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WGSS is Celebrating 50 Years at OSU!

In Autumn 2025 semester, the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies will be celebrating 50 years at The Ohio State University. To commemorate the milestone as one of the longest-standing WGSS programs, we will host a 50th Anniversary Celebration, including alumni panels, live performances, community art, dance reception, and more! We look forward to the gathering of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the community to celebrate five decades of contributions to feminist scholarship and the interdisciplinary studies of gender and sexuality. We hope you can join us for this exciting 2-day event!

Event Details

Dates: 

  • Friday & Saturday, September 19-20th, 2025

Location: 

  • The Ohio State University campus
    Columbus, OH 43210

Registration: 

  • Be sure to complete registration in order to RSVP for the event.
  • Register online at link below or by phone at 800-762-5646.
    • If you are a current OSU faculty, staff, or student, login by clicking "Sign in with name.#".
    • If you are not a current OSU faculty, staff, or student and already have an account, enter your username and password. If you do not have an account, click "New user registration". 

Cost: 

  • Dinner on Friday evening is $20 per guest. All other sessions and included meals are free of cost. 

Parking: 

  • Find info on how to park on campus through CampusParc. Please note that parking fees are not included with your registration. We will update with additional parking guidance soon!

Lodging: 

  • For guests from out-of-town, there are plenty of lodging options in the Columbus area. If looking to stay close to campus, feel free to reference this list of campus-area hotels to choose from. 

Schedule of Events

September 19 (Friday): 

8:45-9:15am: Arrival & Registration @ Hale Hall

9:15-9:30am: Welcome and Opening Remarks @ Hale Hall

9:30-10:45: Rocking the Academy: WGSS Alumni in Academia Panel @ Hale Hall

  • Participants:  
  • Srimati Basu 1996, Interdisciplinary PhD in Cultural Studies/ Anthropology/ Women's Studies 
  • Krista Benson 2017, PhD 
  • Mahaliah Little 2021, PhD 
  • Sarah Rainey-Smithback 2009, PhD 
  • J. Brendan Shaw 2010, MA 
  • Moderator: Guisela Latorre 

10:45-11:45: Graduate Student Research Showcase: New Directions in Feminist Scholarship @ Hale Hall

  • Participants: Current MA and PhD students in WGSS 
  • Facilitators: Abigail Corcoran and LaVelle Ridley 

11:45-1:45: Lunch and Alumni Oral History Project @ Hale Hall

  • We invite you—alumni and friends of the department—to share your memories of WGSS @ OSU. We hope to highlight and preserve the histories of our diverse feminist community across 50 years at the university. Your testimonies will contribute to the Reclaiming Our Histories oral history project, so we can learn from our history as we embark on the next fifty years of WGSS! 
  • Facilitators: Ali Alkhalifa (BA 2022, MA 2024) and Mytheli Sreenivas 

2:00-3:15: Live Performance @ Hale Hall

Mothers of the Movement, Keya Crenshaw 2006, BA 

  • Mothers of the Movement is a staged reading that brings to life four mothers from different eras who navigate the grief of losing a child to police violence. Their intersecting stories honor their legacy through remembrance, resistance, and a collective call for justice. 
  • Performers: Keya Crenshaw, Chiquita Mullins Lee, Vicki Thompson Saunders, Patricia Wallace-Winbush.  

3:30-5:00: Trailblazers: WGSS Alumni in the Professions and the Arts Panel @ Hale Hall

  • Participants: 
  • Dana Greenblatt, 1997 BA 
  • Lisa Lopez, 1976 BA 
  • Miriam Noble, 2006 BA 
  • Stephanie J. Peters, 1986 BA 
  • Liz Shirey, 2005 BA 
  • Moderator: Linda Mizejewski 


From 6:00-11:00pm: Feminist Dining and Dancing @ the Ohio Union

  • Let’s commemorate 50 years of WGSS together! Join us at 6:00 to recognize former faculty and staff, to reconnect with our feminist community, and to hear from former leaders of the department: Jill Bystydzienski, Susan Hartmann, Sally Kitch, Valerie Lee, and Shannon Winnubst. Stay on after the reception for a celebratory dinner and night of dancing!

September 20 (Saturday): 

10:00-10:45: Arrival & Light Breakfast @ Curl Viewpoint

10:45-12:15: Powered Up: Recent WGSS Alumni in Action Panel @ Curl Viewpoint

  • Participants:  
  • Jenna Butler, 2023 BA 
  • Mia Cariello, 2021 BA, 2023 MA 
  • Lily Furgeson, 2023 BA 
  • Mace Hickman, 2020 BA 
  • Josia Klein, 2017 BA 
  • Moderator: LaVelle Ridley 

12:15-1:45: Lunch @ Curl Viewpoint

1:45-3:00: Feminist Mural Workshop @ Curl Viewpoint

  • Facilitator: Guisela Latorre 
  • Description: We are living in a difficult era characterized by attacks on feminist and progressive movements and a reassertion of power hierarchies. Please join us for the co-creation of a feminist mural that will help us heal and come together in challenging times. We will go around the room and ask each participant to share one strategy of survival, resistance, and/or joy that they employ at this current moment. 

2:45-3:00pm: Closing  @ Curl Viewpoint

 

Looking to extend your celebration of feminism?

Join some of our WGSS alumni as they host a rough cut screening of Free Beer Tomorrow! The film explores the relationship between the feminist movement for women’s liberation, alongside the formation of what would later become the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at OSU. A panel discussion of some of WGSS’ earliest leaders will follow the screening. Check out Free Beer Tomorrow’s website for more info and to get your tickets!

  • When: Saturday, September 20th, 4:30-7:00pm
  • Location: WOSU, Ross Community Studio, 1800 N Pearl St, Columbus, OH 43201

Questions?