Women’s History Month
Celebrate Women's History Month with us!
Celebrate Women’s History Month 2026 with the
Women’s Leadership and Resource Center!
Join us to honor the accomplishments and contributions of women throughout history! Check out our fantastic lineup of events, as well as events hosted by partners across campus.
Feminist Book Party
Monday, March 2
Big Girl: Exploring Race, Gender, and Fatness in U.S. Culture
Wednesday, March 4
The Trouble with My Hair: Coloring, Cutting, and Coming into Who I Am
Wednesday, March 11
Bloom Feminist Collective Kickoff Art Build
Thursday, March 12
PERSIST(Σ): Beyond the Binary: Reimagining Gender Equity & Belonging in STEM
Monday, March 16
Short Reads Book Club: That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story
Wednesday, March 18
Feminist Book Party
Feminist Book Party
Monday, March 2, 2026
5-6:30pm
Institute for the Humanities, 153 BSB
Join UIC Gender & Women’s Studies for a celebration of GWS faculty members’ new books and to spend time together in community! This event showcases a powerful range of contributions to feminist scholarship, activism, and collective liberation.
Co-sponsored by the Institute for the Humanities, Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, Social Justice Initiative, Museum and Exhibition Studies, Black Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Political Science, Communication, Gender & Sexuality Center, and Women’s Leadership and Resource Center.
Big Girl: Exploring Race, Gender, and Fatness in U.S. Culture
Big Girl: Exploring Race, Gender, and Fatness in U.S. Culture
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
12:30-2:30pm
Black Cultural Center, 207 Addams Hall
This one is for the “Big Girls”, and we mean that with love, softness, and truth.
Join us for a critical and heart-centered conversation about race, gender, and fatness in U.S. culture, rooted in Black feminist care and deep community. We’re centering our stories, our bodies, our joy, and the fullness of who we are.
We’ll talk. We’ll collage. Bring your whole self; we have room for the fullness of you here.
All are welcome. Light refreshments will be provided.
Co-hosted by the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center, Black Cultural Center, and Counseling Center.
The Trouble with My Hair: Coloring, Cutting, and Coming into Who I Am
The Trouble with My Hair: Coloring, Cutting, and Coming into Who I Am
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
12-2pm
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Dining Hall
Join us for an intimate exploration of storyteller and solo performer Dr. Ada Cheng’s gender, sexual, and racial identities and boundary-making through her evolving relationships with her hair and her stylists.
Co-hosted by the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center, Asian American Resource and Cultural Center, Gender and Sexuality Center, Asian American Student Academic Program, Gender and Women’s Studies Program, and Sociology.
Bloom Feminist Collective Kickoff Art Build
Bloom Feminist Collective Kickoff Art Build
Thursday, March 12, 2026
4-6pm
Women’s Leadership and Resource Center, 1700 SSB
Bloom Feminist Collective is an emerging, intergenerational space on campus. We aim to build an educational collective for skill-building and learning based on intersectional feminist principles.
Come join us for our kickoff art build event, and to collaboratively dream and design Bloom’s future!
Co-sponsored by the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center.
PERSIST(Σ): Beyond the Binary: Reimagining Gender Equity & Belonging in STEM
PERSIST(Σ): Beyond the Binary: Reimagining Gender Equity & Belonging in STEM
Monday, March 16, 2026
1-2pm
Zoom
Being authentic matters! Join engineering alumni as they share how culture, identity, and community support growth and belonging. More details coming soon!
About the program:
PERSIST(Σ) aims to create identity-affirming spaces to promote the participation and persistence of women and nonbinary people of color in engineering at UIC. Join the Equity in Engineering Program (EIEP), Women in Engineering Programs (WIEP), and the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center (WLRC) to learn more and be part of this exciting initiative for meaningful change! Learn more.
Short Reads Book Club: That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story
Short Reads Book Club: That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
2-3:30pm
1-360 Daley Library
Join the University Library’s Undergraduate Engagement Program and the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center for a session of the Short Reads Book Club in commemoration of Women’s History Month!
We will be discussing the graphic novel That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story by Huda Fahmy. This session will be divided into two parts, a 30-minute read-aloud of an excerpt of the text and a 30-minute guided discussion.
Refreshments and free copies of the book will be provided (first-come, first-served)!
Additional WLRC Events
Other Campus WHM Events
Engineer Your Own Way: Power. Possibilities. Real Talk.
Hosted by Women in Engineering Programs
Monday, March 2, 2026
4-5pm
Zoom
Join us as we kick off Women’s History Month with an inspiring virtual panel featuring industry, academia, and career professionals who are carving their own paths.
