Celebrating International Women's Day at the University of London

The University of London community will come together to celebrate and champion women's voices and achievements through exhibitions, talks, workshops and digital engagement. Our events and activities reflect this year's International Women's Day theme #AccelerateAction, showcasing how women across disciplines are leading change and innovation while working towards a more equitable future.

Dr Arun Verma, Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of London, said:

The University of London is a proud holder of the Athena SWAN Bronze Award, marking our commitment to advancing gender equality in everything we do. I'm thrilled by the diverse events in this series celebrating women's leadership in society, education and beyond. This series is critical in provoking innovation to #AccelerateAction to achieving gender equality.

Senate House Library will present a special display throughout March, with further details to be announced. Join our global community on social media as we share stories from alumni, students and partners worldwide who are working to accelerate action for gender equality, including inspirational women nominated from our Recognised Teaching Centres. Follow our channels to be part of the conversation.

School of Advanced Study International Women's Day series

The SAS International Women’s Day Series brings together and celebrates the work of women as leaders, creators and innovators in the Arts and Humanities within SAS institutes and beyond, through our networks of partners and collaborators.

We showcase the work of academics carrying out transformative research in their field, creative practitioners developing innovative practice-based methodologies, and artists whose visual or dramatic works bring to life key questions that our society must confront about equality, sustainability and eliminating gender-based violence.

Professor Clare A. Lees, Vice Dean, School of Advanced Study, said: 

The International Women’s Day Series 2025 showcases SAS’s commitment to discovering, understanding, and engaging with the work of women as researchers, leaders, and makers in the Arts & Humanities. Working together, working with our partners and our colleagues, we #Accelerate Action.

Booking information for all the events is available via the event webpages.

Bella da Costa Greene and the European Book Trade

24 February 2025
IHR Wolfson Conference Suite, Senate House, WC1E 7HU

This study day will explore Belle da Costa Greene's relationship with members of the European book trade and her impact on the international market for rare books. Participants from the Morgan Library, University of Virginia, British Museum, and University of London will examine Greene's activities in shaping the Morgan Library's holdings of rare books and manuscripts through her European networks.

Place-based Cultural Regeneration: A Panel Discussion

3 March 2025, 16:00 - 19:00
Woburn Suite, Senate House, WC1E 7HU

Jamie Holman chairs a panel discussion exploring approaches to impactful development of cultural ecology, examining festivals, arts commissioning and research-led exhibitions in the context of place-based regeneration. The panel features artists and cultural leaders including Nehal Aamir, Elena Jackson, Rebecca Johnson, and Cynthia Johnston, discussing the role of 'the collection' in contemporary art commissioning and culture-led regeneration.

Forms, Fragments and Fractures in Contemporary Women’s Life Writing: Spain, Portugal, and Italy (inaugural seminar in online series) 

6 March 2025 16:30 - 18:00
Online

This seminar series explores diverse forms of women's life writing in twentieth and twenty-first century Southern Europe, focusing on Spain, Portugal and Italy. Through five chronological sessions, it examines how women's narratives evolved alongside socio-political developments, particularly under dictatorships, considering memoirs, magazines, diaries and autofictional experiments.

Creative Practice and Feminism: Methodologies, Collaboration and Performance

7 March 2025 13:00 - 20:00
(Part hybrid) Woburn Suite, Senate House, WC1E 7HU

This event brings together theatre artists, translators and researchers to explore feminist approaches to writing, translation, and performance. Features a practical workshop, roundtable discussion and readings of work by Argentine theatre-maker Lucila Garay. Activities will be conducted in English and participants with all language combinations are welcome.

Global Activism for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights: Challenges and Opportunities in the Anthropocene

12 March 2025, 17:30 -19:00
IALS Council Chamber, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR

This event will explore challenges and opportunities used by Indigenous peoples and their allies to secure the right to self-determination and environmental justice in a time of global environmental crisis. The panel will feature Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil (Ayuujk linguist, writer, translator, and human-rights activist). In February 2019, she was invited to the ordinary session of the 14th Legislature in the Chamber of Deputies within the framework of the International Year of Indigenous Languages to give a speech in Mixe, in which she spoke about the condition of Mexico’s Indigenous languages.

Talk and Q&A with Aurelia Aurita: La Vie Gourmande and Women’s Bodies in Cancer Treatment

17 March 2025, 18:00 - 19:30
La Cité audacieuse, 9 rue de Vaugirard, 75006 Paris, France

In La Vie gourmande, Aurélia Aurita documents her experience with breast cancer and its treatment through evocative and intimate illustrations, while also reflecting on her gastronomic encounters in a variety of places and social settings. Her work offers an honest reflection on bodies undergoing medical intervention, sparking vital conversations about illness, vulnerability, and the visual representation of women’s bodies in medical contexts.

Please note that the artist's talk will take place in French. Audience questions may be asked in either French or English.

Inaugural Institute of English Studies and Warburg Institute Lecture on the History of the Book to be delivered by Professor Helen Smith, University of York

18 March 2025 18:00 - 20:00
Chancellor's Hall, Senate House, WC1E 7HU

This inaugural joint History of the Book lecture by Professor Helen Smith explores how sixteenth and seventeenth century books engaged with concepts of matter and materiality, examining how printing technologies shaped ideas about the physical world. Hosted by the Institute of English Studies and the Warburg Institute, this interdisciplinary lecture connects book history with literature, social history, gender studies and art history.

Holiday Sketches: Two Female Artists and an Archaeologist Husband go on Holiday, 1863 Exhibition

1 February 2025 - 14 March 2025, 09:30 - 18:00
ICS Foyer, 3rd Floor, Senate House, WC1E 7HU

This display features reproductions of sketches and writings by artists Ann Mary Severn Newton and Gertrude Jekyll from their 1863 travels in the Ottoman Empire. Their visual and written narratives offer an alternative perspective to Charles Thomas Newton's formal archaeological accounts, highlighting women's experiences and local people in Rhodes, Ephesos, Istanbul and Athens. Curated by Dr Debbie Challis, the exhibition includes historical books, props and a companion zine.