Department of Gender and Women’s Studies 50th Anniversary Celebration: “Forward Together!”
October 24 and 25, 2025
Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, 1 John Nolen Drive, Madison 53703; and
The Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, 475 North Charter Street, Madison 53706
Join us for dancing, dining, and dialogue!
It is time to celebrate the accomplishments of the Gender and Women’s Studies Department at UW-Madison throughout its 50 years of rich and powerful history!
The 2025 Golden Anniversary Celebration: “Forward Together!” is an important event that brings people together from within and beyond UW-Madison to a setting for celebration of the department’s history and the field’s future. This event will highlight the contributions of speakers, scholars, faculty, and students who will share their experiences surrounding the department. At a time when GWS departments across the nation are under threat of defunding and disbanding, uplifting voices within GWS calls attention to the need for these hard-won celebrations. This website acts as both a tribute and an information center.
Location and Hotel
The 2025 anniversary will take place at two consecutive locations:
Friday October 24th events are at the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies itself in the Center for Research on Gender and Women and in Sterling Hall room 1310, and Saturday October 25th events are at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center adjacent to the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Please reserve your rooms in advance to guarantee lodging near the convention center.
We have a block of state rooms available at the Marriott South Hotel. In order to reserve your room, please use this link or call 608-251-2300 and reference the Gender and Women’s Studies 50th Anniversary. Please note that these rates begin at $149.00/night.
Registration
Registration now open!
We hope all can attend the GWS golden anniversary celebration! Register today!
Full registration fees are $40. This includes:
- Friday’s GWS 103 celebration lecture in Sterling Hall with reception and desserts.
- Saturday’s Monona Terrace events including keynote address by Dr. Brittney Cooper, panels, workshops, breakfast buffet, as well as an evening reception with small plates dinner and dancing.
UW System students are welcome to attend the keynote address, lectures, panels, and workshops for free due to a grant from UW-Madison’s Anonymous Fund and the Silverman Fund.
Please browse our merchandise included in the registration page, where you’ll find specially designed 50th celebration products including totes, shirts, hats, and mugs with two anniversary logo options!
If you wish to attend only the Keynote Talk by Dr. Brittney Cooper, it is free and open for registration below.
Schedule
At-A-Glance Schedule
October 24: (Sterling Hall)
4:00pm-5:15pm: “The Enduring Power and Potential of GWS 103”
5:15pm: Celebration Reception
October 25: (Monona Terrace)
8:30am: Continental Breakfast
8:30am-9:20am: “Caring for Each Other: GWS and Local Partnerships”
9:30am-10:30am: “GWS Emeriti Faculty: Building Fields of Excellence within GWS”
11:00am-12:15pm: “Community Engaged Research and Activism”
Drop-In Workshop 1: Departmental Reflections & Archival Collections
12:15pm-1:30pm: Lunch on own
1:30pm-2:30pm: “GWS Graduate Studies: Past, Present, and Future”
Drop-In Workshop 2: GWS Makers Table
2:45pm-3:45pm: “Forward Together: Teaching, Research, and Service in GWS”
Drop-In Workshop 3: Alumni Networking Event
4:00pm-5:15pm: Dr. Brittney Cooper Keynote
5:15pm-6:30pm: Cash Bar, Reception, Dinner
6:30pm: Dance!
History of GWS
As part of our 50th anniversary celebration, we invite attendees to help preserve the rich history of UW–Madison’s Gender and Women’s Studies Department by bringing archival materials to the event! Photos, flyers, newsletters, syllabi, correspondence, and other memorabilia documenting the department’s development and impact are all welcome. These materials will be deposited with the UW Archives to ensure that the stories, scholarship, and activism that shaped our program are preserved for future generations.
The UW-Madison Archives actively collects materials that document all aspects of campus history from UW-Madison colleges, departments, faculty, research groups, student and staff organizations, alumni and other entities with a relationship to our campus.
Does the above house look familiar?
It is the first home of GWS! Located at 209 N. Brooks St., GWS lived here in 1975 until its relocation in 1993. This home facilitated a sense of community that was central to the foundation mission of GWS. A remarkable place for the beginning of our arduous & formidable history.
(Please see Merchandise Form for purchasing options of historical house image)
Archival projects on five decades of GWS Coming Soon!
Accessibility
Family-friendly event space, HEPA and Clean-Air filtrations, gender-neutral bathrooms, lactation room, and more! The 50th Anniversary is committed to ensuring accessibility for everyone interested in celebrating, speaking, learning, and being in community with one another. Accessibility Guidelines here!
For any immediate questions, please email GWS, at gws@gws.wisc.edu.