Women's Mission Events
The W's mission to develop women's academic and leadership potential extends beyond the classroom. Annual events include festivals, leadership training programs, speakers series, and more while special events across campus frequently highlight women's excellence and professional achievement in the past and present.
News & Upcoming Events
Annual Events
Fall Semester
The Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium is held each October in honor of The W's most famous alumna. A diverse group of Southern writers and scholars are invited to present their work. A highlight of the symposium is the announcement of the Eudora Welty Prize for an unpublished book of scholarship.
Intersections of Gender and Place is a biennial exhibition that examines various issues of gender and also the impact of this region on the artist’s work. The parameters are purposefully vague so that the invited artists may address the theme through their own interpretations. The result is lively ‘conversation’ about gender in the South every other fall.
The Eudora Welty Writers' Symposium is held each October in honor of The W's most famous alumna. A diverse group of Southern writers and scholars are invited to present their work. A highlight of the symposium is the announcement of the Eudora Welty Prize for an unpublished book of scholarship.
Intersections of Gender and Place is a biennial exhibition that examines various issues of gender and also the impact of this region on the artist’s work. The parameters are purposefully vague so that the invited artists may address the theme through their own interpretations. The result is lively ‘conversation’ about gender in the South every other fall.
In honor of Sonia Kovalevsky, an outstanding 19th century mathematician and the first woman to receive a doctoral degree in mathematics, this one-day event for high school girls and their teachers (male or female) is designed to encourage young women to continue their study of mathematics and prepare for possible careers in mathematics-related fields.
Each October, The W's Department of Health and Kinesiology marks Women’s Health Awareness Week by bringing health experts to campus for a series of presentations and an informational luncheon that empowers women to make healthier choices. The luncheon is typically co-sponsored by Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle.
Spring & Summer Events
The Martha Swain Speaker Series brings a distinguished person to campus to speak every March as part of Women’s History Month. The series features issues important to women’s interests, lives and experiences. It was established in honor of Dr. Martha Swain, a women’s historian who published widely on women’s lives and politics in Mississippi, including the biography “Lucy Somerville Howorth: New Deal Lawyer, Politician, and Feminist from the South,” and edited the two-volume set, “Mississippi Women: Their Histories, Their Lives.”
Each March, the Department of Music hosts a unique international festival highlighting the work of women musicians and composers, this annual event contributes to programming diversity in concert halls around the world and is making progress toward a future in which works by women are fully represented within the classical music performance canon.
Each spring during Homecoming, the Center for Women’s Research and Public Policy trains students to conduct oral history interviews with members of the “Golden Girls” class on the occasion of their 50th reunion. Undergraduate students are trained in oral history best practices and conduct interviews themselves, gaining professional experience, deepening their connection to The W, and preserving the vital history of the nation's first public college for women.
Part of the national network of partner programs established by the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers University, NEW Leadership® Mississippi empowers women's participation in politics through programs that educate, empower, and encourage college students to become politically active and to become leaders in public service.