Men and women in a group hanging out outside

Conference on Women and Gender 2025

March 28, 2025

The annual Seton Hall University Conference on Women and Gender, will take place on Friday, March 28, 2025 on Seton Hall University's South Orange campus.

Friday, March 28, 2025, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Each year, Seton Hall’s Conference on Women and Gender offers a collection of exciting sessions that reflect the diversity of perspectives and approaches that characterizes scholarship on women and gender. The conference's primary goal is consistent with the ideals of a liberal arts institution, such as those articulated by Cardinal Newman in “The Idea of a University”: to provide an interface between the academic and the experiential in order to enrich lived life.

Our conference includes presenters exploring all aspects of scholarship on women and gender from all fields—including the humanities, diplomacy, social sciences, experimental sciences and the professions. The conference’s panels are designed to be accessible to all members of the Seton Hall and South Orange communities. We hope you will join us for a series of exciting events.

Keynote Speaker Information

Event Contact Information

Schedule of Events

Session I: 9 a.m.-10:15 a.m.

Session Information »
1a) Studying Women’s Health
Fahy Hall 236
Chair: Rachel Fikslin, Lecturer in Psychology, Seton Hall University
- “A Systematic Review of the Literature on Menstrual Attitudes and Self-Objectification”
  Sabrina Sims, B.A., Ellie Kerhin, B.A., and Jessica Barnack-Tavlaris, Ph.D., MPH, Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey
- “Why women’s health suffers: elucidating reasons for patient treatment dissatisfaction and low rates of diagnosis in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome”
  Jacquelyn Dal Bon, Pre-Med, Drew University
1b) Gender, Culture, Language
Fahy Hall 237
Chair: Aleksy Tarasenko-Struc, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Seton Hall University
- “Imagining Iran: Narratives of Ritual, Nostalgia, and Belonging”
  Varvara Volovik, Undergraduate in Anthropology & Theology, Fordham University
- “Queer Farmers”
  Mary Ziminski, Undergraduate in Psychology, The College of New Jersey
1c) Women in their Historical Context
Fahy Hall 238
Chair: Anne Giblin Gedacht, Associate Professor of Japanese History, Seton Hall University
- “Women, Race Purity, and Ideology in the Third Reich and Jim Crow America”
  Larry Greene, Professor of History, Seton Hall University
- “Untangling Greek Women and their Labor: Teaching Bronze Age and Homeric Women through a 2015 Article and Accompanying Activity”
  Kathleen Kidder, Visiting Assistant Professor of Languages Literatures and Cultures, Seton Hall University

Session II: 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.

Session Information »
2a) Gender & Library Science
Fahy Hall 236
Chair: Lisa Rose-Wiles, Science Librarian, Seton Hall University
- "Information Needs and the LGBTQ+ Community: The Impact of Hegemony on Marginalized Identities in Academic Libraries"
  Maria Barca, Lead Instruction Librarian, Seton Hall University
- “Women Book Collectors Identified in the Monsignor Field Archives and Special Collections”
  Jacquelyn Deppe, Technical Services Archivist, Seton Hall University
- “Durable for Who? Examining Memory Systems and the Climate Crisis through a Feminist, Decolonial STS Framework”
  Kaitlyn Rich, Ph.D. student in Library and Information Science, Rutgers University
2b) Everyday Resistance: Women's Tales from Iran and Afghanistan
Panel in Honor of Seton Hall Professor PanteA Bahrami
Fahy Hall 237
Chair: Golbarg Rekabtalaei, Associate Professor of History, Seton Hall University

Panelists:
- Sahar Delijani, Independent Writer
- Homeira Qaderi, Lecturer and Associate Research Scholar of Middle East Studies, Yale University
- Muhammad Farooq, Assistant Professor of English, Seton Hall University
2c) Menstruation
Fahy Hall 238
Chair: Jurga Marshall, Associate Professor, Physician Assistant Program, Seton Hall University
- “From Periods to Progress: The Impact of Period Poverty on Girls’ Educational Opportunities in New York City”
  Abigael Hartlieb, Undergraduate in International Studies, Fordham University
- “Czech Media Discourse and Menstruation”
  Petra Poncarová, Visiting Scholar, Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
- “Understanding Menstrual Attitudes and Practices: A Mixed Methods Study of Religious and Spiritual Individuals”
  Maeve Winter, MA candidate in Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University

Luncheon Noon - 1: 15 p.m.
Bethany Hall

Lunch Information »

Keynote Address 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
Bethany Hall

Keynote Information »

Session III: 2:45 -4 p.m.

Session Information »
3a) Reflecting on the Life of Elizabeth Seton: Family, Faith, and Fortitude
Fahy Hall 236
Chair: Thomas Rzeznik, Associate Professor of History, Seton Hall University

Panelists:
- Maureen Byrnes, Adjunct Clinical Faculty, College of Nursing, Seton Hall University
- Joyce L. Maglione, Associate Professor, College of Nursing, Seton Hall University
- Mary Ellen Roberts, Professor, College of Nursing, Seton Hall University
- Susan Scherreik-Hynes, Director, Stillman Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University
3b) What Do We Mean by ‘Masculinity’ Today?
Fahy Hall 237
Co-Chairs: Mary Balkun, Professor of English, Seton Hall University
Gabriella Romani, Professor of Italian, Seton Hall University

Panelists:
- Jared Best, Assistant Professor of Social Work, Seton Hall University
- Leslie Bunnage, Associate Professor of Sociology, Seton Hall University
- Donovan Sherman, Professor of English, Seton Hall University
- Taylor Henry, Assistant Professor of Communication, Seton Hall University
- Axel Marc Oaks Takacs, Assistant Professor of Comparative Theology and Interreligious Studies, Seton Hall University

Keynote Speaker

Easy Beauty: A Memoir by Chloe Cooper Jones

This year we are thrilled to welcome journalist, philosopher, and author Chloé Cooper Jones as our keynote speaker. Associate Professor of Writing at Columbia University and contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, Chloé Cooper Jones is a two-time Pulitzer Prize Finalist—in 2020 for Featured Writing and in 2023 for her memoir, Easy Beauty. An exploration of disability, motherhood, and self-acceptance, Easy Beauty was a New York Times Notable Book of 2022, and a Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and New York Public Library Best Book of the Year.

Questions?

Please contact the conference organizer Denise Vigani, denise.vigani@shu.edu.