Celebrate Women’s History Month at Oakton
March, 2012

Join Oakton for a host of special events and activities marking Women’s History Month. Open to all.

March 1 - 11 Kita Y Fernanda.
A timely look at class, immigration, and women’s friendships, this Jeff-nominated play by Tanya Saracho, one of Chicago’s leading new playwrights, tells the tale of Fernanda, the privileged daughter of a wealthy Mexican family living in Texas, and Kita, the child of the family’s undocumented Mexican maid. A chance meeting many years later prompts a flood of memories about growing up in the same household.
Studio One
Des Plaines campus
Presented by the Performing Arts Department.
See Kita & Fernanda performance schedule.

March 8, 11 a.m. The Life and Work of Rosa Luxemburg
Feminist, activist, radical socialist: Luxemburg is one of the best-known revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Humanities and philosophy instructor Peter Hudis, co-author of The Letters of Rosa Luxemburg, sheds light on this influential woman. Program includes a performance of The Language of the Birds: Rosa Luxemburg and Me, Donna Blue Lachman’s acclaimed one-woman show. Free.
Performing Arts Center
Des Plaines campus
Sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program
 
March 22, 7 p.m. An Evening with Amy Richards
A nationally-known spokesperson and leading voice for young feminist issues, Richards is author of Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future,and co-founder of the Third Wave Foundation, an organization for young feminist activists between the ages of 15 and 30. Richards’ talk will be followed by a screening of HBO’s Gloria: In Her Own Words, a documentary about the legendary feminist Gloria Steinem, for which Richards served as a consultant, and a panel discussion on the topic, “Feminism: Where Have We Been and Where are We Going?” Free.
Performing Arts Center
Des Plaines campus
Sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program in cooperation with North/Northwest Suburban NOW

March 25-30
Sexual Assault Awareness Week. Join the Oakton community for two free events:

• The Clothesline Project
  A display of shirts with messages and illustrations designed by survivors or those who love them. Shirts will be provided for those who wish to share.
  Des Plaines campus, Room 1443
  March 27 - 28, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
  Skokie campus, Room A190
  March 29, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  March 30, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• Take Back the Night Rally and Candlelight Procession
  Women have always risked sexual assault when they walk alone at night. For more than 30 years, Take Back the Night events have helped break the silence and take a stand against violence.
  Des Plaines campus, Main Lobby
  March 30 at 6 p.m.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Student Life, Student Health Services, the Women's and Gender Studies Program, and the Human Services and Substance Abuse Counseling Program.

March 27, 6 p.m. Chicago Writers Series: Angela Jackson.
Poet, playwright, and novelist Jackson produced her first book of poetry, Voodoo Love Magic, in 1974. The recipient of numerous literary honors – including the Carl Sandburg Award — she published her first novel, Where I Must Go, in 2009. Set in Eden University (a fictional stand-in for Northwestern), it deals with the experiences of the first black students who blazed the trail into mostly white universities. Free.
Performing Arts Center
Des Plaines campus
Presented by the English Department. The Chicago Writers Series is sponsored by the Oakton Educational Foundation and student activity fees. 

March 29, 11 a.m. Hidden Child of the Holocaust: Marguerite Mishkin.
Born in 1941 to Jewish parents in Belgium, Mishkin spent the war hiding in plain sight. In 1943, after her father perished at Auschwitz, she and her sister were concealed by a rural Belgian Catholic family, where they remained until 1946.  But Auschwitz also claimed their mother, and after the war the girls were sent to a Jewish orphanage in Brussels.  Ultimately adopted by a Chicago rabbi and his wife, Mishkin earned a degree at Roosevelt University and became a teacher.
Skokie campus, Room A142
Sponsored by the Department of Historical and Policy Studies

For more information, contact Women's and Gender Studies coordinator Kathleen Carot at kcarot@oakton.edu.