Women 2000 - Highlights

Women 2000 is a call to action to continue the dialogue begun in 1850, To provide a forum for discussion on the present status of women, And to explore the challenges and opportunities for the future.

Friday, October 20th
12:00 - 4:30pmPre-Conference for Teachers, College of the Holy Cross. (Additional fee required.) PDP's available. Call Alliance for Education, 508-754-9425, ext. 28.
3:30 - 8:00pmRegistration, Mechanics Hall
6:30 - 8:00pmOpening Session, Mechanics Hall
Welcome, opening remarks
John McClymer: The Significance of the 1850 Convention
Keynote speaker: Jill Ker Conway
Performance by Master Singers of Worcester
8:00 - 10:00pmMusical Event: Sol y Canto
A Latin Musical Group with Rosie Amador
Saturday, October 21st
8:30 - 10:00Workshops, Centrum Centre
10:15 - 11:45Workshops, Centrum Centre
12:00 - 2:15pmKeynote Panel and Luncheon, Centrum Centre
Plenary on current issues and challenges facing women
Meizhu Lui, Boston Health Access Project
Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, Supreme Judicial Court
Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO co-founder and officer
Blenda J. Wilson, President & CEO of Nellie Mae Foundation
Moderated by: Emily Rooney, Host of WGBH Greater Boston
2:30 - 4:00pmWorkshops, Centrum Centre
4:00 - 5:30pmKeynote event, Centrum Centre
Poetry reading: Marge Piercy
co-sponsored with Worcester County Poetry Association
8:00pmHistorical dramatization: "Angels & Infidels," Mechanics Hall
Sunday, October 22nd
8:00 - 9:00amYWCA for Fun Run
9:00 - 10:15amUpdate On Women's Health sponsored by the Women's Faculty Committee, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Focus: Women's health issues are unique, and new information is rapidly emerging. In this session, a diverse panel of women physician experts will update you regarding what you need to know to care for your health and for the health of those you love. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.
Panel:
Marianne Felice, M.D., Professor, Department Chair of Pediatrics - Adolescent issues
Nancy Fontneau, M.D., Associate Professor, Clinical Neurology - Neurological issues
Kathleen Miller, EdD, RN, CS, Associate Professor, Department of Cardiac Surgery - Cardiovascular concerns
Judith Ockene, Ph.D., M.Ed., Professor, Department of Medicine and Director for the Division of Preventative and Behavioral Medicine, Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Administration - Prevention of current women's health issues
Panel Moderators:
Julie Jonassen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Physiology
Phyllis Pollack, M.D., Associate Professor, Clinical Pediatrics
10:30am - NoonKeynote event, Mechanics Hall Panel of Biographers: "What Inspired Our Foremothers and How Do They Inspire Us?"
Andrea Moore Kerr, author of Lucy Stone: Speaking Out for Equality
David Gollaher, author of Voice for the Mad, the Life of Dorothea Dix
Elizabeth Turner, Clara Barton and the Civil War
Jane Dutton, playwright, "Abby" --based on the life of Abby Kelley Foster and Stephen Foster
Moderator: Joyce A. Berkman, professor of History, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Noon - 1:00pmTable by Topics (Mechanics Hall) - Purchase a brown bag lunch and join a table!
  1. Twenty Years and Still Meeting: How to Begin a Women's Group and Keep it Going Successfully
    Presenters: Laura Menides, WPI; Arlene Vadum, Assumption College; Susan Vogel, UMass Medical School
  2. Women Poets: Dead and Alive
    Presenters: Karen S. Tipper, English Professor at Nichols College; Angela Dorenkamp, teacher, writer and Elizabeth Bishop Researcher; and Judith Ferrara, Poet and Painter
  3. Our Image Ourselves
    A photo display and discussion about The ARTSWorcester Gallery exhibit which opened October 19 at the Aurora Hotel's Arts Worcester Gallergy. The photos reflect a variety of artists working in a variety of media (from painting to photography, from textiles to ceramics to installations) as they explore the spirit of contemporary women.
    Presenter: Ruth Penka, Executive Director ARTSWorcester
  4. Violence of the Himalaya
    Presenter: Nirmala Mahat, Women Development Coordinator, Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Center, Jumla, Nepal
  5. Women at the Millennium: Reflections and a History of the Worcester County Poetry Association's Worcester Review
    Presenters: Diane Prennat, Professor of American Literature, Marion College Editor of the Worcester Review's Vol. XXI Feature: "Women at the Millenium: Reflections"; and Rodger Martin, Keene State College, Editor, The Worcester Review.
2:00 - 4:30pmClosing
Musical Event: Sweet Honey in the Rock
The Grammy Award-winning a cappella group of African American women's voices
7:00pmHistorical dramatization: "Angels & Infidels," Mechanics Hall