On the first Monday of classes after spring break, cultural critic and author Roxane Gay will be on campus to speak briefly and then engage in a moderated Q&A.

Gay’s visit is one of the many campus events highlighting Women’s History Month this March. Among Gay’s books is the recently published memoir Hunger, and her best-selling essay collection Bad Feminist.

Jennifer Scanlon, Bowdoin’s William R. Kenan Professor of Humanities in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, and Judith Casselberry, associate professor of Africana studies, will moderate the Q&A on March 26, 7:30 p.m., in Pickard Theater.

Before Gay’s event, students, staff, and faculty are encouraged to read Bad Feminist and participate in group book discussions, one for students, one for staff.

The book reflects what the Sexuality, Women, and Gender Center is broadly focusing on during its month of programs, according to Leana Amaez, Bowdoin’s associate dean of students for diversity and inclusion and co-director of the Sexuality, Women, and Gender Center. “Our student staff felt like we were overdue about what the term feminism means to women on campus,” she said.

“It’s really a theme that our student directors felt was important to explore at this particular moment,” she continued, “and we really felt there was good energy and desire to do so around campus, whether it is looking at the #MeToo Movement or women’s marches, or looking at what is the face of activism around feminism. There’s a lot there to unpack and think through as a community.”

Earlier in March, the Center organized a lunch conversation about feminism. Approximately 50 female students and 15 staff and faculty participated.

Other Women’s History Month events have included a discussion led by Adira Polite ’18 about feminism in the church. After spring break, a student-created exhibit, Celebrating Bodies, will open in Larmarche Gallery. And on March 30, a tea with a panel of students will be held to recognize National Trans Day of Visibility, at 3 p.m. at 24 College Street.