Women and Girls in Georgia Conference

This year marks our 6th biennial Women and Girls in Georgia Conference where we celebrate and highlight the research and advocacy by, for, and about women and girls in our state and region.

The conference brings together academics and students with activists and community members to share knowledge, strengthen networks, and strategize for positive social change.  This year’s conference theme is sustainability.

The conference will begin on Friday, October 9 with an opening night keynote address presented by Dr. Carolyn Sachs, professor of Rural Sociology and head of Women’s Studies at Pennsylvania State University.

Carolyn Sachs is Professor of Rural Sociology and Head of the Women's Studies Department at Pennsylvania State University.  Her research examines issues of gender and agriculture and gender and environmental issues.  Her first project involves exploring the new women agricultural entrepreneurs and their opportunities and barriers to success.  She is also engaged in a comparative international project on gender and climate change in India in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization.  Her third project focuses on gender and the food system exploring gendered work in the food system from farm to table.

Her specialization is gender agriculture and environment, sociology of agriculture, sustainable agriculture, international development and climate change.

Dr. Sachs' extension and outreach interests include working with the Pennsylvania Women’s Agricultural Network (PAWAgN) to provide hands-on agricultural, entrepreneurship, and leadership training.   She serves on an expert panel to the UN on Gender, Water, and Sanitation.

It will continue on Saturday, October 10 where attendees will enjoy a keynote address by Dr. Lauret Savoy, professor of Environmental Studies at Mount Holyoke College.

Savoy is teacher, earth scientist, writer, photographer, and pilot. She is also a woman of mixed African-American, Native American, and Euro-American heritage. Her courses consider how braided strands of human history and geologic-natural history contribute to the stories we tell of the land's origin and history, and to stories we tell of ourselves in the land and of relational identity. In each course, Savoy challenges students to examine their assumptions about the world. Her specialization is the complex layering of natural and cultural histories that creates what is experienced as "sense of place"; intersections of cultural identity and environmental awareness, thought, and activism; images and ideas of natural landscapes in the American West.

Following the lecture, the day's events will include a roundtable discussion on women’s leadership in Georgia’s eco-activism; sessions on various topics such as environmental justice, climate change, local food and food insecurity, recycling and conserving on college campuses and protecting Georgia’s bee population; and various workshops such as “propagating native seeds” with the State Botanical Garden and “environmental policy change” with Georgia WAND. Additionally, there will be film screenings, tours, and exhibits.

Registration is required for all attendees. Visit http://wagg.uga.edu for up-to-date details and information on how to register.