Dear Gender and Women’s Studies Community, At our recent commencement event, I chatted with our graduating students about their experiences in our department. They praised individual instructors and the department for providing life-changing instruction and encouraging personal and intellectual exploration. They beamed as they recounted illuminating moments and empowering achievements, and they were eager to …
Happy Almost Summer, GWS and LGBTQ+ Studies Alumni! Writing this on Tuesday, May 6th, I am filled with gratitude in this moment, relaxing in my big, comfy chair, having given a talk about my book, Digital Girlhoods (2025), earlier this evening to a room filled with wonderful humans at the wonderful A Room of One’s …
Name: Rachel Kuo Title: Assistant Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies Hometown: Chicago, IL (or Chicago area) Educational/professional background: I have a Ph.D. and MA in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University and a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with minors in Art and Classical Humanities. …
Summer Herrmann graduated from UW Madison in 2021 with a BA in Sociology and Gender & Women’s Studies. Post graduation, Summer did a variety of jobs, including as an Administrative Accounting Assistant for an elevator company and a Supporting Educator/Continued Care Coordinator for a school. Currently, Summer works as an Overnight Shelter Advocate at DAIS …
Becca Enos is majoring in Psychology and getting a certificate in Gender & Women’s Studies. Why did you choose GWS? I took my first GWS class with Dr. Kate Phelps in the spring of 2021, and it shifted my entire perspective of the world around me. GWS broadened my understanding of how the systems we live …
Professor Jill Casid noted as a “particularly influential” Art History professor by alum curating the 2026 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the longest-running survey of American art and one of the preeminent events in the art world! When Marcela Guerrero and Drew Sawyer toured the country this year …
Marlena G. Holden (she/her) graduated with a double major in English and Gender and Women’s Studies in 2000 and was a Powers-Knapp and Chancellor’s Scholar. She received her Master’s degree in Women’s Studies from The Ohio State University (’02), where she focused on feminist film theory. She is the Director of Brand & Communications at …
Jordon Stangland is double-majoring in Gender & Women’s Studies and Biochemistry. Why did you choose GWS?When I was a sophomore, I took my first GWS course – GWS200: Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies and I fell in love with the field. I enjoy learning about how identities intersect and join to create new ways to view the …
Professor Leigh Senderowicz’s important new article – that was over a decade in the writing – has major impact! Professor Senderowicz explains the history and acheivement of her paper, co-authored with Dr. Rishita Nandagiri: I’m proud of publishing this overtly feminist work in a demography journal. The article urges demographers (and others) to reconsider the …
Brett Dunn is double-majoring in Gender & Women’s Studies and English-Creative Writing. Brett is getting a certificate in LGBTQ+ Studies. Why did you choose GWS? When I first began college, I found a love for the social sciences and humanities. GWS & LGBTQ+ Studies acted as a critical and vital entrance to better understanding the …