ATU celebrates International Women’s Day with series of events (8 March)

March 08, 2023

Atlantic Technological University (ATU) today (Wednesday 8 March 2023) unveiled an exciting programme of events for students and staff marking International Women’s Day on the theme “Embrace Equity (#EmbraceEquity)”.

Talks, presentations, seminars and art exhibitions by ATU lecturers and special guests

International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and is a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender equality. ATU’s first celebration of IWD sees virtual and in-person events public talks, seminars and art exhibitions by staff, students and special guests taking place over three days, Wednesday 8 March through to Friday 10 March.

In ATU Mayo, a mono-printing workshop led by staff and students from the BA in Contemporary Art Practices programme runs at 11am followed by a lunchtime seminar from 1 to 2pm where five ten-minute presentations will be given on contemporary and historical themes or figures relating to gender and equality. The presentations will be delivered by academics based in the Mayo campus and invited guest speakers in a forum chaired by ATU’s Dr Deirdre Garvey, Head of Department of Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences. Members of the public are welcome to attend this event.

ATU Donegal Letterkenny campus will host a scholarships and grants information desk today (Wednesday 8 March) in the Letterkenny campus covering grants in a wide range of disciplines aimed at female applicants. This event is open to the public as well as students and staff.

In ATU Galway City, the Galway International Hotel School’s Jacinta Dalton, Head of Department Culinary Arts, in association with cookery editor Dr Sally McKenna and the Ludgate Hub will host a virtual event titled “Women in Irish Food and Beverage” from the Training Restaurant Galway which runs up to 2pm. This event consists of key panel discussions around industry topics and virtual networking parallel sessions for foodies.

A networking events titled “Females in Engineering and Construction” will take place in ATU Sligo and ATU Galway City campuses: the Sligo event will be delivered in Room B1081 and streamed on MS Teams by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). Members of Engineers Ireland will take part in the event. The Galway online event with Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) will focus on careers for women in construction and will also be streamed on MS Teams.

Lindsay Richards, MD of Richards Partnership LTD, Chartered Engineers & Surveyors “CABE are very excited to host this IWD event in partnership with ATU and the Dept of Building and Civil Engineering in Galway city. We are delighted that as an accredited CABE centre this event will coincide with the one year anniversary of the group which aims to offer support and guidance in relation to the fantastic career paths available to girls and women as chartered building engineers working within the built environment”.

In ATU Galway Library there will be a lunchtime talk on Aleen Cust, Trailblazer, the first woman veterinary surgeon in Ireland, the UK, Europe… or Indeed the World. This event will be live streamed. Watch on MS Teams

There will be a live recording of a discussion on Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) –Fizz Buzz Podcast–in ATU Sligo on Thursday 9 March, 11.30am to 1pm with an audience and panel discussion. Fizz Buzz is an unfiltered, educational, and heart-warming series of podcasts from Mo Fiebiger and Stacy Wandrey’s sharing their experiences in tech. Mo Fiebiger and Stacey Wandrey will be joined by Diane O’Brien and Mary Loftus, lecturers in Computing and others in Rm A0006 to discuss contemporary issues facing women in STEM.

Professor Jacqueline McCormack, VP Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Online Learning at ATU, says: “We are excited to hold such a broad range of events to mark this important day where the achievements of women are celebrated and given the recognition they deserve. It is important to create a forum to discuss and celebrate women’s contribution to society in a positive and affirmative way.”

For more information on ATU’s schedule event follow @EDI_ATU for tweets today.