Departments plan Women’s History Month events

Since 1987, March has been celebrated as Women’s History Month, and several organizations around campus are celebrating with style this year.\n“They all address different issues,” said Caty Pilachowski, dean of the Office of Women’s Affairs. “There’s such a diversity of issues that affect women ... They all bring different perspectives to women’s contributions to society.”\nThe Department of History is sponsoring a screening of the movie “4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days” at 2 p.m. March 9 in the Monroe County Public Library auditorium. The film is about a woman who risks her own safety and freedom to help her friend get an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania under the repressive Communist government. The showing is free and open to the public.\nWhen students return from spring break, they can attend “Yo Soy Boricua, Pa’que Tu Lo Sepas (I’m Boricua, Just So You Know!)!: An Interview with Rosie Perez.” In her directorial debut, Perez explores the political history, social activism and national pride of Puerto Rican people. The film is narrated by Jimmy Smits. The free event will be at 7 p.m. March 20 at La Casa.\nThe Asian Culture Center will host a round-table discussion, “Human Trafficking and Sexual Tourism,” from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. March 21.\n“We’re going to talk about the trafficking that is going on in Asia with women and children,” said Mai-Lin Poon, Asian Culture Center graduate assistant and student outreach coordinator.\nThis year, poet activist Sonia Sanchez will be the keynote speaker at the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies Fifth Annual Herman Hudson Symposium.\nWith the theme “Lifting the Veil: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Identity and Responsibility in Global Societies,” the free symposium will be held at 10 a.m. March 22 in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.\nKatie Dieter, vice president of the African American and African Diaspora Studies Graduate Society, said she is excited to hear Sanchez speak.\n“She’s a phenomenal speaker,” Dieter said. “She’s like a spoken-word artist ... it’s not just, like, \na lecture.”\nLocal Latina artists will share their experiences and work at “Mujeres en la Artes: Creating a Tapestry of Expression” at 7 p.m. March 27 at \nLa Casa.\nThere will also be a documentary screening of “Never Perfect” and a conversation with the director/filmmaker Regina Park at 7 p.m. March 27 in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Grand Hall. The film follows a Vietnamese American woman who faces traditional beauty norms as she makes a decision to go under the knife in order to look more American.\n“I think it speaks to a lot of things people go through,” Poon said. “I think that anyone can identify with it.”\nThe Feminist Law Forum in the School of Law will host Women in the Law Day on March 27 as an outreach program for high school and undergraduate students interested in law. A luncheon will accompany a speaker panel that is free and open to all.\nFeminist Law Forum president Christine Habeeb said the group wants to encourage young women to consider law as a career option.\n“We noticed that law school applications were down for women,” she said.\nPilachowski said she was excited that so many different organizations are getting involved in what she sees as an important event.\n“So often when we look at history, we overlook how women have contributed,” she said. “We don’t think about it so much the other 11 months.”