The Women’s and Gender Studies Scholarship Committee has selected the recipients of the 2022-2023 Linda Galyon Undergraduate Scholarship and the Graduate Student Scholarship in honor of Randie Camp. We were grateful to have the opportunity to select two undergraduate student recipients and 2 graduate student recipients. Once again, the committee was given a difficult task, as many deserving candidates applied for both scholarships. We are incredibly proud of all of our WGS students on campus and thank each person who applied.
Linda Gaylon Under Graduate Scholarship Recipients:
Olivia Garcia and Ren Jahn
WGS has provided me a space to ask questions, connect with students and professors, and grow to become a more active citizen. I couldn’t ask for a better major focus since everything within WGS is applicable outside academia. As the end of my undergraduate studies approaches, I hope to start my career in community-based nonprofit work.
Ren Jahn (she/they) is an English and WGS Major. This is what they had to say about how they decided to be a part of the WGS program, “I originally started ISU as an Environmental Studies and an English major. I took a course in my sophomore year called “Write Like a Woman,” where we focused on creative pieces by women-identified authors to write compelling, realistic, and multifaceted women characters with a sense of agency. This class encouraged me to redefine what it meant to write like a woman in my own words, and the professor for the course, Christiana Langenberg, motivated me to pursue topics beyond the class course which led me to become a WGS and English major.”
My WGS experience has been extremely informative and eye-opening. One thing that I have loved about my WGS experience is that everything I’ve learned is incredibly relevant and information that I use in my daily life! I’ve found that all of my WGS courses have had incredibly welcoming and inclusive environments, and I’ve enjoyed all of the other individuals I’ve been able to meet within the program along the way!
Olivia Garcia (she/her) is a second-year student at ISU majoring in WGS, Environmental Science and minoring in Sustainability. “I am Latinx, and in the George Washington Carver program through the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (you can almost always find me in the MSA Office :)). I am extremely passionate about social justice, environmental justice, and how we can work to make the world a more inclusive and caring place. I am also studying abroad in Trieste, Italy this Summer and am looking forward to experiencing the diverse culture there!”
Graduate Student Scholarship in Honor of Randie Camp Recipients: Stephanie Gibb-Clark and Paul Hengesteg
When I decided to pursue my Ph.D., Dr. Goebel agreed that adding the graduate minor made good sense. I am so thankful to be welcomed into the WGS program to bridge the two areas of knowledge as well as develop lasting friendships. I am thrilled to have worked with great faculty in the program. I’m grateful to Dr. Oberhauser, who serves on my dissertation committee, and to Dr. Schaal for her wonderful mentorship during my time as a graduate teaching assistant for WGS 201.
Paul Hengesteg (he/him) is a doctoral candidate in higher education administration (School of Education) with a minor in women’s and gender studies. His research interests are at the intersection of the LGBTQIA+ community and higher education. Here is a bit more on his WGS experience, “I can unequivocally state: If it were not for the WGS program’s complement to my education degree, my future path as a teacher and researcher might be much less clear.”
The Women’s and Gender Studies courses that I have had the opportunity to take at Iowa State have helped to give me a language to explore and explain the unique worldview and praxis of movements for gender, racial, or immigrant justice, to name a few. But, in all honesty, even if I had learned nothing else, I now understand my place as an academic-activist as both within and outside the institution itself.
Stephanie Gibb-Clark (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Sociology with minors in History and Women’s and Gender Studies. As a student of Sociology, one particularly interested in understanding and addressing inequality as part of social justice activism, social movements, and revolutions, the issue of gender inequality has always been of foremost importance to my studies and research. In addition, Stephanie said this about her WGS experience, “Not only do I now have the skills to theoretically or conceptually promote new, transformative visions for social change but also the knowledge to join in direct action respectfully and responsibly as a resistor and/or ally in movements against injustice. Women’s and Gender Studies has given me a future worth hoping for.”