51ÁÔÆæ

Women’s & Gender Studies student Tasha Berillo has chosen show her support and advocacy for black lives through art and educating individuals around her. Through making this piece, she reflected on a Hannah-Jones’s article that was read in her coursework.  She wanted to share this piece to illustrate how teachings in WGS 211 resonated with her outside of the classroom and during this time. This drawing marks her praxis of feminist research. Underneath the layers of charcoal, ink, and paint, lie news articles that surround the death of George Floyd. This painting demonstrates her form of feminist research in using this medium of art, juxtaposed with informative articles: one could say in fact that this drawing speaks for itself. However, it also leads the viewer to understand these articles from a specific perspective as illustrated by the drawing of Floyd over it.

We invite you all to appreciate Tasha’s artwork and message.

“We are protesting, donating, educating, learning, conversing, and creating; let the memory of George Floyd serve not merely as a moment, but as a movement that inspires a revolution that continuously progresses towards change and justice.�

As our WGS graduates were unable to attend a traditional ceremony this year, a few people wanted to wish them well. Please enjoy this 2020 Graduation Celebration.

Congratulations to Katie Klein, Women’s & Gender Studies’ MA student, who is one of the recipients of the 2020-21 51ÁÔÆæ Graduate Student Excellence Fellowship (GSEF) awards.

The Graduate Student Excellence Fund was established in 2015 as a philanthropic effort to provide advanced degree students the support they need to pursue their research endeavors, complete their studies and share discoveries with others in their fields. Enthusiastic supporters of this fund represent myriad interests such as business, industry, law, medicine and public service.

Students do not apply for these fellowships. They are awarded on the basis of program faculty nomination combined with donor wishes.

Congratulations Katie – you absolutely deserve this recognition and so much more!

Congratulations to WGS Master’s Student, Sarah Cooke, who was awarded the Eldon Murray Legacy Award at Lavender Graduation on May 6th.  They are being recognized for taking initiative toward a vision of creating positive change, promoting awareness, and building community for/of LGBTQIA people at UW-Milwaukee.

Sarah was nominated by Molly McCourt, who says,

I deeply admire Sarah Cooke for their tireless advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community as well as their colleagues and students in the Women’s & Gender Studies program.  Whether they are spending countless hours pushing for a gender inclusive restroom, creating a database of teaching materials for WGS teaching assistants, or finding powerful ways to eliminate bigoted language from their classroom, Sarah clearly displays their devotion to creating a sustainable, equitable world in all they do.”

In their acceptance, Sarah says,

I am very grateful for everyone at 51ÁÔÆæ who has supported both my academic and advocacy work related to queer and trans communities.  My time at 51ÁÔÆæ has taught me that while there is a lot of work left to be done to improve campus for queer and trans community members, there are lots of people willing to show up and do that work.

Sarah, we are all so very proud of you – CONGRATULATIONS!

Each year, the  hosts an  in Madison that brings together all of the scholarship, field formation, and institution building that takes place in Women’s & Gender Studies from all of the system’s two and four year campuses.  It always an honor to recognize the wonderful achievements of our students.  This forty-three year tradition is draws together faculty, staff, students, and community members from across the state and beyond.

This year the conference had to be postponed, but we are so excited to share the scholarship of all . Their work represents just a small fraction of the amazing research, community outreach, and scholarship that comes out of our programs and departments.  We congratulate them all on their achievements.

We want to specifically mention UW-Milwaukee’s own Avery DeBoer for her award winning project, “Not ‘Born-Free’: ‘Corrective’ Rape in South Africa.”  Avery is pursuing her undergraduate degree in HR Management, Women’s & Gender Studies, and Honors. She currently works for a business and leadership consultant and hopes to find a career in Diversity & Inclusion to incorporate both areas of her expertise. Her research interests focus on the LGBTQ+ community and how ideologies (social, political, and religious) influence the oppression of various identity groups.

Congratulations Avery!

