What have we ourselves taken away from a GWSS degree experience? Do our ways of thinking change? How does this change impact our lives and our relationships with others?
Since pursuing GWSS, Faith says, “now I’m constantly questioning everything I see around me: institutions, policies, behavior, and even social media!” and with friendships, “I’m correcting, debating, or criticizing what my friends say and do. I always share what I’ve learned in class and it either interests them or helps them analyze their own beliefs and complicity in whatever they participate in.” If there was something Faith would suggest be added to the GWSS experience it would be “more courses on Disability, Queer Theory (which I heard is taught in the summer), and Indigenous studies which would really help broaden our understanding of people’s experiences that are being hidden away in society.”
Madelyn believes “GWSS has changed my lifestyle and the way I engage with others pretty drastically. I try my best to be aware of hidden power dynamics and inequities that come with varying identities. I try not to take things at face value, and I prioritize joy and compassion consistently.”
Kenji tends to “view things less on the individual level and think more about larger systems that make individual conditions the way that they are. I also think I’m more willing/better equipped to have conversations with people in my life about GWSS-type topics. I question things a lot more. I hate big tech a lot more than I used to. I think a lot of things are social constructs now. When I get existential about burnout I remember that we live under capitalism and that the 40 hour work week is unsustainable. It’s very much the “once you see it you can’t unsee it” type of thing, and I think a lot of other GWSS majors/minors would probably resonate with that experience. If Kenji could add something to GWSS it would be to have a “more transnational perspective? Or to make it required, I mean. Thinking back on it now, I think that’s a gap that I’m leaving GWSS with. Of course it’s kind of difficult to account for that since we’re a U.S.-based institution, but I think it’d still be nice.”