Each week the Division of Student Affairs sends out The Paw Print, which will provide you with updates on key areas and events that you can engage in virtually. An archive of each week's announcement will be kept here.
Engaging in stimulating activities outside of the classroom is just as important to support your overall health and wellbeing as attending classes and studying for your exams. Northwestern provides an endless array of engaging events for little or no cost. These opportunities allow for connecting with new people and learning in a way you may not have otherwise.
Every event provides some way to foster an area of your wellbeing whether it’s a movie screening, speaker panel, sporting event, or even Dillo Day! Give yourself the time to enjoy these opportunities. It just may be what sends you on a new path you never could see before.
To see a full listing of Wellness events click here.
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, Evanston
Spirituali-tea: a conversation at the edge of belief, un-belief, not knowing and all of the in-betweens. Each session will begin with a time for grounding and centering followed by individual and group sharing of spiritual experience on a particular theme or question with like-minded peers. Shared resources and discussion will help to elevate and deepen your own sense of spiritual well-being. All identities and belief systems are welcome. Sign-up for more details! Tuesdays | 6:00-7:30pm | April 9 & 23, May 7 & 21
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM, Online
This teach-in will focus on how to best assist someone who is self-managing their abortion (SMA) using abortion pills, including guidance on digital security, access to abortion pills, varying medication protocols, and speaking with medical professionals about SMA. No prior knowledge of SMA is necessary. This training will be particularly useful to those who have abortion doula training, live in or travel to states with restrictions on SMA, and those who may need to self-manage their own abortion or assist someone else with the process. Laila Salaam (she/her) is a young reproductive justice activist and recent graduate from the George Washington University. She currently serves as Reproaction’s Lead Organizer. Laila is a passionate advocate for self-managed abortion, D.C. statehood, and expanded sexual health education, considering all to be matters of reproductive justice. Reproaction is a left-flank culture change organization leading bold direct action to increase abortion access and advance reproductive justice nationally, as a matter of human dignity. They specialize in strategic communications, opposition research, and community organizing.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM, Evanston
During this session, we will dive into the hidden truths about anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), how they threaten public health and autonomy, and why it is critical that advocates for bodily autonomy and abortion access resist their continued proliferation across the U.S. Lisa Battisfore (she/her) is the founder and president of Reproductive Transparency Now. Lisa is a two-time Northwestern graduate, and has experience working in corporate strategy, marketing, and brand management, as well as working with youth and volunteering as an abortion clinic escort. For Lisa, it is an honor and privilege to leverage her professional skill set to further her life's passion: to STOP FAKE CLINICS. Reproductive Transparency Now (RTN) is a Chicago-based, volunteer-run organization whose mission is to advance reproductive justice by raising awareness about anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, or “fake clinics,” through direct action, education, and advocacy. To learn more about RTN, visit ReproTransparency.org.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Chicago
Please mark your calendars for our April Current Issues in LGBTQ Health lecture, featuring ISGMH faculty Cindy Veldhuis, PhD. Veldhuis will speak on her paper, Doubly Marginalized: Addressing the Minority Stressors Experienced by LGBTQ+ Researchers Who Do LGBTQ+ Research Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2024 Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm Central Time Location: 625 N. Michigan Avenue Suite 1400, Stonewall Conference Room Chicago IL, 60611 This is a hybrid event. Guests may register to join in person or virtually. Lunch will be provided for in-person guests who register by Friday, April 12th. About: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary, and queer people (LGBTQ+) experience significantly higher levels of stressors due to discrimination, stigma, and marginalization than do cisgender heterosexual people. These high levels of stressors have impacts on health and well-being as well as career impacts. Limited research suggests that within higher education LGBTQ+ faculty experience bullying, discrimination, and harassment within the workplace. There is also data to suggest that research on marginalized populations is perceived to be less objective and valuable than research on majority populations. Research on the challenges of being a member of a marginalized population who conducts research on the same population suggests potentially negative career and personal impacts. There has been little to no research on the double marginalization related to being an LGBTQ+ researcher doing research within the LGBTQ+ community. To describe the potential impacts of being an LGBTQ+ researcher who does LGBTQ+ research, Dr. Veldhuis applies the extant literature on marginalized researchers who do research among marginalized populations to LGBTQ+ researchers. She also describes the potential minority stressors that LGBTQ+ researchers may face and how that may impact careers. Finally, she offers multiple recommendations for improvements for the research community and argues that senior faculty, leadership, and mentors can take specific actions to lessen stressors for LGBTQ+ researchers studying LGBTQ-related topics. About the Speaker: Dr. Cindy Veldhuis (pronounced Veld-hice) is an NIH-funded (NIH R00) Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and in the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing at Northwestern University. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University (funded by an NIH F32) and received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her masters (Cognitive Psychology) and bachelors (double major: Theater and Psychology) from the University of Oregon. Broadly, her research focuses on LGBTQIA+ women’s intimate relationships and health as well as violence, trauma, mental health, and the impacts of sociopolitical events and large-scale stressors on wellbeing. She was recently awarded the Early-Stage Investigator award from the Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office at the NIH. She is chair of the Science Committee of the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 (the division focused on LGBT populations).
