On Thursday 7th April the series of conferences entitled 'Women in the Second Republic' started. The prestigious historian Mary Nash gave the first talk entitled 'Reds, citizens and antifascists'. In this talk, Nash addressed the different historiographical interpretations of Republican women in the Civil War. In addition, from the story of their anti-fascist commitment, the historian examined the challenges that arose with respect to gender culture in the revolutionary times of the war.

Mary Nash is an Emeritus Full University Professor at the Universidad de Barcelona and a specialist in women's and gender-based history. Founder and co-director of Arenal, a journal of women's history, she was director of the UB Multiculturalism and Gender Research Group and founding president of the Spanish Association for Research in Women's History (AEIHM). She has published on feminisms and women in the Second Republic, the Civil War and the democratic transition. Her recent research includes the significance of the intersection between cultural and gender-based diversity in the scenario of mass tourism during Franco's regime. Among other books, she is the author of Rojas. Las mujeres republicanas en la guerra civil española, (1999, 2018) y Mujeres en el mundo. Historia, retos y movimientos, (2004, 2012). Moreover, she edited Feminidades y Masculinidades. Arquetipos y prácticas de género (2014) y Represión, resistencias, memoria. Las mujeres bajo la dictadura franquista (2013).

Cycle of conferences
This was the first conference of a cycle that will end on 5th May. The next event will be on 21st April with the conference 'Las Maestras Republicanas' which will be given by Carmen Agulló, from the Department of Comparative Education and History of Education at the Universitat de València. Meanwhile, on 29th April, Marta García Carrión, from the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the UV, will talk about 'Españolas a los dos lados de la pantalla'.

The last event will be on Thursday 5th May, when the round table 'Mujeres Republicanas en La Safor' will be held. A round table moderated by the director of the CIG-UV, Carme Melo, with the participation of the specialists Antonio Calzado, Cristina Escrivà and Rosa Mascarell.

This cycle of conferences is part of a programme that also includes two exhibitions. The first of these exhibitions will be 'Mujeres y Resistencia', produced by La Nau Cultural Centre, which can be visited at the Casa de la Marquesa. Meanwhile, the second of these exhibitions 'Pilar Coll Alas y las coetáneas a Gandia' is an in-house production produced for the occasion and can be found in the exhibition hall in Calle Tossal.

The cycle is organised by the Gandia Centre of the Universitat de València and by the departments of Culture and Democratic Memory, with the collaboration of the area of Equality, Diversity and Inclusive Policies of the Gandia City Council.