The History Of Women

Bi-weekly;  Week Two; Thursday;  12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
In-person **NEW**

We will discuss the role women played in society throughout the ages from hunter-gatherers to modern times.  While women are over half the population, standard history and anthropology texts say little about women and what they accomplished.  And though it is a story often left untold, assumptions about women’s roles abound.  However, current scholarship is changing those assumptions and the findings may surprise you.

We will examine many similar findings about women that demolish the myth of the ‘weaker sex’.  We will shine a light on the little-known history of women, and to do so we will enlist the work of modern historians, archeologists, anthropologists, biologists, economists, and sociologists.  In disentangling the past, we will learn about the stellar accomplishments of little-known female artists, writers, and scientists as well as ground-breaking discoveries by women that were credited to men.

Participants may choose to present from a wide range of topics.

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Dames: Lives of Notorious Women

Bi-weekly;  Week One;  Tuesday;  10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Online via Zoom **NEW** **Workshop Waitlisted**

They spurned conventions and broke rules; they shaped events and changed history; they occasionally shocked contemporaries. ‘Dames’ will explore the lives of extraordinary women who fashioned life on their terms and whose actions and decisions, above all, had impact.

We will focus on exceptional women from a variety of fields. Some ‘dames’ we may discuss are the sovereigns – Catherine the Great and the Empress Dowager Cixi, spies such as Mata Hari, adventurers like Gertrude Bell, artists such as Tamara de Lempicka, scientists like Émilie du Châtelet, and out-and-out influential people such as Imelda Marcos, Wallis Simpson and Coco Chanel.

Presenters will discuss the time in which the dame lived, her decisions, challenges, accomplishments and long term impact.

A list of notorious women will be sent to participants; however, members may propose a ‘dame’ of their choice. All participants will make a 20-25 minute digital presentation.

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