The focus of this year’s Women’s History and Awareness Month is “Women and the Environment.”

Women’s History and Awareness Month takes place every year throughout March and celebrates the accomplishments of women with different events and activities.

The theme, decided on by the Women’s History and Awareness Month Committee, depends on the availability and cost of possible speakers.

The opening event for Women’s History and Awareness Month was the Living History Presentation Sunday where seven students performed as historical women.

The actual kick-off event for Women’s History and Awareness Month is the lecture “Fighting for Fetal Health and Women’s Rights” presented by keynote speaker Phaedra Pezzullo.

Pezzullo is an associate professor of communications and cultural studies at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Jeannie Ludlow, coordinator of the women’s studies program, said Pezzullo plans to speak about how she is interested with how people almost always associate pictures of fetuses with either abortion or pregnancy and how Pezzullo wants to change that.

“She wants to reinforce that the female body is the first environment for all of us,” Ludlow said. “I think she is interested in the fact that we need to remember that fetuses in the womb are not protected from pollution and how we need to protect our unborn children from environmental degradation.”

“Fighting for Fetal Health and Women’s Rights” is at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Doudna Lecture Hall of the Doudna Fine Arts Center and is sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program and the University Board.

Another event focusing on the theme of women in the environment is the “Overcoming Barriers: Diverse Women in Science at Eastern Illinois University” program.

The program consists of presentations on women who have contributed to science, refreshments and prizes.

The event is in the Booth Library from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday and is sponsored by the Women in Science and Mathematics program committee, which consists of the College of Sciences and the Booth Library.

The next event is the graduate lecture “The Office, Real Housewives, and the Ethics of Address in Mockumentary and Reality TV” presented by Susan Bazargan and Robyn Warhol, an English professor from Ohio State University.

The graduate lecture is at 5 p.m. on March 7 in the Doudna Lecture Hall.

Every year, Women’s History and Awareness Month includes a panel discussion.

The “Women, Science and Sustainability” panel discussion is moderated by Ann Fritz, with presenters Karen Gaines, Janice Coons and Nida Sehweil-Elmuti, who are all associated with the College of Sciences.

“The panel discussion is made up of scientists on our campus and they are all going to talk about the things that we do that improve the environment for all of us,” Ludlow said. “I think it is important that we are starting Women’s History and Awareness Month by focusing on negative effects we need to think about fixing, but we are continuing the month on more of an upbeat with things that we are doing to improve the environment.”

The “Women, Science and Sustainability” panel discussion is at 7 p.m. March 8 in the Doudna Lecture Hall.

Ludlow said most of the events throughout the month focus on the environment, but not all of them.

Each year, there is a Women’s History and Awareness Month music concert.

This year the concert is at 2 p.m. on March 12 in the Tarble Arts Center.

The concert includes music chosen and performed by musicians Elaine Fine, a violinist, and John David Moore, a pianist and English professor.

Ludlow said the concert is during Spring Break because they were constrained by the available times for the space in the Tarble Arts Center and the concert is geared more toward the community.

Also occurring this month is the Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival where there will be film screenings in the Doudna Lecture Hall March 22 -24.

The Women’s History and Awareness Month will end March 31 in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union with the Women’s Studies Awards Reception.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or rjrodgers@eiu.edu.