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM, Evanston
Join CARE, Northwestern’s Menstrual Equity Activists (MEA), and sustainable period product company Saalt for a night of education around the menstrual cycle, period poverty, the environmental impact of period products, and the use of sustainable period products. on a college campus. Attendees will receive their choice of a free menstrual cup, disc, or pair of underwear and will gain access to an exclusive Saalt discount code. As always, attendees of all genders are welcome! Taylor Moore is Saalt’s Account Manager and has been with the company for 3.5 years, dedicating her work to making Saalt’s reusable period care options accessible and affordable globally by expanding partnerships. Before her time at Saalt, Taylor supported students at Boise State University in the Student Involvement and Leadership Center and also held a graduate assistantship where she created peer programming around holistic wellness. She holds a master’s degree in Higher Education Leadership from TCU. Taylor loves any opportunity to connect with college students and to break down stigmas and taboos around period care. Female-founded by mother of six Cherie Hoeger, Saalt has a vision to make cleaner, more sustainable period care accessible to everyone. They support individuals’ choices for their menstrual health with stigma-breaking branding and an industry-leading product line offering modern, reusable products that are healthier both for consumers and the planet. As a certified B Corp, Saalt allocates 2% of its revenue to donate improved period care to areas with the most need and funds initiatives in menstrual health, girls' education, and environmental sustainability. Since Saalt’s launch in 2018, they have donated over 100,000 Saalt products and menstrual health education to women and girls in over 50 countries to help them confidently manage their periods, stay in school, and pursue their career goals.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM, Evanston
For centuries, mythology, not actual intersex people’s stories, has shaped the public’s perception of intersexuality, leading to dire consequences. Some of the key events and players in intersex history, whose groundbreaking activism in the early 90s helped lay the groundwork for today’s dynamic movement for intersex bodily autonomy and justice, are introduced to help participants understand why intersex activists across the globe—who were forced to conform—are uniting to demand that society conforms instead. Audiences will get a chance to think critically about the ways in which seemingly binary concepts such as sex and gender are actually diverse and mysterious and how they can create inclusive communities and practices for intersex people. The keynote will be followed by a Q&A session in which the audience can directly ask questions of and engage with Pidgeon. Pidgeon Pagonis (they/them) has worked for over a decade as an intersex advocate, speaker, consultant, photographer, and filmmaker to shed light on the human rights violations endured by intersex people. Their goal is to help end the non-consensual irreversible medical procedures meant to discipline unruly intersex bodies. Pidgeon’s accessible advocacy helps people complicate their preconceived binary notions about “biological differences.” Their work has been essential for those who want to show up for intersex people in their lives but aren’t sure where to start. Whether advancing the intersex cause as the co-founder of the Intersex Justice Project (IJP), co-producing viral informational videos, creating art that centers intersex voices, appearing on the cover of National Geographic “Gender Revolution” special issue or being honored as a LGBT Champion of Change in by the Obama White House, Pidgeon has staked out a place at the fore of debates on intersexuality. In 2020, IJP’s #EndIntersexSurgery campaign succeeded in getting Chicago’s Lurie Children’s to become the first hospital in the nation to apologize and halt surgeries. Their memoir Nobody Needs to Know was published in 2023 by Little A Press.
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, Evanston
This empowering event will combine the healing powers of yoga and the creative expression of zine making to cultivate personal healing and wellness. During the yoga flow, participants will engage in gentle restorative poses and mindful breathing exercises to reconnect with their bodies and release tension. A limited number of yoga mats will be available to borrow; please bring your own if you are able. Following the yoga session, attendees will embark on a guided zine-making journey, where they will create to make a personalized wellness guide, filled with affirmations, coping strategies, and resources for self-care and healing. This inclusive and supportive space encourages participants to explore their inner strength, foster community connections, and reclaim agency in their healing journey. Kamaria Excell (she/her) is a Black Queer Feminist, therapist, and yoga instructor based out of Chicago, IL. She is a passionate space holder dedicated to building a world where all folks are safe, free, and thriving with joy without the harm of systems of oppression.
