“We have a group of community supporters, along with faculty, staff and students who are interested in the topics we present,” said Jo Reger, director of the Women and Gender Studies program. “I think this topic is very timely and captures the conversation that many of us are having about the upcoming election from Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin.”
Feature films include the documentary “What’s Your Point, Honey?,” which chronicles the experience of seven young women who participated in Project 2024, an internship program cosponsored by the White House Project and “Cosmogirl!” magazine encouraging women to run for public office. The film explores the progress women have made, while confronting the reality that much more is needed. Amy Sewell, director of “What’s Your Point, Honey?,” will be on hand for a question-and-answer session immediately following the film.
The festival will also feature Maryann Breschard’s “Running in High Heels,” a documentary that follows the campaign of a young woman running for a State Senate seat in New York City’s 29th District. The film ponders issues of wealth, sex and politics, examining the contradictions between what some women say they want and the path they take to get it. The film includes an interesting mix of commentary from prominent women of varying political persuasions. All grapple with the underlying question of why women, despite comprising more than half the U.S. population, have yet to attain a comparable presence in political life.
This event is co-sponsored by the departments of Art and Art History, Communication and Journalism, Political Science, and Sociology and Anthropology, the film concentration, and the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program.
Registration cost is $10 for the general public, OU faculty and staff; $5 for seniors; and free for OU students. Please send checks payable to Oakland University to the Women and Gender Studies Office in 521 Varner Hall by Friday, Oct. 24. Walk-in registration will be available following the registration deadline. For more information, contact Graciela Osterberg at (248) 370-2154.