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.
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.
This year’s theme, “Rethinking Feminist Movements,” asks us to consider how we might rebuild solidarity, reorganize and work to achieve a future where justice and equality are accessible to all. The theme encourages reflection on women’s lives within the global context, where local and global issues are increasingly interconnected. By considering the intersections of gender, race, class, sexuality and nationality, this conference will provide crucial insights into how we approach local and global problem-solving, respect cultural diversity and analyze injustice from multiple perspectives.
Laura Ling, an award-winning journalist, author and advocate, will be the keynote speaker at 1 p.m. Ling’s exceptional career spans groundbreaking work in investigative journalism and storytelling, and her powerful contributions have earned her national recognition. Following her keynote, Ling will be available for autographs and photos.
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.
Please reach out to Alison Bertolini at alison.bertolini@ndsu.edu or Ashley Baggett at ashley.baggett@ndsu.edu for additional information.
For updates and to register, visit the NDSU women and gender studies webpage.