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, Evanston
Spirituali-tea: a conversation at the edge of belief, un-belief, not knowing and all of the in-betweens. Each session will begin with a time for grounding and centering followed by individual and group sharing of spiritual experience on a particular theme or question with like-minded peers. Shared resources and discussion will help to elevate and deepen your own sense of spiritual well-being. All identities and belief systems are welcome. Sign-up for more details! Tuesdays | 6:00-7:30pm | April 9 & 23, May 7 & 21
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Chicago
Please join us for our 2024 ISGMH Postdoctoral Fellow Showcases. Our first of two showcases will take place April 25th. Date: Thursday, April 25, 2024 Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm Central Time Location: 625 N. Michigan Avenue Suite 1400 Stonewall Conference Room Chicago, IL 60611 This will be a hybrid event. Attendees may join virtually or in person. Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees who register by Monday, April 22nd. About the Speakers: Tom Wolff, PhD, received his PhD from Duke University's Department of Sociology and was an affiliate at Duke Network Analysis Center and now works as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in ISGMH's CONNECT program. Tom has been diving into how social interactions and cultural factors affect peer sanctioning processes, and his research also explores the impact of communication on social network analysis. Paige Hackenberger, MD, is a new ISGMH T32 Research Fellow working with Dr. Sumanas Jordan and Dr. Lauren Beach on projects related to transgender and non-binary patients and their access to preventative healthcare screening through algorithms embedded within the electronic medical record. Paige received her B.B.A. in Business from the University of Michigan and her M.D. from the Ohio State University College of Medicine. Before starting at ISGMH, she completed three years of her integrated Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery residency at Northwestern. She is spending her dedicated research year as a one-year ISGMH research fellow before completing three more clinical years of residency. Raymond A. Ruiz, PhD is a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Behavioral and Psychosocial Research Training Program in Cancer Prevention and Control within the Feinberg School of Medicine. At ISGMH, he is working with Dr. Lauren B. Beach and the ADVOCATE Program. Raymond received his Ph.D. in Health Services from the University of Washington, where he focused on examining minority stressors and protective factors in relation to cigarette smoking among LGB Veterans.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Chicago
Please join us for our 2024 ISGMH Postdoctoral Fellow Showcases. Our second showcase will take place May 2nd. Date: Thursday, May 02, 2024 Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm Central Time Location: 625 N. Michigan Avenue Suite 1400 Stonewall Conference Room Chicago, IL 60611 This will be a hybrid event. Attendees may join virtually or in person. Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees who register by Monday, April 29th. About the Speakers: Taylor Reid, PhD is a new T32 Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. Cindy Veldhuis. She received her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University, where she specialized in researching intimate partner violence as experienced by bisexual women. Anthony Hitch, Ph.D., is a T32 Postdoctoral Fellow at ISGMH working with Dr. Michael Newcomb. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Cincinnati, where he examined the interplay between sociocultural factors and general psychological processes in relation to substance use and sexual health behaviors among members of the SGM community who hold racial/ethnic minoritized identities, and completed his APA-accredited Clinical Psychology Internship at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Kylie Dougherty, PhD, RN is a new post-doctoral fellow at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the Department of Medical Social Sciences. She received her PhD from Columbia University School of Nursing and her BSN from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Dougherty's research focuses on improving maternal and child health outcomes in low resource settings.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, Evanston
Spirituali-tea: a conversation at the edge of belief, un-belief, not knowing and all of the in-betweens. Each session will begin with a time for grounding and centering followed by individual and group sharing of spiritual experience on a particular theme or question with like-minded peers. Shared resources and discussion will help to elevate and deepen your own sense of spiritual well-being. All identities and belief systems are welcome. Sign-up for more details! Tuesdays | 6:00-7:30pm | April 9 & 23, May 7 & 21
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Chicago
The Third Coast CFAR is hosting a hybrid seminar, “Multiscale Computational Studies Reveal Key Insights Into the Molecular Processes Underlying the HIV-1 Lifecycle,” with Gregory A. Voth, PhD, at the University of Chicago. Voth will present advances in computational methodology designed to simulate complex biomolecular systems across multiple lengths and time scales. Examples include results relevant to the maturation of the HIV-1 virion, the HIV-1 capsid assembly, the interaction of cofactors and drugs such as Lenacapavir with the capsid, and the entry of the capsid into the nuclear pore complex on its way to the interior of the infected cell nucleus. About the Presenter Voth is the Haig P. Papazian Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. He is also a professor of the James Franck Institute and the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics. Voth is a leader in the development and application of theoretical and computational methods to study problems involving the structure and dynamics of complex condensed phase systems, including proteins, membranes, liquids, and materials.
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, Evanston
Spirituali-tea: a conversation at the edge of belief, un-belief, not knowing and all of the in-betweens. Each session will begin with a time for grounding and centering followed by individual and group sharing of spiritual experience on a particular theme or question with like-minded peers. Shared resources and discussion will help to elevate and deepen your own sense of spiritual well-being. All identities and belief systems are welcome. Sign-up for more details! Tuesdays | 6:00-7:30pm | April 9 & 23, May 7 & 21
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM, Evanston
Join this student-led mindful movement practice to prepare our bodies and minds for meditation. This guided practice will involve flowing movement connected to breath. It will be compassionate and gentle. Everyone is welcome!
4:00 PM - 4:45 PM, Evanston
Join us for a guided mindfulness meditation practice (practices vary from week to week) in a supportive environment co-led by professional staff and students. Each meditation is followed by a time for reflection, dialogue, and questions on how to integrate these practices fully into our lives. No previous experience necessary.