Happenings: Women and Gender Symposium

Texas State symposium speaks out on issues of women and free speech

According to the CIA World Factbook, 49.6 percent of the world’s population are women. However, even with a roughly equal segmentation of the population, women still face inequality in employment, poverty and literacy.

On Friday, March 30, Texas State professors and students will speak out on issues of women and free speech at the “Occupy Free Speech: Getting Women’s Voices Heard” international symposium from 9-1:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room (3-15.1) of the LBJ Student Center.

The event is free and open to the public, although attendees are encouraged to RSVP to mcgs@txstate.edu or (512) 245-2361. Complimentary lunch will be provided. 

Happenings: Brown Bag Research Seminar

Noon event to explore the impact
of pregnancy and parenthood

By Mary Kincy

Teen pregnancy and its impact on relationships as observed by a Texas State researcher is the topic of an upcoming Brown Bag Research Seminar.

Chelsea Houska dropped out of her South Dakota high school during her senior year to give birth to a daughter. Thanks to popular MTV reality show “16 and Pregnant” and its spinoff “Teen Mom 2,” she has done so before an audience of millions.

Not every teen who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child does so in the spotlight,  however — and it is with these young women, who begin their journey as mothers in relative anonymity, that Dr. Michelle Toews, an associate professor in the Texas State University’s School of Family and Consumer Sciences, works.

Toews will share observations and information gleaned from five years of working with local teen parents during a Center for Multicultural and Gender Studies Brown Bag Research Seminar that will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, in the Family and Consumer Sciences building, room 177. The event is open to the public.