RVCC tells stories of women during Women's History Month

Anisa Mehdi, keynote, March 1, 2011, 7-8:30pm

BRANCHBURG — The stories of women from around the world will be told during events for Women's History Month at Raritan Valley Community College.

From women in Egypt and Sierra Leone in Africa to local women who graduated from RVCC, the college's March programs include a wide range of experiences and perspectives.

The programs are all free and open to the public.

They center on the theme "Our History is Our Strength: Celebrating the Centenary of International Women's Day." International Women's Day is a global event, first celebrated in 1911, that grew out of demands by women, labor unions and socialist organizations for better rights and working conditions for women worldwide. It served as the germ for the eventual proclamation of Women's History Month by the federal government in the 1980s.

RVCC's programs include appearances by award-winning filmmaker/journalist Anisa Mehdi; Sara Flounders, co-director of the New York-based International Action Center; and Ishmael Beah, author of the best-selling "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier."

Here are details about each event:

7 to 8:30 p.m. March 1, RVCC Atrium (lower level, College Center), Opening day ceremony: "Will the Egyptian Revolution be Feminized? Arab and Muslim Women in the Public Sphere," presented by Anisa Mehdi; respondents: RVCC professors Brandyn Heppard, philosophy; Jacqueline Skole, communication; Ronald Tyson, English; and Andrea Vaccaro, ESL. Mehdi is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and filmmaker who served as artistic director of "Documentary Voices: Pulling Focus," an initiative launched in Dubai in July 2008, and as producer/director of the National Geographic special "Inside Mecca."

1 to 2:30 p.m. March 16, RVCC Conference Center (Room C), "The Role of Women in the Creation of World Peace," presented by Sara Flounders; respondents: RVCC professors Charlie Bondhus, English; and Saulo Colon, sociology. Flounders, who identifies herself as a grassroots organizer, has spoken at universities and high schools and on numerous broadcast networks.