The first International Women’s Issues Conference at UCF will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-22, to foster discussion about issues affecting women through education, technology and the transformation of leadership skills.

About 50 speakers from the United States, Canada, India and Iran are scheduled to present at the Morgridge International Reading Center. The theme of the conference is Women at Crossroads: Literacy, Leadership, Power and Technology.

The keynote presentations are:

  • Susan Ricci, an instructor in the College of Nursing, who will speak on “Women’s Global Health,” at 9:15-10:15 a.m. Feb. 21.
  • Kelvin Thompson, associate director for the UCF Center for Distributed Learning, at 9-9:45 a.m. Feb. 22.
  • Three administrators from Florida International University presenting on its National Science Foundation STRIDE grant to encourage women and minorities in the area of STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Mathematics). Leaders of the session are: Yesim Darici, director of the university’s Center for Women’s and Gender Studies and associate professor of physics; Suzanna Rose, executive director of the School of Integrated Science & Humanity, associate dean in the College of Arts & Sciences, and a professor of psychology and women’s and gender studies; and Pete Markowitz, a professor of physics and a Fellow of the FIU Honors College.

    • The conference was organized the College of Education and Human Performance’s Higher Education and Policy Studies; the College of Arts and Humanities’ Women’s Studies Program; course development at UCF, and the International Policy Analysis Center.

    For the complete schedule and other information about the conference, visit https://wgst.cah.ucf.edu/. Maria Santana is director of UCF Women’s Studies and interim coordinator of Area Studies in the College of Arts and Humanities.