Celebrating 40 years of women at Queens': a conference on Monday 9th March 2020

Queens' College was delighted to host this free conference to celebrate the past 40 years of Women at Queens' on Monday 9th March. The day consisted of talks and panel discussions in the Old Hall on a variety of topics and featuring many Queens’ Fellows and alumni, under the general title Changing Dynamics of Gender Equality.

The conference was opened with a welcome and introduction from Professor Jackie Scott, Life Fellow of Queens'. This was followed immediately by the first session, a panel discussion on the topic Challenging Gender Inequalities at Queens'. The panel was (left to right in picture): Victoria Ayodeji (Geography, undergraduate), Revd Tim Harling (Dean of Chapel and Head of Welfare), Esther Ademeno (PBS, undergraduate), Prof Marie Edmonds (Professorial Fellow, Earth Sciences, Chair), Dr Andrew Thompson (Official Fellow, History), Dr Charlotte Proudman (Junior Research Fellow, Law) and Dr Meg Tait (Official Fellow, Education).

The second session featured longer talks from two speakers, on a theme of Feminism, Sexism and Cultural Change. First, Dr Ella McPherson (Official Fellow, Sociology, left in photo below) spoke about 'Feminism, the Public Sphere and College Life'. This was followed by a talk from Queens' first woman Fellow Prof Naomi Segal (Honorary Fellow, Languages, second from left in photo), on the topic of 'Pronouns'. This session was chaired by Dr Ioanna Sitaridou (Official Fellow, Linguistics, second from right) and Dr Charlotte Proudman (right).

This was followed by a lunch in the Old Kitchens. The first of the afternoon sessions was another panel discussion, this time with the theme Closing the Gap, Improving Equality in STEM. The panel members were (left to right in photo): Ankita Anirban (2014, postgraduate Physics), Dr Tamsin Spelman (JRF, Maths), Dr Camilla Penney (JRF, Earth Sciences), Prof Lisa Hall (Professorial Fellow, Biological Natural Sciences, Chair), Dr Andrew Gee (Official Fellow, Engineering), Alice Wenban (undergraduate, Computer Science), Rebekah Hinton (undergraduate, Natural Sciences) and Carly Gilson (undergraduate, Mathematics).

The final session of the day (unfortunately the fifth evening session had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances) focussed on Women and Literature: Readings and Reflections about Gender, with two speakers Lucy Caldwell (2000, English) and Stephanie Merritt (1993, English), in conversation with Dr Ian Patterson (Official Fellow, English).

It was a wonderful day and we would like to extend our warmest thanks to all our speakers, participants and attendees.