Our panelists will share honest stories about growth, pivots, challenges, and the moments that shaped their journeys. Whether you’re just starting out or figuring out your next move, this conversation is for you.
Come listen. Come ask questions. Come be reminded that your path is yours to design!
International Women’s Day 2026
International Women’s Day 2026 Celebration
Hosted by Equity and Inclusion in Engineering Program and Women in Engineering Programs
Friday, March 6, 2026
4-6pm
EIEP Lounge, 2065 SELE
Join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day 2026! Together, we honor the women in engineering who boldly Make It Happen and embrace this year’s theme, #GiveToGain, because when we invest in one another, we all rise.
Enjoy an evening of connection, inspiration, community, and a fun hands on origami activity where we will turn something simple into something powerful.
Women in Business Conference
Women in Business Conference: Courageously Authentic
Hosted by United Women’s Network and UIC Business
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
4-7:30pm
Student Center East, Illinois Room
Join us for the 12th Annual Women in Business Conference! This year, we honor the women who dare to show up fully: driving innovation, elevating their communities, and reshaping the business landscape by being unapologetically themselves. Together, we’ll reflect on the strides we’ve made and envision a future where authenticity isn’t just encouraged but embraced as a catalyst for lasting impact and change.
Missing and Forgotten Women: Lost in the Shadows
Missing and Forgotten Women: Lost in the Shadows
Hosted by the Jane Addams College of Social Work
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
4-6pm
Student Services Building
The 30th Karen J. Honig Memorial Lecture featuring Trina Reynolds-Tyler presents a crucial opportunity to address the shared risk and protective factors impacting families of missing women in Chicago. Drawing on in-depth investigative reporting, this lecture will address systemic issues, abuse, and the inadequate access to essential services many families face, and the urgent reality that systemic failures and deep-seated biases—such as racism and sexism—within law enforcement institutions significantly heighten the vulnerabilities of these women.
Reynolds-Tyler is the data director at the Invisible Institute, a nonprofit journalism production company located on Chicago’s south side that works to enhance the capacity of citizens to hold public institutions accountable. A native of Chicago’s south side, Reynolds-Tyler won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for local investigative reporting for the seven-part series “Missing in Chicago.” She leads Beneath the Surface, a project using machine learning to address how police investigations often overlook gender-based violence.
Previous Women's History Month Events
Short Reads Book Club: This Bridge Called My Back
Short Reads Book Club: This Bridge Called My Back
Tuesday, March 11, 2025
12-1pm
Women’s Leadership and Resource Center
Join us for a lunchtime reading and discussion of select pieces from the seminal feminist anthology, This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa.
Lunch will be provided!
Co-hosted with the UIC Library’s Undergraduate Engagement Program.
From Surviving to Thriving: Cultivating Possibilities for Parenting Students in Illinois
From Surviving to Thriving: Cultivating Possibilities for Parenting Students in Illinois
Thursday, March 20, 2025
9am – 1pm
Student Services Building, Conference Rooms
Join WLRC and campus partners for a symposium exploring the unique needs and challenges of parenting students. Together we will uplift student stories, present current research on parenting students, identify best practices for supporting pregnant and parenting students, and articulate ways to collaborate to put our ideas into action at UIC and campuses statewide.
Co-sponsored by Little Sparks, Life Scholars, Center for Excellence in Maternal and Child Health, Office of Student Success and Belonging, African American Academic Network, Office for Access and Equity, College of Education, Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women, and Student Affairs.
Other Campus WHM Events
Women’s Week Donation Drive for CAWC
Hosted by Women’s Health Initiative and Honors College Advisory Board
Monday, March 3 – Friday, March 7, 2025
Burnham Hall Vestibule
As we celebrate International Women’s Week, giving back to women in need is essential. That’s why we are holding a donation drive for Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC). The donation box can be found in the Burnham Hall Vestibule all of Women’s Week (3/3-3/7). Here is a complete wishlist of donation items!
Women’s History Month Celebration
Women’s History Month Celebration
Hosted by CHANCE Program
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
9:30-11am | 1600 SSB
Join us for our annual celebration to kick off Women’s History Month! We will enjoy a communal breakfast and explore topics surrounding self care, advocacy, and community building. Breakfast will be served.
International Womxn’s Day Accelerate Action Dinner
International Womxn’s Day Accelerate Action Dinner
Hosted by Equity in Engineering Program & Women in Engineering Programs
Friday, March 7, 2025
4-6pm | RSVP for location
Join us to celebrate the achievements of women in engineering and reaffirm our commitment to advancing gender equity in engineering and technology—at UIC and beyond! Together, we can drive meaningful change, inspire future leaders, and shape a more inclusive and equitable present and future for all!
