Student Work
“I actually took 101 as a requirement and I fell in love with it,” says Sara Kendall, who is also majoring in psychology. “It sounds corny, but it’s changed my life…because the issues at hand aren’t abstract.” In addition to her two areas of study, Kendall has also spent the last year working at the local nonprofit Womenspace. Though Kendall is an aspiring psychiatrist, she feels that her women’s and gender studies background will be beneficial. “I know there’s been a lot of issues with insensitivity,” she says. “I really hope, having that perspective and that education, I can be one of the good doctors.”
Nicole Ward entered college with scientific ambitions. “I came to UO with plans on becoming a geneticist,” she says. But after taking the introductory women’s and gender studies course, “I knew I had to readjust my plans for the future.” This entailed adding sociology and Spanish majors to her academic load. Ward was a student administrator at the Child Care Subsidy and plans on studying abroad in Morelia, Mexico, focusing on migration studies. “The women’s and gender studies program has shaped my intellectual consciousness and has inspired me to fight for social justice,” she says. Ward plans on using this inspiration to complete a Master in Social Work in hopes of directing an Upward Bound program some day.
Selected Faculty Work
Assistant Professor Lynn Fujiwara’s interests involve feminist theory with emphasis in third world and critical race feminisms. She is particularly interested in issues pertaining to women of color, including immigration, citizenship, welfare, labor, and family.
Associate Professor Judith Raiskin’s research examines the construction of racial, sexual and national identities, particularly in the context of colonial and neocolonial politics, economics and education. “In my book,” she says, “I examine fiction and poetry by women from South Africa and the Caribbean over the past century to understand the ways ‘official culture’ is maintained and resisted by those who recognize both its benefits and its costs.” Raiskin’s book is called Snow on the Cane Fields: Women’s Writing and Creole Subjectivity. Raiskin teaches courses on postcolonial and migrant literature, feminist theory, lesbian and gay studies, and women writers.
Associate Professor Elizabeth Reis focuses on United States women’s history with an emphasis on early America, as well as the history of sexuality and the dynamics of women and religion. She teaches courses on postcolonial and migrant literature, feminist theory, lesbian and gay studies, and women writers.
Assistant Professor Ernesto J. Martinez teaches and conducts research in the fields of American multi-ethnic literature, LGBTQ studies, US Latino literature, and literary theory. He is writing a book, entitled Queers of Color and the Ethics of Social Literacy, which examines queer ethnic literature and its contributions to contemporary social theory.
Career Prospects
A major in women’s and gender studies prepares you for successful careers in advocacy, the arts, education, international relations, legal and medical professions, and social and public service. Knowing how the meaning of gender shapes our world can be an asset to careers in such fields as government, business, the ministry, journalism, counseling, and child care.