International Women's Day -- USFSP Women and Law Field Trip to Tampa for the Athena Society Lucheon

I was delighted that the Honorable Betty Castor and Doris Weatherford invited me to participate in the Athena Society's International Women's Day Luncheon as a panelist to discuss my work in Moldova and in Macedonia.

There was only one problem, the luncheon was during my class period.  Thanks to the generosity of several Athena Society members, my students were sponsored and had the opportunity to attend the luncheon as well. Students were spread out among the tables - so each had the opportunity to learn more from the community leaders at their table as well as from the panelists.

 It was an honor to participate in the panel, moderated by historian Doris Weatherford.  The panelists included (as described in the program announcement):

"Nancy Natilson, a former banker, has worked on international projects for women since 1996.  Specializing in both microfinance and reproductive health, she has been a consultant on three continents with projects in Bosnia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, South Africa, Turkmenistan, Vietnam and more.

"Margaret “Peg” Ostrenko spent three years as a civilian contractor with the US Army in Iraq and the French army in Afghanistan. An expert in communication, Peg previously was employed by Bell South, the Miami Herald, and Tampa-area universities.

 and me -- Judithanne McLauchlan "a professor of political science at USF St. Petersburg and a Fulbright Scholar.  She’ll speak of her experience in two eastern European nations, the ancient nation of Macedonia and the former Soviet Republic of Moldova."

As you can see, the panelists were from different fields and covered many regions of the world. Together, we discussed "The Global Status of Women."

(For more about the Athena Society, see http://www.athena-society.com/)

In my brief remarks, I discussed the work that I did in Moldova and in Macedonia and provided a brief overview of the status of women in each country.

For more about my work during my Fulbright in Moldova, you can see my blog: http://jainmoldova.blogspot.com/

For one example of my work with students there, see this post about one of the campaign commercials a group of my women students produced in my campaigns workshop:

http://jainmoldova.blogspot.com/2010/11/campaigns-course-student-video.html

You can also see my USF students visiting the only shelter for survivors of domestic violence in Moldova (during my 2013 Study Abroad course) here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=102&v=PTGYORHag3k

For more about my work in Macedonia, see my blog: http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/

For more about the work of students in my "Democracy and Civil Society" class at the University of Tetovo, including with Peace Corps Volunteer Maria and her colleagues at Forumi Gruas, the women's legal clinic - as well as events we organized together with Zonta Macdonia and Zonta Pinellas to raise awareness of the need to Say No to Violence Against Women, see

 http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/05/say-no-to-violence-against-women-tetovo.html

http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2017/05/tetovo-some-highlights-of-my-time-at.html

I also announced our upcoming event for International Women's Day -- featuring law professor from Macedonia

See http://jainmacedonia.blogspot.mk/2018/04/usfsp-womens-herstory-month-event_5.html

Members of the Athena Society greeted the students before the meeting began

Doris Weatherford, signing one of her may books about women in politics

Students in  my Women and the Law class read excerpts of Doris Weatherford's book about the Women's Suffrage Movement. Too bad we did not have longer for a mini-lecture or an "author meets critic" session

After the luncheon, we met as a  seminar and discussed students' progress with their research posters for our USFSP Women's HERStory Month event.  We were delighted that we had the opportunity to meet the Honorable Alex Sink

USFSP Women's HERStory Month program -- Women and the Law Research Poster Presentations -- Keynote Speaker UKIM Prof Karolina Ristova-Aasterud from Macedonia

The USFSP Center for Civic Engagement, the USFSP chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action, and my Women and Law class hosted an event as part of Women's HERStory Month International Women's Day celebration.

For the event, we hosted Keynote Speaker from Macedonia, esteemed Constitutional Law Professor

Karolina Ristova-Aasterud from UKIM (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje)

"Defending Women's Reproductive Rights and Freedoms: The Curious Case of the Macedonian Abortion Law of 2013"

As a complement to the Keynote Speaker, my students presented research posters about women's reproductive rights in the US and Europe and several community partners (Planned Parenthood, NOW, Business and Professional Women of St. Pete/Pinellas) tabled at the event.

USF St. Petersburg shared pictures of the event here: Link to USFSP post about the HERStory Month event

Pictures of Prof. Karolina's lecture:

I welcomed guests on behalf of the Center for Civic Engagement, thanked our event co-sponsors, and introduced my students to the attendees

Ms Filkowski, President of USFSP Planned Parenthood Generation Action introduces the Keynote Speaker

What a beautiful memento from Macedonia! The USFSP PPGA group thanks you, Prof. Karolina

And I will treasure this memento in my office. Thank you for the Thank you gifts!

Community partners tabled at the event:

The Business and Professional Women of St. Petersburg/Pinellas:

attendees learned more about BPW St Pete/Pinellas -- including more about the upcoming Unhappy Hour and their scholarship program

For more about BPW St. Pete/Pinellas, see http://new.bpwstpetepinellas.org/

For more about the Unhappy Hour and why it is observed, see http://new.bpwstpetepinellas.org/unhappy-hour-for-equal-pay-day/

And -- this event was featured on the BPW website and "Step Into Our Shoes Newsletter":

http://new.bpwstpetepinellas.org/3934/bpw-st-pete-pinellas-attended-international-womens-day-event-hosted-by-usfsp/

Planned Parenthood and Planned Parenthood Generation Action:

VR Goggles provide attendees with the opportunity to experience what it is like accessing a women's health care clinic

 For more about Planned Parenthood, see https://www.plannedparenthood.org/

We were also joined by NOW.  For more about the National Organization for Women - NOW - see https://now.org/

Student Poster Presentations:

Students in my Women and the Law seminar presented posters about women's reproductive rights in the US and Europe at the event. I was so pleased that they could share their research results with other students, faculty, and the community:

The Constitutionality of TRAP Legislation in Texas and Florida

The Affordable Care Act and Access to Contraception: Burwell v Hobby Lobby (2014)

Abortion Rights in Europe: Case Study of Religion and Abortion Access in Ireland - and Landmark Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights

Reproductive Freedom in Europe

The Constitutionality of Abortion Access for Minors

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Indigent Women's Access to Abortion in the US: Landmark Cases of the Supreme Court of the United States

I really enjoyed listening to my students share their research with members of the community

 

After the event we took Prof. Karolina on a brief tour of our beautiful waterfront campus:

with Heba of the USFSP Center for Civic Engagement - thanks for all your help making this event a success!