SWE in the City
SWE in the City
Hosted by Society of Women Engineers
Saturday, March 8, 2025
10am – 2pm | 239 ARC
We are thrilled to have you join us for this exciting annual event which provides a fantastic opportunity to connect with fellow SWEsters while engaging in sessions that focus on academic success, professional development, and community building. We appreciate your enthusiasm and commitment to growing as engineers and leaders.
Women's Business Conference
Women’s Business Conference
Hosted by United Women’s Network
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
3-6pm | Student Center East, Illinois Room
Join us as the Women In Business community within and outside of UIC come together and celebrate the incredible achievements we’ve made and honor UWN’s mission of empowering young female professionals.
2024 Events
Women’s History Month Breakfast
Women’s History Month Breakfast
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
9-10:30am
Student Center East, Cardinal Room
Join WLRC and the CHANCE Program for a special breakfast in celebration of Women’s History Month! Our guest speaker will be Dr. Aginah M. Muhammad, Assistant Vice Provost for Student Success at UIC.
As an alum of UIC, Dr. Muhammad is a transformative leader with nearly 25 years of educational experience. Her passion for education is a driving force to her commitment to student success. Dr. Muhammad’s research focuses on the impact of mentorship on Black women. She is an accomplished author and host of the LITE It Up podcast, emphasizing women’s leadership, transformation, and empowerment.
The Broken Rung: How Sexism Undermines
The Broken Rung: How Sexism Undermines
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
12-1pm
UIC Law School, Goldberg Court Room
Join WLRC’s director, Dr. Natalie Bennett, and Kim Ricardo, Associate Dean of Experiential Education at UIC Law, for a discussion exploring how gender roles impact professional settings and personal development.
Presented as part of UIC Law’s annual Diversity Week. This year’s theme is Authentic You: How You Can Be a Professional While Being True to Yourself.
WLRC staff will also be onsite to share info about WLRC and CAN’s programs and opportunities. Please stop by our table before and after the discussion!
Australian Women Representing Diplomacy, Entrepreneurship, Performing Arts, and Technology
Australian Women Representing Diplomacy, Entrepreneurship, Performing Arts, and Technology
Friday, March 8, 2024
12-1:30pm
UIC Innovation Center
Celebrate International Women’s Day by joining us for a panel discussion and lunch hosted by the UIC Innovation Center, Gender and Women’s Studies Program, and Women’s Leadership and Resource Center in conjunction with the Australian Consulate-General Chicago.
Speakers:
- Suzanne McCourt, Chief Congressional Liaison Officer, Australian Embassy, Washington D.C.
- Debbie Sharpe, Owner, The Goddess and Grocer and The Goddess Rocks! Catering
- Carolyn Watson, Music Director, La Porte County Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor, Kansas City Chamber Orchestra
- Emily Wilcox, Chief Operating Officer, Practifi
50 Years of Women in Planning
50 Years of Women in Planning
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
3-4:30pm
Women’s Leadership and Resource Center & Zoom
Join us for an exciting panel discussion exploring how the role of women in urban planning has evolved over the past 50 years, hosted in celebration of the Urban Planning and Policy department’s 50th anniversary and Women’s History Month!
Speakers:
- Cecile DeMello, Team Englewood
- Alisha Garcia Flores, Enlace Chicago
- Yasmine Dukan, UIC Gender and Sexuality Center
- Ann Barnds, Community organizer
- Marlita White, Chicago Department of Human Services
Co-sponsored by the Urban Planning and Policy Department, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, Gender and Women’s Studies, Society of Undergrad Urban and Policy Students, and Coalition of Urban Planning Ph.D. Students.
The Artist Room
The Artist Room
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
2-3:30pm
Women’s Leadership and Resource Center
We invite women and nonbinary student artists to come together and discuss what it means for us to be artists. While crafting as a group, we will discuss questions such as
- What does being an artist mean for us socially?
- What does it mean to us personally?
- What does it mean to pursue art as a hobby vs. a career?
- How does CADA/UIC affirm our identities as women and nonbinary people?
- What are the challenges that we face?
Join us for this student-focused and student-facilitated session. You do not have to be an art major to participate. Supplies and snacks will be provided!
