Aquinas College and the Jane Hibbard Idema Women's Studies Center will host Women-Centered Organizing: A Form of Resistance by Dr. Susan Stall, Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at Northeastern Illinois University. The event will be held Thursday, April 16 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Wege Center, Loutit Room, 1607 Robinson Road SE in Grand Rapids. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Stall has been teaching at Northeastern Illinois University since 1990 and has written numerous books, including The Dignity of Resistance: Women's Residents' Activism in Chicago Public Housing, a comprehensive case study chronicling four decades of resident activism in Chicago’s Wentworth Gardens. Stall has researched and studied various forms of community-based social activism and is currently performing a case study of one block in the racially integrated community of Oak Park, a suburb bordering the west side of Chicago. In 1997, Stall received the Feminist Activism Award, given by the Sociologists for Women in Society, which recognizes work and advocacy that improves the lives of women.

Stall's presentation will discuss the model of women-centered organizing and its impact on a community. Opening up discussions and presenting solutions for problems such as violence against women and post-partum depression, women-centered organizing forces private matters into the public realm and disbands traditional boundaries. The women-centered model of organizing, developed and engaged by women, retains its strength in the relationship building that can sustain a long-term struggle.

The Jane Hibbard Idema Women’s Studies Center, established in 1986, serves as a community resource for women’s and gender issues, promoting awareness of these issues through its programs and curriculum, and empowering students and community members to become advocates for gender equality and social justice. The JHI Women's Studies Center is a part of the West Michigan Women's Studies Council.

For additional information contact the Jane Hibbard Idema Women's Studies Center at (616) 632-2974.