The Phenomenal Women Lecture Series starts at Wits next week and includes a special photography project by Witsies.
“We have about 12 female students from all five faculties, and they’ve been going around the campus, recording the lives of women at Wits,” says Dean of humanities, Tawana Kupe.
Each student has a particular theme for their project, and the photos will form part of a presentation.
“We’re empowering young women to tell stories about women,” Kupe says.
Athinangamso Nkopo was the first student approached by the dean.
“When he was planning the series, he needed students to work with and he called me.”
The 2nd year BA student believes she made an impression after attending a discussion on feminism.
“I’m a type of feminist- not a conventional feminist. I’ve always been aware that there’s a gap in Wits society between men and women.”
Nkopo was asked to recruit two women from each faculty.
Aneesa Rawat, a 3rd year LLB student, is one of them.
“The obvious answer to me wanting to do this is because I’m a woman, but I also thought it would be nice to commemorate women at Wits.”
Rawat’s theme for her photography project is gratitude towards female librarians on campus.
“I thought it was the best way to commemorate women.
“Being a librarian is not perceived as being in the same league as a lecturer. People aren’t as polite to librarians and we need to be aware of that.”
Engineering student, Amanda Malghas, says her theme is about women in engineering.
“I wanted to take care of the misconceptions around women who do engineering,” she says.
“Women are competent and not just representations of the quota system. Women in engineering are also feminine.”
Kupe says the idea is to create a platform for discussions around gender inequalities.
“The idea is to push the point that women’s issues are everyday issues.”
The series runs from August 22 – 24 and anyone interested in participating can approach the Dean’s office.
