This Women’s History Month, explore events from across campus that represent the diverse experiences, leadership and research of women. From conferences to artmaking, these opportunities will highlight different histories, explore the challenges of the present — and point to reimagined futures.
This calendar is a sample of the programming the Bruin community has to offer throughout the year. Be sure to check out campus units such as the Center for the Study of Women | Barbra Streisand Center and the department of gender studies, as well as their affiliated faculty, for even more research, events and opportunities.
March 1, 8:30 a.m.
Thinking Gender Graduate Student Conference: Dystopian realities, feminist utopias
The UCLA Center for the Study of Women hosts its 34th Annual Graduate Student Research Conference, spotlighting scholarship, activism and art through the lenses of dystopia and utopia to explore social and political issues and to imagine a better present and future.
The public program will feature panels on graduate student research and a keynote presentation by Kara Keeling, professor of cinema and media studies at the University of Southern California.
Register online to attend for free. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis at the James West Alumni Center Collins Conference Room.
March 3, Noon
Creativity in the courtyard: Hinamatsuri
Join the Fowler Museum in celebrating the Shinto holiday, Girl’s Day (Hinamatsuri). Attendants will have the opportunity to create and display their own dolls as part of a doll festival.
Hinamatsuri, part of the Fowler Museum’s Creativity in the Courtyard series of artmaking events, is recommended for children ages 4 to 10 but is open to all.
Admission to the Fowler Museum is free. Register online to attend.
March 3, 2:00 p.m.
Join author Tritia Toyota for a book talk and signing presented by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. “Intimate Strangers” is an in-depth study on the experiences of the shin Issei women, who migrated at the end of the 20th century to places like Southern California. These women tell stories of precarity, inequality and continuing marginality — first in Japan, where they were restricted by gendered social structures — and later in the United States, where their experiences were compounded by issues such as citizenship. Toyota chronicles how these resilient young women became active agents in circumventing social restrictions to fashion new lives of meaning.
Toyota, an associate adjunct professor and research scholar at UCLA, will be joined in a discussion by Valerie Matsumoto, UCLA’s George and Sakaye Aratani Professor on the Japanese American Incarceration, Redress and Community, and Yasuko Takezawa, visiting professor and Terasaki Chair in U.S.–Japan Relations for 2023–24. Books will be on sale at the event for signing by Toyota after the program.
The event will be held at the West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple and is free to attend with registration.
March 4, 2:00 p.m and March 7, Noon
Celebrating Womxn in Tech speaker series
Join the UC Womxn in Tech committee for two virtual celebrations of Women’s History Month leading up to International Women’s Day. Both speaker series discussions will focus on inclusion in tech, following the theme of “DigitALL: Innovation & Technology for Gender Equality.”
The first discussion will be hosted by Brandie Nonnecke, associate research professor in the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley; the second will be hosted by Lauren Klein, associate professor and director of the Digital Humanities Lab at Emory University.
The webinar series is free. Registration is required.
March 4, 4:00 p.m.
2024 Patricia McCarron McGinn Lecture by Charlene Villaseñor Black
The UCLA Art History Department presents its annual Patricia McCarron McGinn Lecture featuring Charlene Villaseñor Black, professor of art history and chair of the Chicana/o and Central American studies department. Villaseñor Black will present her talk entitled “Art against Necropolitics,” which looks at Mexican American (Chicana) artist Judithe Hernández’s work in the face of feminicide along the U.S.–Mexico border.
This free event takes place at the Luskin Conference Center. Registration is required.
March 6, 5:00 p.m.
The Diverse Experiences of Women in STEM
The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Women in Health Administration of Southern California celebrate Women’s History Month with dinner and a panel discussion about equity, diversion and inclusion in health care leadership.
The event features Health Equity Programs and Operations’ Karen Ochoa; Dr. Nat’e Guyton of California Hospital Medical Center; Christine Diltz of NurseRX; and Aramark Healthcare’s Valentine McCollister. Tricia Gray, president of the Women in Health Administration, will moderate.
This event takes place at Geffen Hall. RSVP is required to attend.
March 7, 3:00 p.m.
Architecture’s Promise: Designing Equitable Futures
The 135th Faculty Research Lecture features Dana Cuff, professor in architecture and urban design and urban planning, and director of cityLAB at UCLA. To make buildings and cities that fulfill their potential to be more just does not require abandoning aesthetic goals — but rather the opposite: the democratization of good design. To do so requires excavating existing models as well as exploring new practices that transform design agency. Architecture’s ability to enable more equitable futures is evident in projects around the globe, as well as in current innovative design research at UCLA’s cityLAB and elsewhere. These experiments demonstrate how small acts of research-based architecture can create new forms of buildings and cities with significant implications for designing more equitable futures.
The annual Faculty Research Lectures recognize two UCLA Academic Senate members with records of exceptional achievement in research and/or creative activities.
