Greetings dear GWS and LGBTQ+ Alumni Community!
If you’re reading this right now, I sincerely hope that you will let your shoulders drop, let your jaw unclench, do a few nice head rolls, and take a couple of deep breaths. These days a big old sigh and taking a moment to notice the sensation of our feet meeting the ground can do wonders. Because grounded we must be! There is much to do! But the good news is, we must do it together; we get to do it together. I know I have felt some significant moments of isolation lately, but I have also felt energized, channeled, enraged, and ever-so inspired by our incredible students, staff, faculty, and our wonderful alumni.
Your alumni committee (the amazing Amber Steiger and I), have been busy as can be since you heard from us back in November for the fall alumni newsletter. Since that time, we have done a significant revamp to the Gender and Women’s Studies Alumni and Friends website, with new options to see what we’re reading and discussing in The Stories Between alumni reading group, new GWS in Action podcast episodes to listen to, and a new alumni connection page, where you can share your contact information and see contact information of other GWS and LGBTQ+ alums through the years! We hope you will join your fellow alums in building robust networks around the country, and around the world, of folks that have spent time in our department and programs.
Life in GWS and LGBTQ+ Studies is hard right now as we have come under attack for our teaching and research, but in the thick of the rage and uncertainty, we are also feeling strong, vibrant, and resolute in our commitment to our work and to each other. Some exciting news: we are preparing to welcome our third Ph.D. cohort in the coming fall semester! Our Ph.D. students bring such fun, energy, skill, and brilliant scholarly interests to our community! Our undergraduate and graduate courses are fit to burst with students hungry for the important content and ideas we bring to our classroom spaces. We are hosting events through the Center for Research on Gender and Women, and in April, not only do we have our annual Women’s and Gender Studies Consortium Conference, we are also hosting an awesome alumni speaker panel featuring those who “took the road less traveled”, and will have our once-a-semester campfire for any and all members of the GWS and LGBTQ+ department community on April 25th at Picnic Point!
We will keep seizing joy and doing our work because we know how indispensable it is, how much it matters. It mattered then, it matters now, and if there was ever a time to demonstrate support for our department, we hope you will consider a gift to GWS/LGBTQ+ Studies during the annual Day of the Badger campaign on April 8th and 9th. More communication on the Day of the Badger campaign to come!
As we plant ourselves firmly and face what’s ahead, we are also gearing up to look back as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gender and Women’s Studies at UW-Madison this October 2025. Watch this space for exciting updates about the festivities! We remain tethered by our commitment to our mission and are raring to go into our next fifty years. Bring. It. On.
Onward the journey!
With gratitude,
Katherine Phelps, Ph.D.
Teaching Faculty, Gender and Women’s Studies, UW-Madison
GWS Alumni Engagement Coordinator