Celebrating Women's History Month

A sketch of a diverse group of people with the faces of all women highlighted.

Published March 8, 2021

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As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we recognize the varied backgrounds of women and the diversity of their experiences in considering issues of equity and justice. 

A helpful frame of reference for this is “intersectionality,” a term coined more than 25 years ago by legal scholar and critical race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw to help explain the oppression of African-American women. The term has since broadened in use to shape conversations about racial justice and identity politics. Intersectionality asserts that our lived experiences – including experiences of discrimination – differ based on our overlapping individual characteristics, including gender, race, class and gender identity. The concept is intended to help make visible the complex interactions of identity with social, political and economic structures of power.

In the coming weeks, we will celebrate the diverse women of the School of Architecture and Planning community – faculty, staff, students, alumni and partners who are at the forefront of research, policy and action in the fields of architecture, urban planning and real estate development. Join us in conversation as we document the varied perspectives and contributions of women across our disciplines as we work together to build more equitable and just communities.

#womenshistorymonth #intersectionality #womenleaders #womenarchitects #womenplanners #womendevelopers #inclusiveexcellence

Follow our features here throughout the month

Events featuring women in architecture and urban planning

  • Sierra Bainbridge, 2021 Clarkson Chair in Architecture
    3/10/21

    March 10, 2021
    We are pleased to welcome Sierra Bainbridge of MASS Design Group as the 2019-20 Clarkson Chair in Architecture. Bainbridge leads MASS Design's work on the Kayanja Center, a rural health care center in Uganda, and school projects in the DRC, Tanzania, Zambia and Rwanda. 

  • Ashanté Reese
    3/12/21

    March 12, 2021
     Join us for a talk with Ashanté Reese, assistant professor in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Reese will present a lecture titled Nourishing and Sustaining Black Lives: Thinking, Writing, and Living Beyond “Access”.

  • Engendering Equity in Architecture and Planning
    3/17/21

    March 17, 2021
     Join us for a panel conversation with women faculty of the School of Architecture and Planning on opportunities for advancing gender equity and future feminist directions for the planning and design disciplines.  

  • Pascale Sablan
    3/24/21

    March 24, 2021
    Join us for a talk with Pascale Sablan, an associate with Adjaye Associates and founder and executive director of Beyond the Build Environment. Her lecture, "I Was Asked to Stand," educates and empowers us to understand the cause and possible solutions to the disparity in the lack of representation, documentation, and acknowledgement of the great works of women and bipoc designers. 

  • India Walton
    4/14/21

    April 14, 2021
    Join us for a talk with India Walton entitled "Running for Our Lives: Creating Equity through Policy and Politics." Having lived through and organized around the inequities faced by Black communities, Black women are taking their seat at the table to guide policy decisions and lead political movements with the belief that the people closest to the problems are closest to the solutions.