*****Editor’s note: The original story has been edited to reflect a correction of a sources name within the article.*****

DeKALB – The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center hosts Womanist Wednesdays monthly on their Instagram story @ niu_gsrc from noon to 1 p.m. The upcoming one is Wednesday and then there will be one April 14. 

Stories stay up for 24 hours but participants will be able to engage with the host and ask questions between the scheduled time slot. After that, questions can be answered through email. 

“It gives us the opportunity to engage them in the conversation and the dialogue as well as educate them about topics that they maybe didn’t know about, for example, intersectionality,” said Demetrea Edwards, Graduate Research Assistant at the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Womanist Wednesday was a table-read style event where they would have tables set up around campus full of information, Smith said. Since the pandemic, they have turned to the interactive lifestyle of an Instagram story where people have 24 hours to answer the questions they post and ask questions about the content through email or direct message. 

“Normally we have different facts and things that there needs to be multiple choice questions or true or false questions that students can answer,” Smith said. “There’s no right or wrong, get it wrong, that’s the purpose, we’re all here to learn so it’s no pressure.”

Wednesday’s Womanist Wednesday will be about women reclaiming their bodies and promote sex positivity to celebrate Women’s History Month, Smith said. 

Smith encourages people to look at the NIU calendar or the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center Facebook to look at the other events they will be hosting for Women’s History Month and the rest of the year. 

The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center is a part of the National Women’s Studies Association and serves the needs relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.