Congratulations to PhD student Amanda Arp! She has been selected by the WGS Scholarship Committee to receive the 2020-2021 WGS Grad Student Scholarship. Arp is a PhD student in Rhetoric and Professional Communication and a WGS Grad Minor.
“As I began taking Women and Gender Studies classes, I felt drawn to how many feminists view the world; honestly, reading and discussing their theories empowered me to start examining culture through a gendered lens. As I learned more and more, I realized that I wanted feminism to be a major part of my dissertation and career moving forward, so I added a Women and Gender Studies minor. Inspired by feminism’s critical, gendered lens, I have learned to be more inclusive, more questioning of cultural norms, and more interdisciplinary in my research focuses. The theories, conversations, and speaking opportunities that I have had during my WGS coursework have shown me potential vectors for research, given me valuable research experience, revealed to me the theories of feminism’s past, and expanded my scholarly network. Moving forward in my career, I know that my use of intersectional feminism in particular will help me stand out in the job market and help me as I write my dissertation on creating a fat rhetoric. For these and many other reasons, I am deeply thankful to the WGS department for their continued educational and professional support.”