Heritage & Health Series Program
Women's History Month 2023
Monday, March 6
Women's History Month Opening Ceremony
Noon-1 p.m.
Dining Hall
Let’s celebrate Women’s History Month (WHM) with our Foothill Family, "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories” with student speakers, food & music!
Tuesday, March 7
Beauty Standards in the Media
1-2 p.m.
Toyon Room (2020) or Join by Zoom
Beauty standards mean very different things to different societies, cultures, and even eras. Join guest speaker Dolores M. Davison, professor and chair for both Foothil history & women's studies departments, for an interactive discussion regarding the changing roles and expectations around beauty, from the ancient world to the Rihanna Superbowl half time show!
Wednesday, March 8
International Women's Day Film Discussion: The Immortal Life of Henritta Lacks
10–11:50 a.m.
Hearthside Lounge (2313)
Discussion facilitated by John Fox, Ph.D., Foothill sociology instructor, and Laura
Gamez, Foothill equity librarian.
Boasting an exceptional cast and production team and based on Rebecca Skloot’s critically acclaimed 2010 nonfiction best-seller of the same name, this HBO Films drama tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa. Told primarily through the eyes of Lacks’ daughter Deborah (Oprah Winfrey) and journalist Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne), the film chronicles Deborah’s search to learn about the mother she never knew, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, from cancer to polio to radiation to AIDS, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever.
Thursday, March 9
Panel Discussion with Puente Club
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Hearthside Lounge (2313)
Let's Celebrate our Latinx Women! Hear our guest panelists, Patricia Villegas, Montserrat Garcia, and Sonia Sanchez, share their inspiring stories.
Monday, March 13
Assertive Women! with Lisa Slede from Psychological Services
Noon-1 p.m.
Dining Hall
Do you have trouble getting your needs met or knowing what your needs are? Do you have trouble saying "no"? Are you afraid to speak up about something important to you? Come learn tools to understand assertiveness, express your needs, and take steps to getting them met.
Thursday, March 16
This event has been postponed due to campus closure. Please check back for rescheduled
date and time.
Celebrating Dr. Judy Miner's Story and Legacy - Postponed
Noon-1:30 p.m.
Dining Hall
Since 2015, Judy C. Miner has been chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, which is headquartered in Los Altos Hills, CA. She has worked as a higher education administrator since 1977 and in the California Community Colleges since 1979. She has held numerous administrative positions in instruction, student services, and human resources at City College of San Francisco, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, De Anza College, and most recently Foothill College, where she served as president from 2007 to 2015.
Monday, March 20
Cynthia Brannvall in Conversation with Painter, Sculptor, and Poet Salma Arastu
Noon-1 p.m.
Join by Zoom
As an internationally exhibited woman artist, Salma brings a unique global perspective due to the fact that she was born into the Sindhi and Hindu traditions in Rajasthan, India, later embraced Islam, and moved to USA in 1986. As a woman, artist, and mother, she works to create harmony by expressing the universality of humanity through paintings, sculpture, calligraphy and poetry.
Inspired by the imagery, sculpture and writings of her Indian heritage and Islamic spirituality, Salma uses her artistic voice to break down the barriers that divide to foster peace and understanding.
Tuesday, March 21
Women's History Month Closing Ceremony: Celebrating President Dr. Bernadine Fong and VP of Student Services Dr. Laurie Scolari
Noon-1 p.m.
Dining Hall
Dr. Bernadine Fong started working at Foothill in 1970 as an instructor in psychology and child development, fields in which she wrote two textbooks, and served as Foothill’s Academic Senate president. She moved from teaching into administration as founding dean of the Palo Alto Center, Foothill’s off-campus education site, then went on to serve in various leadership posts including as dean of administration and vice president of instruction and student services before becoming president in 1994. Since 2014, Fong has been director of leadership initiatives in the Office and the Vice-Provost for Graduate Education at Stanford, where she directs the Preparing Future Professors shadowing program for doctoral students interested in academic careers, and the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research. Her research interests include academic leadership, organizational development and community colleges as agents of educational equity, and she is a recognized leader in organizational transformation and faculty development.
Dr. Laurie Scolari grew up among the lettuce fields of the Salinas Valley. Her mother immigrated to California from Mexico and cleaned houses for a living. To teach her a lesson on the importance of pursuing her education, she often helped her mom clean local bars at 4 a.m. before school. The lesson worked: Dr. Scolari now prides herself on being the first in her family to obtain bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees. She began her career as a counselor at UC Berkeley. Dr. Scolari also formerly served as the Dean of Counseling and Student Support Services at City College of San Francisco and worked at UC Santa Cruz for 10 years in multiple leadership roles. Today, she is the Vice President of Student Services at Foothill College. Additionally, Dr. Scolari is a lecturer at San Francisco State University, where she teaches policy and law in education courses.
