conference to focus on girls' studies

Mon., Sep 15

What does it mean to be a girl?  Who defines girlhood in an age when puberty and sexualization are happening at younger ages? Why are American girls preoccupied with perfection? Questions like these, and many others, will be addressed at the 18th annual Women's Studies Conference at Southern Connecticut State University. The conference -- "Girls' Culture & Girls' Studies: Surviving, Reviving, Celebrating Girlhood" -- will take place on Southern's campus on October 17-18, 2008.

Organized and sponsored by Southern's Women's Studies Program, the two-day conference will offer panel discussions and plenary sessions; spoken word performances, a flamenco performance choreographed by young women and girls; film screenings, and a women and girls' fair.
 
A highlight of the conference will be a keynote address on Oct. 18 by Deborah Prothrow-Stith (pictured above), Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of the Practice of Public Health and Associate Dean for Diversity at Harvard University. Prothrow-Stith is a nationally recognized public health leader. As a physician working in inner-city Boston, she broke new ground with her efforts to have youth violence defined as a public health problem; not just a criminal justice issue. With others, she created a social movement to prevent violence that has had an impact on Boston and the nation. In 1987, Governor Michael S. Dukakis appointed her as the first woman Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In that role, she established the first Office of Violence Prevention in a state department of public health, expanded prevention programs for HIV/AIDS and increased drug treatment and rehabilitation programs.
 
Conference fees range from $20 to $120, with discounted rates for students and young girls. For more information or to register, visit http://www.southernct.edu/womensstudies/ or call (203) 392-6133.