Event Highlights

More than half of the doctors and more than 90% of the nurses on the frontlines of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Hubei are women, according to the Shanghai Women’s Federation. In various COVID-19 relief efforts initiated by civil society groups and individuals, women have also been playing an active and significant role. Nonetheless, when it comes to mainstream media representation, while there are many positive stories of women working on the front line, their professional contributions are often portrayed as a sacrifice at the expense of their femininity and care-taking duty fulfillment. Meanwhile, there is a lack of attention to the needs of the female medical workers such as their demand for feminine hygiene products.

At this online event, we talked about women’s contributions in COVID-19 response as well as how their contributions often get misrepresented while their actual needs are overlooked. In addition, panelists highlighted actions and counter efforts initiated by women that challenge the status quo of biases and inequality during the outbreak.

Learn more about the event here

Created by Nicole Chan ’13, CELEBRATE WOMEN is a commentary on the diversity and complexity of the female identity. In this photography initiative, women are invited to respond to the question:“What empowers you?” Each participant is photographed with a personal empowerment symbol (or symbols), and given creative control over the visual narrative, with technical support from an experienced photographer.

The project aims to address issues such as the lack of female representation in the art world, lack of varied female representation in the media, and the objectification and simplification of women. In Spring 2019, student photographers photographed more than 50 NYU Shanghai community members. The photos were later exhibited in the Allyship in Action Lounge on the 6th floor of the Academic Building.

Can gaming be a tool to promote equal representation, inclusivity, and social justice? Games for Humanity provided the participants a chance to have fun while reflecting on global inequality, the gender pay gap, and racism through board games, video games, and trivia.

Konrad Krawczyk '19, Esther Zhirui Yao '20, Emilio Madrazo '20 and Lina Mishachkovska '21 coordinated the event.

More Information, Less Diversity?” was a talk by Kecheng Fang (方可成), a former political journalist at Southern Weekly, and founder of the newsletter - Newslab（新闻实验室). The speaker addressed how algorithm-based recommendations, cognitive bias, and the digital media business models impact our awareness of diversity issues and understanding of minority groups. He also identified strategies for diversifying one’s personal media consumption, and improving the information ecosystem that surrounds each individual.