COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Jan. 16, 2007) – Tennessee Tech University is the place for women to be on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 19 and 20.

That’s because the university is hosting its first women’s mentoring and networking conference, popularly called WoMeNet.

Keynote speaker at dinner on Friday will be Robin Murdoch, a reporter for NBC-affiliated television station WBIR Channel 10 in Knoxville. The conference will also feature presentations about various important women’s issues, led by experts from colleges and universities across Tennessee.

“The goal of WoMeNet is to build a coalition of faculty, students and staff throughout Tennessee who are involved in women’s history, women’s studies, women’s centers, the Commission on the Status of Women, female-led student groups and anyone interested in women’s issues,” said Paula Hinton, a history professor at TTU and one of the event’s organizers.

“We want to provide an arena for sharing information and strategies, as well as for networking and mentoring,” she said.

Topics of some of the sessions to be offered at the conference include:

• Choosing a Course: Prevention of Violence Against Women Versus Risk Reduction

• The Winding Career Path

• Being Happy in Oprah’s World

• Gender Inequalities and Salaries: The Past, the Present, But Not the Future

• The Right to Fight: Should Women Be Allowed in Combat Positions in the U.S. Military?

For detailed program listings and times of specific sessions, workshops and panel discussions, go to the WoMeNet web site at www.ttuwomenet.com.

Conference registration will be available at the door. The cost for both days — which includes all sessions, Friday’s dinner and keynote address and Saturday’s lunch and networking reception — is $60. One-day registrations are also available for $30.

For more information, call Hinton at 931/372-3339 or e-mail her at phinton@tntech.edu.

--Tracey LeFevre
This information posted 16 January 2007