At What IFF?, we are dedicated to sparking discussion about making change in our campus community and beyond by centering intersectional feminist thought and uplifting members of our community who are actively moving toward justice, and inspiring those of us who want to learn more.
WGS is excited to share a special issue of our WGS Connect Newsletter! The first ever summer edition of our newsletter offers highlights from this year’s Feminism in Motion. This year’s fourth annual event featured 28 student presentations/poster presenters as well as roundtable discussions and plenty of artistic doodles.
We hope you enjoy this special issue! WGS is already outlining the next newsletter, and we cannot wait to share the next iteration of WGS Connect this fall! In the meantime, be sure to check this blog site and our social media to keep up-to-date on Women’s and Gender Studies’ current events and spotlights.
WGS would also love to hear from you! Always feel free to reach out with ideas for the blog or newsletter. We embrace all things collaboratively produced and will continue to embody that philosophy in all that we do.
Use the button below to view this special digital PDF, complete with embedded links and lots of great info on WGS students, faculty, events, and more.
Thank you to everyone who came out to our fourth annual Feminism in Motion celebration! See below for a digitized version of the program, scans of some of the feminist doodles that our attendees created during the event presentations and rich discussions, and pictures from the day’s festivities.
2022 FeMo Picture Gallery
Students in WGS’ capstone course worked on a group project about Charleston Housing Resources for their final project. Their project includes a website (https://laineystern.wixsite.com/website) which delves into the issue of housing inequity in Charleston, SC and the root causes of this problem in our local community. In addition, they outline local organizations and resources for those facing housing inequities. We encourage people to view their website to learn more about this issue impacting numerous people in our community.
Students in WGS’ capstone course worked on a group project about Charleston Housing Resources for their final project. Their project includes a website (https://laineystern.wixsite.com/website) which delves into the issue of housing inequity in Charleston, SC and the root causes of this problem in our local community. In addition, they outline local organizations and resources for those facing housing inequities. We encourage people to view their website to learn more about this issue impacting numerous people in our community.
Summer fun can include time in the classroom! Take a look at the courses being offered for Maymester, Summer I, and Summer II that are a part of Women’s & Gender Studies.
MAYMESTER
Feminist Pedagogy, WGST 320.01, CRN 31386, Online, Dr. Kris De Welde
Pedagogy is the term used to describe approaches to teaching and learning. In this course we will explore pedagogies that are informed by, for example, feminist, critical, anti-racist, liberatory, and abolitionist perspectives with attention to the ways that students’ education experiences may or may not reflect these approaches. Informed by queer feminist critique of artificial binaries (such as student-teacher) and power dynamics in educational spaces (which reflect broader in/equities), we will consider how engaged and liberation-focused pedagogies can “spill over” beyond classroom spaces into other aspects of our lives. We will engage in reflective practice – individually and in community – to imagine how these approaches can move us toward social justice.
Psychology of Gender, PSYC 350.01, CRN 31322, Online, Dr. Lisa Ross
This course presents social, cognitive, biological, evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives on gender, including gender development and roles. Major themes include nature and nurture contributions to gender, gender differences versus similarities, gender versus sex, the influence of gender assumptions, biases and roles, and challenging prejudice to improve gender relations.
Psychology of Social Change, PSYC 332.01, CRN 30385, Online, Dr. Jennifer Wright
In a world struggling with a number of serious environmental and social-justice issues, how do we effect social change? How do we create a healthier, cleaner, safer, more compassionate world? How do we, as individuals, become better people? In this class, we will select environmental and social justice issues, and then explore theoretical and empirical perspectives on how our beliefs, reasoning, and emotions–as well as our goals, desires, and fears–positively and negatively influence our attitudes and actions concerning these issues. We will review the literature on habit formation and the ways in which people can effectively change their attitudes and behaviors, both as individuals and as societies. In the process, we will tackle the applied problem of actually enacting change in our own lives.
Women’s Health Issues, HEAL 323.01, CRN 30656, Online, Dr. Christy Kollath-Cattano
The course deals with a wide variety of health issues of concern to women. Major categories of topics include utilization of the health care system, issues of concern to women of diverse backgrounds, normal physiological health and well-being, common physiological and psychological health problems, and cultural as well as societal influences on women’s health.
