2025 Red River Women's Studies Conference
Friday, March 21, 2025 | All-Day Conference Event North Dakota State University (NDSU) Memorial Union
The NDSU Women and Gender Studies Program, in collaboration with the Laurie J. Loveland Foundation, is excited to announce the 2025 Red River Women's Studies Conference (RRWSC). This all-day conference will take place on Friday, March 21, 2025, at the NDSU Memorial Union. RRWSC is hosted yearly by a collective of colleges and universities in the Red River Valley that support women’s and gender studies initiatives across all disciplines.
Schedule
8:00am-8:20am: Coffee/Check-In
8:20am-9:35am: Sessions 1-3
9:35am-9:40am: Break
9:40am-10:55am: Sessions 4-6
10:55am-11:00am: Break
11:00am-12:15pm: Sessions 7-10
12:15pm-1:00pm: Lunch Break
1:00pm-2:30pm: Keynote
2:30pm-2:45pm: Break
2:45pm-4:00pm: Sessions 11-13
* Light refreshments will be provided throughout the day.
* NDSU's Union contains several various options for lunch. Please see the website here.
Conference Program
Keynote Speaker
We are thrilled to announce that Laura Ling, award-winning journalist, author, and advocate, will be the keynote speaker at 1:00 PM. Laura Ling’s exceptional career spans groundbreaking work in investigative journalism and storytelling, and her powerful contributions have earned her national recognition. Following her keynote, Laura Ling will be available for autographs and photos.
About Laura Ling: Laura Ling is an acclaimed journalist known for her in-depth reporting on critical global issues, including human trafficking, energy poverty, and the challenges faced by military families. As a correspondent and director at Discovery Communications’ Seeker Network, she created impactful content that inspires millennial audiences. Ling has also hosted two documentary series on the E! Network, E! Investigates and Society X with Laura Ling, both of which explore important social issues.
Her career includes the creation of the award-winning investigative series Vanguard at Current TV, as well as producing work for SoCal Connected, Channel One News, and PBS. In 2009, Ling was detained by North Korean soldiers while reporting on the trafficking of North Korean women. She was held captive for 140 days before being released. Her memoir, Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and the Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home, co-written with her sister, Lisa, chronicles this harrowing experience.
Ling’s work has been recognized with an Emmy, a national Edward R. Murrow Award, and multiple other honors. She was also named one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year in 2009. Ling continues to inspire social change as a Service Ambassador for Points of Light, an organization dedicated to solving social issues through voluntary service.
Questions or Inquiries: Please reach out to Alison Bertolini or Ashley Baggett for additional information.
We look forward to seeing you at the 2025 Red River Women's Studies Conference!