Making Spaces: Lesbians Imagining and Building Community in Chicago
Making Spaces: Lesbians Imagining and Building Community in Chicago
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
3-5pm
Latino Cultural Center
We invite you to a panel exploring what happens when Lesbians decide to come together to build something–a team, an organization, a movement, an intervention–as well as the joys and the challenges in sustaining them, and the ways Lesbians have helped us develop tools for constructing a more livable city and world.
Hosted by the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center, Gender and Sexuality Center, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Honors College.
Chicago Monuments Project: Pilsen Latina Legacies
Chicago Monuments Project: Pilsen Latina Legacies
Thursday, March 28, 2024
12-2pm
Latino Cultural Center
Join us for an ARTivism workshop to honor and learn about the Festival de Mujeres 1979 and envision a monument to Latina legacies in Pilsen. This historic, Latina-led street festival was organized by the community group Mujeres Latinas en Acción in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago’s West Side.
Participants will learn more about the Pilsen Latina Legacies Project and the Festival and engage in a zine activity to gather ideas for a future monument that centers the history of Pilsen Latinas in Chicago. We will engage with Festival co-organizer, 2023 Latinx Artist Fellow, and Pilsen Latina Legacies Lead Artist, Diana Solís, and Professor Hinda Seif, PhD (University of Illinois at Springfield).
Presented by WLRC and the Latino Cultural Center. Co-sponsored by Latin American and Latino Studies, Museum and Exhibition Studies, and Gender and Women’s Studies.
Art & Activism: Filmmaker Lizzie Borden
Art & Activism: Filmmaker Lizzie Borden
Thursday, March 28, 2024
2-3:30pm
Chicago Justice Gallery
Join us for an intimate conversation about art and activism with filmmaker Lizzie Borden, facilitated by GWS Assistant Professor Freda Fair and featuring GWS undergraduate students Baeyoung Yoo and Parisa Gharavi, PhD student in History and GWS graduate student concentrator Liliana Macias, and students from CADA.
Then, join us at the the Gene Siskel Film Center for screenings and discussions of her iconic films.
Other Campus WHM Events
Women in Law Panel
Hosted by Women’s Law Caucus
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
5pm | Law School
International Women’s Day Inspire Inclusion Dinner
Hosted by Equity in Engineering Program & Women in Engineering Programs
Friday, March 8, 2024
4-6:30pm | Student Center East, Illinois Room
Women’s Business Conference
Hosted by United Women’s Network
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
3-7pm | Student Center East, Illinois Room
Lizzie Borden: Regrouping
Hosted by Gender and Women’s Studies & College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts
Thursday, March 28, 2024
6-8pm | Gene Siskel Film Center
Lizzie Borden: Born In Flames
Hosted by Gender and Women’s Studies & College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts
Thursday, March 28, 2024
8:30-10:30pm | Gene Siskel Film Center
Lizzie Borden: Working Girls
Hosted by Gender and Women’s Studies & College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts
Friday, March 29, 2024
6-8pm | Gene Siskel Film Center
2023 Events
VOICES: Aram Han Sifuentes
VOICES: Aram Han Sifuentes
Thursday, March 9, 2023
5-6:30pm CT
UIC Gallery 400, 400 S. Peoria St.
Artist and activist Aram Han Sifuentes’s work confronts social and racial injustices, interweaving fiber, social practice, performance, and pedagogy to consider themes of immigration, labor, and protest. Many of her projects, such as the ongoing Protest Banner Lending Library, aim to make art more accessible to the disenfranchised, especially immigrants of color. Since 2016, Sifuentes has brought communities together to sew protest banners, creating a creative outlet of resistance for those who cannot attend protests for their own safety.
Join Sifuentes for a lecture on their practice’s trajectory, exploring how they make political statements and engage communities through participatory art.
Presented in partnership with UIC Gallery 400 and Gender and Women’s Studies.
Artist-Activists Reimagining Justice: Ashley Dequilla and Sarah Whyte
Artist-Activists Reimagining Justice: Ashley Dequilla and Sarah Whyte
Friday, March 10, 2023
11:30am – 1pm CT
Zoom
How do women and gender non-conforming artists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color decide to use their creative skills to bolster social justice movements? How does their work engage racial and economic justice to imagine new possibilities with and for their local communities and beyond? How do they bring this work into the academy and vice-versa?
During Women’s History Month, WLRC is hosting dialogues with artists, activists, and educators to explore these questions and inspire new ways to work collectively toward a better world.
Join us for a conversation with artists and UIC MFA students Ashley Dequilla and Sarah Whyte about how their work brings visibility to Asian American and transnational adoptee experiences and justice movements.
