FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: March 4, 2008

CONTACT: Lisa Saunders

(845) 574-4244

SUNY Rockland Community College Schedules Events to Celebrate Women's History Month

Public invited to attend—free admission

Suffern, NY— Actors, professors, and guest speakers will be featured in Women's History Month activities at SUNY Rockland Community College. All events are free and open to the public.

Schedule of events:

Tuesday, March 4

"The Civil War: Love Letters Between a Union Private and His Teenage Wife"

11:00 a.m. -12:15 p.m., Black Box Theater (room 7100). The entrance to the Black Box Theater is outside of the Cultural Arts Center, not the main entrance but around the corner to the left.

Lisa Saunders, Writer, Campus Communications, will discuss 18-year-old Nancy McDowell's life and pie business while living with her husband at Fort Foote on the Potomac River near Washington. Performing Arts students in costume will present an excerpt of the play based on the book.

Contact: lsaunde2@sunyrockland.edu, 845-574-4244

Thursday, March 13

Female Genital Mutilation: Discussion and video

11 a.m., Technology Center, Room 8180 (Ellipse)

Dr. Elaine Padilla, Professor, Social Sciences, and Dr. Susan Golz, Professor, Science, will discuss how the practice of female genital mutilation is a violation of human rights and goes to the heart of the subjugation of women.

Contact: epadilla@sunyrockland.edu or sgolz@sunyrockland.edu

Monday, March 24

"Women in Shakespeare"

1:00 - 2:15 p.m. Cultural Arts Theater

Dr. Nancy Hazelton, Professor, English, will discuss how women in Shakespeare's plays often find ways to circumvent the restrictions placed upon them by early modern England's social, political and religious codes and customs. A discussion/presentation with students from the Performing Arts Department and the Sam Draper M/TS Honors Program.

Contact: nhazelto@sunyrockland.edu, 845 574 4341

Thursday, March 27

"Sincerely, Geo"

3:00 – 5:00 p.m., Technology Center, Room 8180 (Ellipse)

Maire Liberace, Professor, Philosophy and Speech, will discuss the previously unknown friendship between an important Abbey Theatre Playwright, George Sheils, and a young nurse. It is based on letters and a personal account of their relationship, which lasted for more than 19 years, from 1930-1948. The presentation is in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the death of George Sheils and also to celebrate the premier of a play, April 29, in Belfast, on his life and works.

Contact: mliberac@sunyrockland.edu, 845 574 4276

Monday, March 31

"Women, Pop, Music and Pornography"

11:00—11:50 a.m. Cultural Arts Theater

Meredith Levande will present a multi-media lecture that looks at representations of women pop stars in the current deregulated media environment.  She reveals the large corporate ownership of pornography and its interests in portraying women in ways that promote pornography. More information: www.meredithlevande.com

For more information contact Debra M. Balestra, Director, Student Involvement, at (845) 574-4394, or Janice Goldstein, Coordinator, Video & Television Productions, Multi-Media Production Center, at (845) 574 4429.

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Rockland Community College, a unit of the State University of New York, is located 25 miles northwest of NYC. The majority of its students transfer to four-year colleges, and many find immediate employment upon earning their associate's degree or certificate. The College also offers others, from preschoolers to senior citizens, the opportunity to simply learn something new. Quality education...at a price you can afford.