UNE students present roundtable at New England Women's Studies Association Conference

Students in UNE's Women's and Gender Studies Program recently presented along with Program Co-Director Jennifer Tuttle at the New England Women's Studies Association Conference, held at U Mass Dartmouth April 30-May 1, 2010. Their roundtable presentation was entitled "Beyond the Classroom:  Practicing Activism in a WGST Minor Program."

Each student discussed the ways she has applied her women's and gender studies education outside the classroom and explained why this work was important to her and to society.  Topics included on-campus programming for body image and LGBTQ awareness, the V-Day Campaign to end violence against women and girls, work with women in Ghana as part of the UNE Health Mission, advocacy for women through the legal system, and the recent Take Back the Night rally in Portland.  Discussion with the the audience during the panel explored the ways students' coursework, such as Introduction to Women's Studies, has helped them to find their "entry point" into feminism and to social awareness more generally.

Participants/attendees were:

Jennifer S. Tuttle, Ph.D., (Faculty, Dept. of English & Language Studies)
Amber Benoit (English major; WGST minor)
Lucia Fiorenza (History major; WGST minor)
Alicia Healey (Psychology major; WGST minor)
Alyssa Martin (English major; WGST minor)
Jennifer Stenberg (Nursing major; WGST minor)
Erika Streim (Political Science major; WGST minor)
Elisabeth Ziemba (English major; WGST, History, Philosophy minor)

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.