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#NDA2013 & Women’s Mentoring Network Launch tomorrow!

26 Mar

Tomorrow will be a big day for the Wom*n’s Department!Image

We had a great time painting a banner in WAC on Monday for tomorrow’s National Day of Action organised by the National Union of Students (NUS) against fee increases, course cuts and deregulation of the higher education sector. these are big issues that affect all students, but women and minorities particularly. With the pay gap having increased again this year, it will take women on average over a decade to pay off our HECS, (long than men.) Not to mention the fact that gender studies is often the first thing to go whenever cuts are made (segue: petition).

There will be a BBQ on South Lawn run by the Student Union Education Department at 12.30 with a GIANT GAME OF MONOPOLY and then, most importantly, a rally on the State Library at 3.30pm.

(here’s a Facebook event for campus, state, and national events)

THEN at 6.45 in the Grand Buffet Hall at Union House we will be having the much anticipated launch of our brand new Women’s Mentoring Network! Food and bubbles are on us, and we are excited to have trailblazing scientist Frances Separovic as our guest speaker. It’s the first on many monthly networking evenings that are part of the WMN, as well as fortnightly meetings between mentors and mentees.

Have a fabulously feminist day, we look forward to seeing you!

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Stress Less Week

13 Aug
First off I want to say thank you so much to everyone who supported Bluestockings Week. From baking cupcakes, womanning the stalls, postering, petitioning and playing snakes and ladders, it was so great to have so many wonderful students get so into it! We had so much interest and involvement (and fun) from wom*n students from all across the uni, it was heartening to see so much support for the cause(s). Everyone should be really proud. If you haven’t signed the petition yet, it’s right here. SPREAD IT ROUND!

No rest for your student union though, right after working with the Wom*n’s department on Bluestockings Week the UMSU Education department is now running Stress Less Week, with workshops on mental health and self-care and THEN A JUMPING CASTLE. Srsly, get on it.

Meanwhile, in the Wom*n’s department, we’re back to our weekly fun:
  • Monday 1pm in the Wom*n’s Room: Women’s Action Collective (WAC)
  • Wednesday morning in the Wom*n’s Room: Stitch n Bitch
  • Thursday 1pm in the Wom*n’s Room: Girlzone (Tea, cake and conversation for queer and questioning wom*n)
  • Thursday 4.30pm in the Students’ Lounge, Ground Floor, Union House: FFFFILMS (open to all genders)

In sisterhood,

Amy x

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Bluestockings Week

28 Jun

Hello everyone, and hope you’re enjoying your uni break! The website has been on a bit of a hiatus as we’ve all slogged through exams & essays, then got the flu, then kinda gone into holiday mode a bit, but also still working away in the background organising our NOWSA collective. Only a week until we go away to Canberra… can’t wait!

In the meantime, we wanted to let you know about a big Semester 2 event that is in the works. We’d love any interested people to get involved – you don’t need any special experience or knowledge, just some enthusiasm and keenness to meet new people! Run in conjunction with the National Union of Students, it’s called Bluestocking Week:

Bluestocking is a campaign which celebrates women in higher education. The ‘week’ will run from the 6th-17th of August. This year’s Bluestocking Week will focus on the original bluestocking themes of celebrating women’s intellectualism; advancing feminism through education; and rebelling against social constructs that prescribe roles for women’ including those of class, race, sexuality and culture, that restrict women’s freedom of expression and thought – and we will add a modern (or postmodern) twist. Bluestocking Week is coordinated by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Women’s Action Committee (which has representatives from each State) and the National Union of Students Women’s Department. Events are being organised at national, divisional and university level. The project will be launched by Jane Garrett MP and Jeannie Rea, President of the NTEU at La Trobe University, Eagle Bar (event details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/196702417124126/)

In terms of what’s happening at Melbourne Uni, that’s where you come in! We’d love you to be part of the organising collective. Please drop us a line at womyns@union.unimelb.edu.au if you’d like to be a part of making the week happen, and getting your thoughts and ideas about women & higher education out there.

Happy uni break everyone!

- bel

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What’s happening in 2012

29 Feb

We have big ideas and a big year planned in 2012. All of our events will be free or subsidised for students at the University of Melbourne.

Continue reading →

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Radical Sex and Consent Week wrap-up

28 Jul

Anyone interested in writing a bit about Radical Sex and Consent Week?

*  *  *

Take our super fun and exciting survey:

What did you think of Radical Sex and Consent week? What could be better?

*  *  *

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Strong Unions Need Women

28 Jul

(this content from the NUS website)

Strong Unions is a grassroots campaign designed to boost the levels of women’s representation in student organisations.

At Australian universities, women make up more than 50% of the enrolled population yet make up less than 50% of student organisation positions on average. This means that issues that affect a majority of people at university are not reflected fully on the organisations that represent them. Issues like safety, harassment, pay equity and sexual health are left lacking despite their pervasiveness.

 1 in 3 women will experience violence during their lifetime. 1 in 10 women will experience sexual violence whilst studying. Women earn 87 cents in the male dollar for work of comparable value. Women still only make up around 30% of seats in the federal parliament and far fewer places on ASX 200 boards and management teams.

In 2011, women still greatly lag behind their male counterparts. For this reason, it is important to boost levels of women’s representation on student organisations, reaffirm the relevance of women’s officers and collectives and resist attempts to create men’s officers and men’s spaces.

This campaign will see Women’s Collectives campaigning for better women’s representation by putting together short and sharp videos that outline the situation for women on their campus. These videos will be uploaded to the NUS website.

To download the petition, click here.

To download a fact sheet on women’s representation, click here.

To download a fact sheet on why women’s collectives are still relevant, click here.

To download the campaign kit, click here.

For more information on how to get involved, contact the NUS Women’s Officer by emailing womens@nus.asn.au or by heading along to Melbourne Uni’s Women’s Collective meeting. Alternatively, you can find us on Facebook here.

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WAC, when?

27 Jul

Wom*n’s Action Collective (WAC) (recurring event)

Womens Action Collective

Come along to brainstorm ideas for activities and events and get active! What awesome stuff will the wom*n’s department do this year? …It’s up to all you rad wom*n out there to get involved and decide!

The poll below is only an example at this stage, we will plug in the definite time slot choices soon.

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