This lecture takes place at Schoenberg Hall, followed by a Q&A with Professor Ananya Roy. Registration is free.
March 10, 1:00 p.m.
Community Conversations: catherine SCOTI scott
catherine SCOTI scott presents “Akara, Acaraje’, Blackeye Fritters: Food, Memory and Resistance,” a performed narration that explores the DNA of foodways as a pathway to identity. Her food-sharing, socially engaged art practice will reference works on view in the exhibition “The House Was Too Small: Yoruba Sacred Arts from Africa and Beyond,” inspiring a participatory demonstration of food preparation and enjoyment. Food plays a key role in the spiritual practices of the Yoruba diaspora. scott will address the power of taste and smell as acts of resistance and affirmation.
catherine SCOTI scott is an L.A.-based performance artist, dancer, cultural worker and ethnologist. Community Conversations are co-curated with artist and abolitionist Patrisse Cullors, whose installation forms part of the exhibition. These dialogues bring together community partners, leaders, artists and Ifa practitioners to explore and celebrate the orisha divinities who play a vital part in our everyday lives.
Admission to the Fowler Museum is free. Register online to attend.
March 11, 9:30 a.m.
Inclusive Transportation with Veronica Davis
Organized by the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, this talk on inclusive transportation features Veronica Davis, author and director of transportation and drainage operations for Houston. She will share a call to action and a practical approach to reconnecting and shaping communities based on principles of justice and equity.
This event is part of the “Transportation Equity: Moving the Needle” series, which features discussions on transportation challenges facing communities of color and low-income communities — and draws on speakers’ efforts to highlight diverse strategies to create a more equitable transportation future.
The talk will take place at Room 2343 in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Registration is requested for this free event.
March 12, 8:00 p.m.
Artist Conversations: Rupy C. Tut, Keerat Kaur, Saira Wasim
This special conversation gathers artists Rupy C. Tut, Keerat Kaur and Saira Wasim, and co-curators Sonia Dhami and Syona Puliady for an in-depth look at the Fowler’s “I Will Meet You Yet Again: Contemporary Sikh Art” exhibition. These artists — Sikh and non-Sikh — contributed to the hybrid array of material approaches reflecting personal and gendered perspectives on the history of the community and its visual expressions. The works on view inform a Sikh understanding of “home” and find inspiration in holy scriptures, legacies of persecution and protest, and the entwined forces of home and longing at play throughout Sikh history.
This event takes place online. Registration is free.
March 13, 6:00 p.m.
Tomorrow’s Women: Empowering Young Israeli, Palestinian and American Women
Join the Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies for a discussion with young Israeli and Palestinian women to foster empathy and mutual understanding and provide a different Israeli-Palestinian reality during a time of deep division.
The motivation for founding Tomorrow’s Women 20 years ago was driven by the conviction that the cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians must cease. Tomorrow’s Women recognizes young women’s potential as catalysts for change and trains young women from Palestine, Israel and the United States to be strong, compassionate leaders who partner to resolve conflicts and inspire action that promotes equality, peace and justice for all. In this talk, Noga Bar-Oz, a Jewish Israeli musician and the granddaughter of three Holocaust survivors, will join her friend Lana Ikelan, a Palestinian journalist. Sharing their personal stories and current work, Bar-Oz and Ikelan’s journeys demonstrate Tomorrow’s Women’s mission of inspiring positive change through personal growth and activism to provide a hopeful outlook on the possibility of a different Israeli-Palestinian reality.
This free event takes place at Bunche Hall. Register to attend.
March 15, 9:00 a.m.
2024 UCLA Anderson Women’s Leadership Summit
The UCLA Anderson School of Management is hosting its 2024 Velocity Women’s Leadership Summit, a celebration of the power and impact of women. The event aims to create an inclusive environment for exploring a more equitable future in both business and society.
Keynote speakers include Sprinkles and Pizzana founder Candace Nelson, Lauren Neustadter of Hello Sunshine and Anne Walsh of Guggenheim Partners Investment Management.
The event will take place at the Skirball Cultural Center. Paid registration is required to attend.
March 16, 10:00 a.m.
The Women’s Empowerment Brunch, organized by the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and co-sponsored by the Student National Medical Association, is a celebration of women in medicine. Open to all, the event is an opportunity for women in medicine to identify with like-minded individuals, empower others, and facilitate open and honest conversations that will promote personal and professional growth and health advocacy.
Registration is requested. This free event takes place at the Mathias Botanical Garden.
March 22, 10:00 a.m.
The 2024 UCLA Alumnae Conference will celebrate Women’s History Month by providing resources and tools to help women realize their full potential through wellness.
The event will feature a keynote speaker, panel discussions and networking opportunities, and is open to people of all ages and backgrounds.
The event takes place at the James West Alumni Center. Attendance requires paid registration.
