate Gender Week

“Cultural Transformations” is the theme of the 19th annual Gender Week being held Oct. 24-28 at UB.

Presented by the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender — informally known as the Gender Institute — Gender Week 2016 includes a major symposium addressing issues, responses and solutions to violence against women (Read a UBNow story about the symposium), as well as a host of events on topics ranging from women and leadership to LGBTQ issues to redefining family and the academic career.

Of particular note is a talk at the Welcome Reception by Robin Schulze, the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The reception will take place from 4-6 p.m. Oct. 24 in 120 Clemens Hall, North Campus.

Kari Winter, professor of transnational studies and director of the Gender Institute, says a major focus of the institute is on various components of women in leadership roles at the university and as public intellectuals.

“I see growing potential for positive transformation at UB with the increasing number of accomplished women as deans,” Winter says, pointing to Nancy Smyth (Social Work), Liesl Folks (Engineering and Applied Sciences), Marsha Lewis (Nursing) and Jean Wactawski-Wende (Public Health and Health Professions), as well as Schulze, who joined UB this past summer and will speak on women and leadership at the Welcome Reception.

“This is a very welcome shift in UB’s discourse.”

Winter also notes Gender Week’s continuing series on women and labor will tackle an issue of key importance to academics: commuting couples and the definition of family.

“An economic necessity in the academy is that many dual-career couples have to live apart,” she says. “We have to reconceive how we live life with a dual commitment to career and family.”

Margaret Sallee, associate professor of educational leadership and policy, will discuss these challenges in the Janice L. Moritz Distinguished Lecture on Women and Labor at 4 p.m. Oct. 27 in 509 O’Brian Hall, North Campus.

The week’s events also include the Excellence in Mentoring Award Ceremony at 4 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Gender Institute, 207 The Commons. The award will be presented to Letitia Thomas, director of STEM diversity programs in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Winter says that as part of a university-wide initiative, the Gender Institute is assuming a key role in making mentoring of faculty, staff and students “a more central and valued part of UB.”

For a full schedule of Gender Week events, visit the Gender Institute’s website.