In honor of National Women’s History Month, The Center for Gender Equity and Social Justice at Western New Mexico University is hosting events to empower, celebrate and honor women March 5-8, 2018. The third annual F Week! showcases leaders, speakers, musicians and artists from diverse backgrounds, and this year’s headliners include Target’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program Officer and performance artist La Chica Boom.
“For F Week!, we always try to highlight aspects of womanhood: Care, Leadership, Beautifully Diverse and Trailblazing,” said Dr. Lydia Huerta, co-director of The Center for Gender Equity and Social Justice.
F Week! begins at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 5, in Light Hall when speaker Dr. Denise Mitten, Professor of Sustainability Education and head of the Adventure Education Master of Arts Program at Prescott College, takes the stage. Sponsored by WNMU Outdoor Program and The Center, Dr. Mitten’s talk, “How Women Outdoors Contribute to Care and Sustainable Communities,” will be based on her research and education philosophies combining ecosystem sustainability and social sustainability with outdoor skills to help people learn community-building skills.
Target’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program Officer, Elisa Juárez, will present “Culturally Disruptive: How Latina Business Women are Changing the Playing Field” in Light Hall on Tuesday, March 6. Juárez, as a key team member for Target’s corporate philanthropy strategy, builds innovative new Corporate Social Responsibility solutions for the company, adding value into the entire chain while also benefiting various stakeholders. In her role on the Hispanic Heritage Foundation board, Juárez promotes cultural pride and organizes programs like Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards, Latinos On Fast Track, Hispanic Heritage Awards and Public Awareness Campaigns. Her talk is sponsored by The Center for Gender Equity and Social Justice in collaboration with the School of Business; refreshments and finger foods will be provided courtesy of the Western New Mexico University President’s Office.
Award-winning American singer-songwriter Summer Osborne will kick off the F Week! Women in Music! festival at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, at The Center (1211 Mississippi St.). Musician, poet, anthropologist, educator, community organizer and public speaker Lyla June will also play Wednesday night. Then Albuquerque-based hip hop duo, Ava del Cielo/ SOL TEC, will sing and rap.
“We are having the music festival to highlight women in music from diverse backgrounds. Summer is from the Midwest, Lyla is from Taos and is a Native American Activist with quite a following in Silver, and Ava del Cielo is Latinx from Albuquerque,” Dr. Huerta said.
Latinx performance artist Xandra Ibarra, better known as La Chica Boom, will give a lecture Thursday, March 8, starting at 6 p.m. Through parody and spectacle, La Chica Boom explores racialized sexuality and queer forms of pleasure. In her artist lecture, Ibarra will illustrate some of the ideological frameworks she draws upon to create and depart from what she calls “spictacles” – performances that engage misery, race and sexuality.
F Week! wraps up Friday, March 9, with a Career Development & Training Program in the Center for Student Success Workroom in the Juan Chacon building on campus. Dr. Huerta will present “Gender Roles, Inequity and the Workplace.”