The West Virginia University Center for Women’s and Gender Studies will host the third Women’s and Gender Studies Fair on Thursday, April 25, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on the first floor of the Mountainlair.

With a slogan like “Cells, Condoms, Corsets and Blowup Dolls,” attendees can expect the Fair to feature the latest issues in today’s culture and academia. This semester’s topics range from women in the media, gender and work, violence against women, gender and politics and gender and health.

Students enrolled in women’s and gender studies courses—including the introductory course, men and masculinities, and sexual minorities—have worked to create engaging and informative projects which range from posters to exhibits to video public service announcements. First held in April 2012, the fair is held biannually at the end of each fall and spring semester.

Brian R. Jara, senior lecturer in women’s and gender studies, is coordinating the event.

“The fair is a chance to help educate the WVU and surrounding community about the many ways in which women’s and gender studies affects all of our daily lives,” Jara said. “When you see the wide range of topics you cannot deny that women’s and gender studies, and feminism in particular, are timely, relevant and vitally important.”

Students are encouraged to harness their creativity to put their own unique spin on project outcomes. Last semester, students began a social movement by creating a Tumblr page, called “My Campus Needs Pride,” to advocate for LGBTQ families and their allies on the WVU campus. This semester’s students have capitalized on the technological trend by initiating their own project via Tumblr and other social media platforms.

The Fair will also be showcasing the work of young filmmakers who will be debuting short-film documentaries in the Gluck Theater.

“I want my students’ assignments and projects to have a legacy,” Jara said. “It is more important to me that they do work that will continue to help someone and make an impact.”

There are nearly 100 faculty associates teaching and conducting research in women’s and gender studies in 15 colleges and schools across campus, including athletic coaching education, biology, community health promotion, disability studies, family and consumer sciences, geography, journalism, public health and resource management and law. The Center for Women’s and Gender Studies serves as a hub for supporting and connecting interdisciplinary scholarship across the University.

For more information, contact Jara at Brian.Jara@mail.wvu.edu or visit the Center’s website at http://wmst.wvu.edu.

The Center for Women’s and Gender Studies supports teaching, research and advocacy that is based on feminist perspectives and centered on analyses of gender and its intersection with race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age and ability.

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bll/4/22/13

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CONTACT: Rebecca Herod, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
304-293-9264, Rebecca.Herod@mail.wvu.edu