Womxn's Herstory Month: Impactful Week of USD Programming for, by, about Women

March is Womxn’s Herstory Month at the University of San Diego and this coming week on campus will feature quite a few events in which women are at the forefront to speak, to share their stories and their passions.

Monday, March 18

The Humanities Center and the College of Arts and Sciences’ Illume Speaker Series welcomes Elizabeth Minnich, PhD, a senior scholar for the Association of American Colleges and Universities and professor of moral philosophy at Queens College. From 6-8 p.m. in the Warren Auditorium of Mother Rosalie Hill Hall, she will discuss themes in her recent, critically acclaimed book, The Evil of Banality: On the Life and Death Importance of Thinking. She confronts the causes of such evils as genocide and deadly economic exploitation, elaborating on the work of her teacher, Hannah Arendt, to argue that the necessary condition of evildoing is thoughtlessness. Minnich's work functions as an incisive treatment of the nature of evil, an inspiring account of goodness, and a clarion call for the importance of thinking well.

Tuesday, March 19

The Humanities Center’s semester-long “Idea of Truth” series continues with a look at Truth, Art and Fiction, starting at 4 p.m. in Serra Hall 200. Faculty presenters at this event are English Professor Halina Duraj, PhD, and Allison Wiese, MFA, from the Department of Art, Architecture and Art History.

Gretchen Rubin, best-selling author of The Four Tendencies and The Happiness Project, will speak in the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theatre at 7 p.m. She’s considered one of the most popular and influential writers on the linked subjects of habits, happiness and human nature. She is promoting a new book, Outer Order, Inner Calm. Each ticket is $18.31, which includes a copy of the new book.

Wednesday, March 20

The Third Annual David W. May Distinguished Lecture will be given by Matika Wilbur, artistic and founder of Project 562. The event is from 5-7 p.m. in the Humanities Center, Serra Hall Room 200. A member of the Swinomish and Tulalip tribes, Wilbur has been photographing contemporary Native Americans as part of an epic documentary undertaking titled Project 562. When completed, it will include portraits from all 562 federally recognized tribes in the U.S. Her photography aims to resist the idea of “vanishing races” that has pervaded the narrative surrounding Native American portraiture since the late-19th century. A free and open to the public reception follows in the May Gallery (Serra Hall 214).

Thursday, March 21

It will be a very busy day throughout the campus.

The Inamori Foundation and the University of San Diego will host the 17th annual Kyoto Prize Symposium featuring 2018 Arts and Philosophy Kyoto Prize Laureate, Joan Jonas. Jonas, who created an art form integrating performance art and video art in the 1960s, will give a lecture at 10:30 a.m. in Shiley Theatre. Admission is free, but registration is required. Later in the day, Jonas will appear in the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Theatre for a workshop at 2:30 p.m. alongside USD associate professors in the Department of Art, Architecture and Art History Derrick Cartwright, PhD, and Victoria Fu, PhD, and Kathryn Kanjo, David C. Copley director and CEO of Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

The Black Student Resource Commons and Women’s Commons will gather together for a meet-up in the Student Life Pavilion 412 from 12:30-1:30 p.m.

There are also two evening events Thursday, both starting at 7 p.m.

One brings 22nd U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith to campus as the keynote guest speaker to highlight the 15th anniversary of USD’s Lindsay J. Cropper Memorial Writers Series. Smith, author of the memoir, Ordinary Light (2015), and three books of poetry, including 2018’s Wade in the Water and the 2012 Pulitzer Prize collection, Life on Mars. Smith will speak and read excerpts from her work in the KIPJ Theatre. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

The other evening event is a Queer Film Festival screening of Una Mujer Fantastica in the Hahn University Center, Room 107.

Friday-Sunday, March 22, 23, 24 

The USD Office of Sustainability and the Women’s Commons, in honor of World Water Day, present “Walk for Water,” which will take place from 12:30-2 p.m. on Friday, March 22. Beginning at The Immaculata lawn area, the USD community can walk a one-mile loop around campus in solidarity with and in recognition of women and girls who walk miles and spend hours each day to retrieve water.

Two events — one that's on campus and one that's off campus and both open to all students — will take place on Friday night.

First is the 34th annual International Expo and Cultural Fashion Show in the UC Forums from 6-9 p.m. with cultural performances, an international buffet and multicultural fashions from around the world. The event, hosted by USD’s International Student Organization, is free and open to all USD students, faculty and staff.

Secondly, the United Front Multicultural Center’s annual Spring Formal, with the theme of “Fire and Ice,” happens from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter (910 Broadway Circle, San Diego, CA. 92101). Good company, great food and lots of dancing await all USD students in attendance. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the UC Ticket Office. 

This weekend also offers the campus community a chance to get outside and support the USD women’s tennis and softball teams as they vie against some solid competition.

The women’s tennis team, currently ranked 37th in the Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 50 national poll, opens West Coast Conference play this Friday and Sunday against Portland (1:30 p.m. start) and Gonzaga (1 p.m.), respectively. Both matches will take place at USD’s Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center courts located behind Mother Rosalie Hill Hall.

The softball team plays a three-game series at home against UC Santa Barbara with a doubleheader Saturday at noon and 2 p.m., followed by a single game Sunday at noon.

— Ryan T. Blystone