Women of Color Affinity Group: Celebrating Our History
Women of Color Affinity Group: Celebrating Our History
Monday, March 13, 2023
2-3:30pm CT
1700 SSB, 1200 W. Harrison St.
Are you a woman-identifying student of color looking to build connections and community at UIC? The Women’s Leadership and Resource Center invites you to join our new Affinity Group!
We’ll start this month’s gathering with a reflection about the women of color who have inspired us in our personal, academic, and professional lives. Then we’ll let the conversation flow wherever it takes us!
- Open to UIC undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who identify as women of color (including Black, Indigenous, Latina/e/x, Asian/Asian American, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern/Northern African, and mixed race women)
WLRC’s Affinity Groups provide students who share an identity or professional interest space to gather, discuss shared experiences, support each other through challenges, and affirm and celebrate their communities. Each group meets once a month and is facilitated by WLRC staff.
Sovereignty Is in the Body: Indigeneity and Reproductive Justice
Sovereignty Is in the Body: Indigeneity and Reproductive Justice
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
12-2pm CT
Zoom
What does reproductive justice look like for Indigenous women in the U.S.? Drawing on their experiences as Indigenous feminist activists, birth workers, and healthcare practitioners in the U.S., the panelists will discuss the connections between historic conditions and contemporary struggles for reproductive justice, as well as the strategies, successes, and challenges of organizing for reproductive justice in the post-Dobbs moment.
Speakers:
- Nicolle Gonzales, Midwifery Director/Founder of Changing Women Initiative
- M. Carmen Lane, Founder and Director, ATNSC: Center for Healing & Creative Leadership
- Rachael Lorenzo, Co-founder/Executive Director, Indigenous Women Rising
- Janelle Palacios, PhD, CNM, Nurse Midwife Scientist & Storyteller for Social Justice
Moderator: Cindy Tekobbe, Assistant Professor, Critical Feminist Science & Technology, UIC
Presented by the UIC Women’s Leadership and Resource Center and Indigenous Graduate Student Association. Co-sponsored by UIC Native American Support Program, Gender and Women’s Studies, and College of Nursing.
Women in STEM & Business Affinity Group: Honoring Women Trailblazers
Women in STEM & Business Affinity Group: Honoring Women Trailblazers
Thursday, March 16, 2023
2-3:30pm CT
1700 SSB, 1200 W. Harrison St.
Are you a woman-identifying student in Business or STEM (science, tech, engineering, math) looking to build connections and community at UIC? The Women’s Leadership and Resource Center invites you to join our new Affinity Group!
We’ll start this month’s gathering by recognizing the women STEM & business leaders who have paved the way for us. Then we’ll let the conversation flow wherever it takes us!
- Open to UIC undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who identify as women and are majoring or interested in STEM and business fields
WLRC’s Affinity Groups provide students who share an identity or professional interest space to gather, discuss shared experiences, support each other through challenges, and affirm and celebrate their communities. Each group meets once a month and is facilitated by WLRC staff.
Artist-Activists Reimagining Reproductive and Gender Justice
Artist-Activists Reimagining Reproductive and Gender Justice
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
12-2pm CT
1700 SSB, 1200 W. Harrison St.
How do women and gender non-conforming artists who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color decide to use their creative skills to bolster social justice movements? How does their work engage racial and economic justice to imagine new possibilities with and for their local communities and beyond? How do they bring this work into the academy and vice-versa?
During Women’s History Month, WLRC is hosting dialogues with artists, activists, and educators to explore these questions and inspire new ways to work collectively toward a better world.
Join us for a conversation with artists and community activists Ashley Dequilla, Queen Hibbler, and Onyx about how their work brings visibility to reproductive and gender justice movements. The discussion will be followed by a screenprinting party featuring a custom design by one of the participating artists. Please bring a t-shirt, tote bag, poster, or other item to have screenprinted (we will have some shirts and bags available for free on a first-come, first-served basis).
Engaging Pacific Island Feminism and Indigenous Feminism
Engaging Pacific Island Feminism and Indigenous Feminism
Thursday, March 30, 2023
4-5pm CT
Zoom
Join us for a special event with Dr. Stephanie Nohelani Teves, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and Dr. Maile Arvin, Associate Professor of History and Gender Studies at the University of Utah, about Pacific Island Feminism, expanding on their co-written chapter, “Decolonizing API,” in Asian American Feminisms and Women of Color Politics.
Presented in partnership with the UIC AANAPISI Initiative, Native American Support Program, Global Asian Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Gender and Sexuality Center. This event is also part of the Deconstructing AAPI Series, which is dedicated to curating events that expose the identity-specific issues that are hidden when grouping the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.