SUMMER I
Human Sexuality, HEAL 217.01, CRN 30947, Online, Dr. Sarah Maness
The format focuses on providing information necessary for establishing a sound knowledge base on topics including sexual anatomy and physiology, birth control, basic psychological concepts of sexuality, sexually transmitted infections, family planning and parenting. The information is presented in relation to the decision-making process as applied to understanding one’s own and others’ sexuality.
SUMMER I & SUMMER II
Intro to Women’s & Gender Studies, WGST 200.02, CRN 30744, Online, Dr. Kaj Brian
Intro to Women’s & Gender Studies, WGST 200.01, CRN 30682, Online, Dr. Malia Womack
This is an interdisciplinary course designed to explore the rich body of knowledge developed by and about women and gender. We study gendered structures and their consequences in contemporary cultures and societies. In addition, we examine feminist theories and relevant social movements.
We asked Lauren to answer the following questions:
Lauren’s Answers:
Lauren Kendall Graham (she/her/hers)
● Honors College Class of 2023
● Major: Biochemistry
● Minor: Women and Gender Studies
● Hometown: Citronelle, Alabama
This summer, I received a SURF grant to co-author and help conduct the “Do You Want a Period?” campaign. This project was created to gather data concerning women’s knowledge concerning contraceptives. So many women are unaware that the withdrawal bleeding that happens at the end of the birth control pill cycle is unnecessary. Contraceptives can change a woman’s period or can sometimes prevent her from having one at all. This study consisted of an interview that determined the extent of the interviewee’s familiarity with contraceptives as well as what would appeal best to them in a campaign. My main role was to recruit and interview participants, as well as co-author sections of the manuscript. This research is important to me as I plan on pursuing a career in women’s health. I am currently majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies. I hope to attend medical school and, after my residency, practice within the field of women’s health. I am extremely interested in the current issues that are relevant to women’s health in the United States and further globally. I feel that my research with the Women’s Health Research Team is helping me to prepare for issues and phenomena that I will definitely encounter throughout my career. I feel that there is a stigma surrounding women’s health issues. People my age feel uncomfortable when I bring up issues or current legislation that concern women’s health or reproductive rights. I feel that my work on these projects helps me to communicate better with my peers, most of whom are women, that our health issues and complications are normal topics and that we should not be embarrassed to discuss them. The more I study women’s health, the more work I find that needs to be done. Most women do not understand contraceptives or know about the multitude of options that are available regarding their reproductive health. I want my generation to become informed and empowered about their freedom and options concerning their sexual health. I am most interested in reproductive justice because when I was in high school in Alabama, I watched my state supreme court take away my reproductive rights to my own body. I was an active member of the Women’s Health Research Team from Fall 2020-Fall 2021. In the Fall of 2021, I left Charleston to do an exchange semester in Aalen, Germany where I conducted research. I am a proud member of Alpha Delta Pi ,and I currently serve as the Vice President of Administration for the Panhellenic Council. WGS has allowed me to take courses that discuss issues in our society regarding women’s health. I have also learned so much about families in my current sociology class. Being an Alison Piepmeier is such an honor. Alison Piepmeier was an active feminist who is so inspirational to me. I hope I am honoring her legacy with the work I am doing.
This Teaching to Engage and Activate (T.E.A.), open to faculty and students, takes on “the gaze” as performed at the Oscars when Will Smith infamously slapped Chris Rock, who had just made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s diagnosis of alopecia. We will use embodied pedagogy to begin with the “stare,” the moment of Chris Rock calling out a black woman with a non-normative body and think through what this means for intersections of race, gender, and disability. Then we move, again using some theater exercises, to “the slap,” again examining it in terms of gender, violence, race and, of course, performance. This TEA will open up WGS faculty and students to using embodied pedagogy and disability studies as valuable teaching and learning tools.
WGS students are hosting a body positive event, Every Body Deserves Lovin’ Yoga Class on Friday. April 15th at 5PM at 7 Vanderhorst St (courtyard by NSP). Please bring your own mat and join in on a free yoga class focused on unconditional body acceptance led by Transformation Yoga‘s yoga guide Kennae Miller. Followed by yoga, Kennae, an Inner Work Instigator, will also hold a discussion about self-care. We hope to see you there!
