From film screening to workshops, students and societies across university celebrate International Women’s Day inspiring conversation and reflection on campus.
This month, the University of Glasgow held a variety of events to mark International Women’s day, held annually on 8 March. This year, the global theme has been Give to Gain, which encourages generosity whether through donations, knowledge, rising visibility or advocacy to help forge gender parity through collective action to emphasize the idea that when women are empowered, the whole society benefits.
For universities, this message is particularly relevant as campuses are spaces where new ideas, discussions and social change start. Many universities across the UK, including the University of Glasgow, have organised a wide range of events throughout the week of week, including talks, workshops and creative activities, where both students and staff get together to discuss the importance of women’s inclusion and impact in our society.
As part of this week’s programme, on 5 March the Advanced Research Centre (ARC) at the University of Glasgow, in collaboration with Ragged Cinema and the Havana Glasgow Film Festival (HGFF), hosted the premiere screening of Cine Dialógico. Attendees were able to learn how feminist activists from Cuba, Glasgow and Cataluña use filmmaking to overcome borders, sharing different stories and perspectives of women from different parts of the world.
In addition to the film screening, the Glasgow University Women in Business and Finance Society in collaboration with the FemEng society hosted a conference where women in Business, Finance and Engineering gave insights into their careers and their pathway including lessons and the challenges and barriers they had to overcome in the workplace, in order to inspire other ambitious women to achieve their dreams, and motivate students for their next steps in their careers.
Alongside academic discussions, student societies have organised other creative and community-focused activities to celebrate International Women´s Day in the University of Glasgow.Book Babes Society hosted a creative workshop where students were invited to redesign book covers and craft bookmarks to celebrate women’s voices in literature. The Glasgow University Amnesty International Society, organised a tote bag painting activity in support of Women´s Aid, bringing together artistic expression with awareness for women affected by domestic abuse.
In addition to all of these events, the University of Glasgow has a long legacy of women’s history reflected around campus. This can be seen in the academic courses that are focused on the exploration of women´s lives and challenges in a patriarchal society, but also in the buildings and spaces that commemorate notable alumni that have paved the way for future generations. One example is Ruth Perriet, who was the first woman to graduate the University of Glasgow with a BSc and whose name is now in a lecture theatre in the School of Chemistry; or Isabella Elder, the only woman commemorated on the University of Glasgow´s memorial gate, who made important donations to the University and the Queens Margaret College.
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