IU Northwest Women’s and Gender Studies Program presents Celebrating Our Students conference March 12

Gary, Ind. – Indiana University Northwest invites the campus and community to its annual Celebrating Our Students event, a student research conference hosted by the Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) Program.

The conference theme is Women in Popular Culture, and the event takes place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday, March 12 in the John W. Anderson Library Conference Center.

Throughout the day, students will showcase their research on gender-related topics from a variety of disciplines, including English, sociology, anthropology and women’s and gender studies.

At 11:30 a.m., Crystal Taliefero will deliver the keynote address, “Breaking and Entering the Male-dominated World of Pop, Rock and Blues.

Taliefero, a world-renowned performer and IU alumna, is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Raised in Hammond and Gary, she began recording and touring with John Mellencamp in 1985, and has been a member of The Billy Joel Band since 1989. Other famous artists she has worked with include Bob Seger, Joe Cocker, and Michael McDonald, among others.

She served as director of the IU Soul Revue and received the Herman C. Hudson Award for Artistic Excellence. Her goal is to establish a “Journey with the Arts Program” to empower youth through live musical performance.

This annual student research conference, hosted by the IU Northwest WGS Program, is co-sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs.

For more information, contact the WGS director, Tanice Foltz, at tfoltz@iun.edu or 219-980-6786.