[323] Maya Angelou serves as inspiration for MTSU Women’s History Month

MURFREESBORO — A month of interactive and entertaining National Women’s History Month activities at MTSU will begin with an event honoring the late Dr. Maya Angelou.

The opening ceremony is slated for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, in the atrium of the James E. Walker Library. The MTSU Gospel Choir and MTSU Jazz Ensemble will perform and students will deliver a spoken-word tribute.

Angelou, a poet, educator, dramatist and civil rights activist, died May 28, 2014. Her legacy includes authorship of 36 books, including “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Gather Together in My Name.”

Her honors include three Grammy Awards, the National Medal of the Arts, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Under the month-long theme of “Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives,” Lisa Ling, executive producer and host of “This Is Life” on CNN, will deliver the keynote address at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in the Student Union Ballroom. This event is free and open to the public.

Ling is a journalist whose experience includes co-hosting ABC’s “The View” and hosting “National Geographic Explorer” on the National Geographic Channel and “Our America with Lisa Ling” on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Another major highlight of the month is the 11^th biennial Women’s and Gender Studies Conference, which is scheduled for March 26-28.

Titled “Global Discourses in Women’s and Gender Studies,” the gathering will feature top experts from around the world sharing their research into women’s and gender issues. For more information on registration and specific conference activities, go to www.mtsu.edu/womenstu/conference/.

Other National Women’s History Month events include:

• “Moving Eastward and Upward: Adjusting ‘Plans’ to Accommodate Cool Research and Leadership Opportunities,” Women in Chemistry Invited Lecture, Dr. Jennifer McKenzie, Vanderbilt University, incoming chair of the Nashville section of the American Chemical Society, 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 4, Room 145, College of Education Building;
  
  
• “Notes to My College Self: Advice for Navigating Your Path to Success,” a panel discussion with MTSU and community women and audience engagement, 5 p.m. Thursday, March 19, Room 101, Ingram Building;

• “The Vagina Monologues,” a theatrical event exploring topics related to women and feminism, presented by student organization I AM ME, 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, Keathley University Center theater, $3 with student ID, $5 general admission;

• Dr. Dagmar Herzog, distinguished professor of history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, lecturing on “Nazi Anti-Semitism and the Christian Churches,” 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, Hazlewood Dining Room, James Union Building.

Sponsors of National Women’s History Month events at MTSU include the James E. Walker Library, the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students, the Holocaust Studies Program, the American Association of University Women in Murfreesboro, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, the Distinguished Lecture Committee and the National Women’s History Month Committee.

For more information on these and other events, contact Barbara Scales, director of the June Anderson Center and chair of the National Women’s History Month Committee, at 615-898-2193 or barbara.scales@mtsu.edu.