“In every class discussion there is an emphasis on valuing the epistemic contributions of students.”
Deciding on a major in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies due to the environment of the department, Mal has gotten exactly what they expected within the GWSS Department. They have greatly appreciated the atmosphere of classes within the department, which don’t follow the classic lecture format but value students’ opinions and perspectives in class discussion. Mal says, “GWSS classes recognize that students have contributions and questions that are valuable to everybody”. Mal has appreciated other flexibilities within GWSS classes as well, such as being able to design their final project themselves. For this project, Mal was able to take a deeper look into something that they are very passionate about themselves, which is gendered and disabled bodies. Mal has also had opportunities through the GWSS Department to learn about their interests outside of the classroom. In addition to being an academic assistant for the department and doing projects that they feel very passionate about, they were also able to be a research assistant for a year in which they researched the concepts of care, vulnerability and epistemic justice through the lens of HIV/AIDS narratives and disability theory. Of this experience, Mal says “I learned so much, not only on topics I’m passionate about, but also I learned very useful skills about how the research process works.” Mal worked with Professor Sharon Marquart on this research project, who is also their favorite professor within the Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies Department. Of this relationship, Mal says “I’ve loved every class I’ve taken with her, she gave me the opportunity to work for her doing research and has always valued what I’ve had to say and is just all around a really great professor”. Overall, Mal feels grateful for the experiences that they have gained within the GWSS Department to learn skills and build relationships. They are also involved on campus as a Sociology/Anthropology Teacher’s Assistant, the Sociology Honors Society, and Alpha Kappa Delta.