Congratulations to 51ÁÔÆæ Women’s & Gender Studies graduate student Lizzie Hjelle, who will be presenting at the 14th Annual Luxembourg American Cultural Society’s Cultural Conference on Friday, August 7, 2020.  Celebrating the 100th Anniversary in the United States and the 101st Anniversary in Luxembourg of Women’s Voting Rights, this conference will focus on the suffrage movement in both countries.  All speakers will dig deeper into the history of the suffrage movement showing the similarities and differences of these movements happening at the same time on different continents.  This will surely be a stimulating conference.

Lizzie will also be leading breakout session examining immigrant labor and anti-immigrant sentiment within the US suffrage movement.  This a prestigious honor and shows Lizzie is getting serious recognition for her hard work and research.

Congratulations Lizzie!

The deadline for applications for the Florence L. Healy Scholarship is fast approaching.  Please be sure you complete your portal profile and get the rest of your application in on or before Thursday, April 30, 2020.  Two awards will be granted, one to an undergraduate student and one to a graduate student, each for $3,000!  That goes a long way!  Plus you get to know a little more about one of 51ÁÔÆæ’s notable alumni families.  If you know of someone who meets the criteria:

• taken at least one Women’s & Gender Studies course
  research interests in Women’s & Gender Studies
  a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
  demonstrated financial need

please encourage them to apply!

51ÁÔÆæ Women’s & Gender Studies
Research Paper & Project Contest Winners
and
Casey O’Brien Outstanding Activist Awardees

On behalf of the Women’s & Gender Studies Program, we would like to extend our Congratulations to this year’s winners of our annual 51ÁÔÆæ Women’s & Gender Studies Student Research Paper and Project Contest and the Casey O’Brien Outstanding Activist Award.

Rachel Skalitsky Award for Undergraduate Research
Evelyn Hinton, “Eternity Girl, On Transgender Perspective and Queering the Apocalypse”

Second Place, Undergraduate Research
Jessica Rutowski, “Maori Concepts of Sexuality Pre-Colonialization”

First Place, Undergraduate Project
Tasha Berillo, “Rebel Mouth”

Eliana G. Berg Award for Graduate Research
Elizabeth Hoover, “Death is Not an Abstraction: The Art of Teresa Margolles and Ursula Biemann”

First Place Graduate Project
Lizzie Hjelle, “Teaching Feminist Praxis with Archival Instruction”

Casey O’Brien Outstanding Activist Awards

First Place, Undergraduate Student
Tori Freund

Undergraduate Honorable Mention
Blia Vue

First Place, Graduate Student
Charmaine Lang

Graduate Honorable Mention
Molly Bell

Customarily, we would invite students, faculty and staff campus wide to join us in celebrating the achievements of these students at the Women’s & Gender Studies Student Awards Ceremony.  Unfortunately, due to the unprecedented recent events, we are unable to host this ceremony, and we askthat you celebrate these accomplishments in a more personal manner.

Congratulations to all!
Anna Mansson McGinty, Chair and Molly McCourt, Assistant Chair

The application process is now open for the Florence L. Healy Scholarship. Qualified applicants will have:

• taken at least one Women’s & Gender Studies course
• research interests in Women’s & Gender Studies
• a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
• demonstrated financial need

This scholarship is for the 2020-21 school year; students graduating in May 2020 or August 2020 are not eligible.

Students who wish to be considered must have a completed profile on file in the 51ÁÔÆæ Scholarship Portal. Your profile is a one-time set up that will match you with all available scholarships and awards, so it is important that you complete the profile both to be considered for this opportunity as well as all future scholarships. Access the portal at: .

In addition to the general application, students who wish to be considered for this scholarships must answer a few additional questions, including an essay about your interest in Women’s & Gender Studies and two letters of recommendation. You will find a to the Florence L. Healy Scholarship on your dashboard of the scholarship portal, or you may search for it by name.

The application deadline is April 30, 2020. Technical problems with the portal can be directed to let-sci@uwm.edu.