Women's History Month was previously a week-long event in Sonoma, California. Women’s History Month became an official annual celebration when Congress signed the resolution in 1987. It was originally established to draw attention to and improve the focus on women in historical studies. International Women’s Day (March 8) also falls during this month.
Consult the Library Resource Guide on Women’s History Month for additional information.
March
Lynn H. Ballen is a senior producer and co-host of Feminist Magazine Radio Show. Lynn has a long history of activism for social justice, from co-founding an educational non-profit in Mexico, to her advocacy for the LGBTQIA community--as a Lesbian Avenger, a founding member of LEX (The Lesbian Exploratorium Project), a Dyke Day LA organizer, and a curator for numerous historical projects. One of her current projects is a memoir that explores adoption and apartheid in her home country of South Africa.
You can enjoy Lynn's radio show live on Wednesdays at 7pm on KPFK Radio, 90.7 FM, or on Spotify.
- March 6, 12:15 - 1:30 p.m.
- Music 110
- Sponsored by the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Event Page
Join us for a virtual roundtable with Palestinian feminist, queer and trans activists from across North America. Speakers include:
Dr. Rabab Ibrahim Abdulhadi, founding Director/Senior scholar of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies Program at San Francisco State University, is co-founding Editorial Board member of Islamophobia Studies Journal, lead editor of book volumes and author of over 80 articles and book chapters in seven languages. She is the recipient of numerous scholarly awards and community honors, including Sterling Fellowship, New Century Scholarship, best non-fiction book award, and American Association of University Professors, and National Women’s Studies Association.
Mx. Yaffa (They/She) is an acclaimed disabled, autistic, trans, queer, Muslim, and indigenous Palestinian. Yaffa is the executive Director of the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) and has received multiple awards for their transformative work around displacement, decolonization, equity, and centering the lived experiences of individuals most impacted by injustice. Yaffa is the author of Blood Orange, a poetry collection about displacement, colonization, and hope building.
Professor Rana Adib Sharif is a Los Angeles-born, interdisciplinary scholar, educator, and social justice activist. She teaches in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at CSUN. Her research examines the use of new media tools and technologies including social media, digital online archives, and location-based technologies in the context of Palestine. Professor Sharif currently serves on the executive board of the ACLU of Southern California and hosts and produces shows for the SWANA Region Radio on KPFK (90.7 fm).
Marwa Iskander is a student activist at Cal State LA, where she majors in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and is the department’s Digital Communications Intern.
Moderator: Attorney Almas Sayeed has a long history of social justice work in the U.S. and abroad. She was a 2003 Fulbright Fellow at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where she worked with the European Commission of Technical Assistance and a legal service organization for Palestinian women, the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling. She holds degrees from the London School of Economic and UCLA School of Law.
- March 7, 3:00 - 4:15 p.m.
- Click here to RSVP
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Co-Sponsored by Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Department of Philosophy, Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, Department of Sociology, and CFA-LA Women and Nonbinary Faculty Caucus.
Join us as we celebrate International Women's Day with critical discussions regarding feminist & Womanist issues. We will have a round table of students, staff, and faculty sharing their research, scholarship, arts, and activism concerning Women's liberation movements. Our panel will touch on issues relating to our most marginalized communities such as Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. All Cal State LA students, faculty, staff, and alumni as well as community members welcome.
- March 11, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
- USU San Gabriel Room
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Presented by the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center
Dr. Johanna Fernández is author of the award-winning book, The Young Lords: A Radical History (UNC Press, 2020) and Associate Professor of History at Baruch College of CUNY.
Dr. Fernández is also the producer of the documentary film, “Justice on Trial: The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal,” and editor of Writing on the Wall: Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal (City Lights, 2015). With Mumia Abu-Jamal she co-edited a special issue of the journal Socialism and Democracy, titled The Roots of Mass Incarceration in the US: Locking Up Black Dissidents and Punishing the Poor (Routledge, 2014).
- March 14, 10:40 a.m. - Noon
- Cal State LA Music Hall
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Co-Sponsored by Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities, Program in Latin American Studies, Department of History, and WGS Student Club.
The exhibit, run from March to May, highlights the efforts of Chinese American women who fought for equal rights through legal means starting in 1848. These lawsuits dealt with issues such as discrimination, education, and voting rights and became landmark cases that impacted not just Chinese Americans but all Americans.
Curator Dr. Chang C. Chen, officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, and Taiwanese actress and singer Li Min Chang will speak at the opening ceremony. Open to all Cal State LA students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. Refreshments and coffee will be provided.
- March 14, 11am - Noon
- Library North First Floor
- Sponsored by the University Library and DEIB
Black Women Unite! Join us at the Pan-African Student Resource Center to build solidarity with one another. Share space with Black women to talk about your experiences as Black women and build community together. All Cal State LA students, faculty, staff, and alumni as well as community members welcome.
- March 14, 2 - 3 pm
- USU Montebello Room
- Presented by the Pan African Student Resource Center
Join us as Lydia Otero (they/them) discusses their most recent book, L.A. Interchanges: A Brown & Queer Archival Memoir. The conversation is followed by a book signing.
Dr. Otero is a Cal State LA alumnus with a storied career that spans from blue collar electrician, working on some of LA's most iconic landmarks, to archival historian, to nearly two decades as a Professor of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona. Their work is rooted in social justice and coalition-building, as evidenced by their participation and leadership in "Lesbians of Color" and "Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos."
In addition to L.A. Interchanges, Dr. Otero is the author of La Calle: Spatial Conflicts and Urban Renewal in a Southwestern City (2010), which won a Southwest Book Award from the Border Regional Library Association, as well as In the Shadows of the Freeway: Growing Up Brown & Queer (2019).
Dr. Otero's personal historical archives comprise the newly established Lydia R. Otero Archive Special Collection at the Los Angeles Public Library.
- March 18, 12:15-1:15pm
- Follow on Instagram at @wgssla for updated room information
- Co-Sponsored by Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities, Department of History, and WGSS Student Club
Join the women of teh 1968 walkouts and the Cal State La community for a town hall in response to the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino cancellation of the nearly-complete exhibit on Latino Youth Movements to bring accountability for the willful neglect and erasure of Latinx communities in U.S. history.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
12:30 - 4:30 p.m.
University Student Union - Los Angeles Rooms ABC
Join the Gender & Sexuality Wellness committee as they discuss Women's History Month and engage in educational/interactive activities! All Cal State LA students welcome.
- March 20, 11 am - 3 pm
- In front of Student Health Center
- Presented by the Student Health Center - Health Promotion and Education Center (SHAC)
Archiving Chicanx & Latinx Feminisms talk with Dr. Bernadine Hernandez (University of New Mexico), Dr. Anita Huizar-Hernandez (Arizona State University), and Dr. Viviana MacManus (Occidental College). All Cal State LA students, faculty, staff, and alumni as well as community members welcome.
- March 25, 2024, 3:00pm-4:30pm
- USU LA Room
- Presented by the Center for the Study of Genders and Sexualities (CSGS)
Black Women Unite! Join us at the Pan-African Student Resource Center to build solidarity with one another. Share space with Black women to talk about your experiences as Black women and build community together. All Cal State LA students, faculty, staff, and alumni as well as community members welcome.
- March 28, 2 - 3 pm
- USU Montebello Room
- Presented by the Pan African Student Resource Center