Bonjour – Ciao – Hola – Ola – Hej !
Welcome back to Iowa State!
We will soon start the fall semester with the excitement of new classes and (re)connecting with friends and colleagues on campus. I hope you had a chance to rejuvenate yourselves this summer with travels, relaxing with family, transitions, or reading some good books.
I am excited to welcome our new WGS faculty member, Rita Mookerjee, who recently completed a PhD in Literature at Florida State University. She will teach courses on gender and globalization, feminist theory, and queer studies for the program. See more details in our Fall 2019 Newsletter.
The fall semester also brings loads of opportunities for you to get involved in activities on campus and around Ames. Our WGS kick-off event is Sept. 4th at the Sloss House on campus, Ames PrideFest is Sept. 7th, and our seminars start with a recap of the WGS student summer internships and study abroad programs. I look forward to seeing you in person (or online) at some of these events.
In closing, I would like to pay tribute to Toni Morrison, a phenomenal feminist writer and the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her novels and messages about justice and the power of freedom have made me critically think about how to be a feminist.
“I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” (Toni Morrison)
Please join us in celebrating her life and working to carry this message and actions forward in our everyday lives.
Finally, the WGS Program (add link to website) offers students and faculty opportunities to learn outside the classroom, develop research, study abroad, and much more. We appreciate your support in advancing our program!
Ann Oberhauser