Build Feminist Futures Symposium 2025
The symposium commemorates 50+ years of global feminism by marking key moments in that history, including: 1975 International Women’s Year, the first UN World Conference on women convened in Mexico City in 1975, and the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on women convened in 1995 in Beijing that produced the Beijing Plan of Action.
Click here for list and bios of all symposium speakers.
Program Schedule
Thursday, March 13th 4:00pm, Kirkhof Center 2263
“The World Will Not Be the Same”: How the United Nations International Women’s Year Shaped Transnational Feminisms” (INT 100 Approved)
In this talk, Dr. Jocelyn Olcott will discuss her book International Women’s Year: The Greatest Consciousness Raising Event in History and the game-changing role the IWY conference played in altering the culture of transnational women’s activism that would continue to grow over the following three decades.
Dinner and Discussion to follow the keynote at 6 p.m. in the Thornapple Room.
Friday, March 14: Morning Sessions
Morning Sessions 9:00am - 12:00pm, Kirkhof Center 2266 and 2270
We have several concurrent sessions of speakers, joining us virtually.
8:30am Coffee and light breakfast
Kirkhof Center 2266
9:00am Dr. Jallicia Jolly
Black Feminist Futures: Care, Community, and Transnational Reproductive Justice
11:00am GVSU Panel: The UN Decade for Women and its justice cascade.
Conveners: Andy Schlewitz, Aaron Eddens, Polly Diven
Kirkhof Center 2270
9:00am Dr. Carmen Diana Deere
1975 and the Emergence of WID and GAD: Perspectives of a Latinamericanist
10:00am Dr. Heather Switzer
Girls in Development: Discovering Girls, Producing Girl Effects
11:00am Dr. Durba Mitra
Third World Feminism and the Paradoxes of the UN Year and Decade for Women
Friday, March 14: Afternoon Sessions
Afternoon Sessions 12:00pm, Mary Idema Pew Library Multipurpose Room
Lunch will be served during the 12pm session
12:00pm Anna Gollub
Becoming UN Women
The presentation will discuss the historical context of Bejing Platform for Action from the perspective of UN Women, provide an insider's view of various UN processes related to Beijing +30, and reflect on what it means to be a professional feminist in the changing world.
1:15pm Kavita Ramdas
Feminism Remains Foreign: Ideals vs Practice for Gender Justice
Kavita N Ramdas just completed a six month fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin, Germany, where she looked closely at the question of feminist foreign policy both in Germany and other parts of the world. Her talk will share some of the observations and lessons learned during her research and reflect on why feminism - as an ideology and aspirational set of ideals and values - remains unintegrated into policies both at home and in relations with the rest of the world.