Rebecca Sprinson
Q: What is the topic of your thesis?
My thesis is titled “This Land Is Our Land: The Ideological Construction of a Lesbian Feminist Utopia in Southern Oregon, 1970–1990.” I’m examining the magazines and newsletters produced by women who lived on women-only farms, collectives, and communes in southern Oregon, which was a nexus of the lesbian-feminist back-to-the-land movement.
Q: Please share a bit of your background. What drew you to WGS, and what do you plan to do with your degree?
I came to the UO from California, where I attended a very liberal private school in San Francisco. I have always been drawn to feminist-gender issues, both academically and informally, but I toyed around with other programs for a while before finally settling on WGS. Ultimately I found that, of all the departments I have taken classes in at the UO, the WGS classes consistently challenge my thinking, introduce me to some of the most cutting-edge work being done in many fields, and provide me with personal and intellectual inspiration. My B.A. is in women’s and gender studies, and I have an English minor.
I plan to take one year off after graduating, then apply to graduate programs in women’s studies or through other departments such as American studies, at universities that offer a graduate certificate in women’s studies or a focus in women’s studies. There aren’t very many grad programs in women’s studies! It’s a shame.
Departmental status means a great deal to a program. I’ve been involved with and supported students and faculty members who have been struggling to make ethnic studies an official department, so I have seen that progression, although not for WGS.
Departmental status not only feels like an acknowledgement or vindication of all the rigorous work faculty members have done in the field, but I think it also contributes immensely to the political and intellectual climate of the university. It draws talented and original thinkers as professors, staff members, students, and guest lecturers. I’m not surprised it took such a long time to achieve departmental status, and I know the UO is even somewhat ahead of the curve.
Q: Would it have made a difference in your own studies if WGS had been a department sooner?
I think it would have meant that the department could have been even bigger and more diverse by the time I arrived here, which would have been great!
Q: Any comments about favorite teachers, courses, the quality of classes offered by WGS, what you’ve learned, how you’ll use it?
It is hard to pick favorite professors and classes, because each term has been a novel and wonderful experience. Lizzie Reis is my thesis adviser, and I am so thankful to her. Her classes are truly inspiring, especially because her work on intersex issues is pushing so many academic and social envelopes. I really admire her for that. I loved Julie Raiskin’s Lesbian Cultures course, because it balanced literature, film, pop culture, and critical theory. Lynn Fujiwara’s Gender, Race, and Ethnicity and Women in the Global Labor Force courses were amazing. Professor Fujiwara is amazing and challenging!
WGS was the best thing about my college career, and I’d love to help out or give back in any way possible.
Robyn Singleton
Q: What role did WGS play in your studies, and what do you plan to do with your degree?
I’m a senior, graduating with a degree in international studies, with focuses in Latin America and international gender issues, and a minor in women’s and gender studies. I also am graduating from the honors college. I studied abroad in Ecuador last year for a semester, and have done internships at Planned Parenthood, Sexual Assault Support Services, and CEMOPLAF (a reproductive health NGO in Ecuador).
I’m interested in public health, specifically sexual and reproductive health issues, and will probably be going to graduate school for that eventually. After graduating, I’m going into the Peace Corps and will be working in the field of public health.
I was drawn to WGS because it basically covers all that I’m passionate about, and it’s given me a lens with which to view our world and the systems that govern it. I think this will be a very valuable asset and perspective to take with me into the field of public health, particularly in the intersections among gender, sexuality, and health.
Q: Is departmental status important?
Having WGS as a department will be very significant. The more students who take WGS courses the better, as far as I’m concerned. More people need to learn to analytically recognize hierarchical systems in our culture and around the world; even if they do nothing with this knowledge, at least they have the tools to see them and recognize how these systems may be harmful.
Q: Any comment you’d like to make about favorite teachers, courses, the quality of classes offered by WGS, what you’ve learned, how you’ll use it?
WGS classes have been my favorite. I love classes that help you not only learn to analyze the world around you, but also the way your environment has shaped you. Education can (and I think, should) be about learning both about the world and yourself. It’s a developmental process, and I love the way WGS courses promote personal development. Of the WGS courses I’ve taken, I would say I’ve most enjoyed those that have delved into feminist thought historically, so we can see how feminism has evolved and can further evolve. Also, I’ve loved every class I’ve taken from Elizabeth Reis. The way she organizes her courses is awesome: she facilitates discussion, promotes developing opinions, and doesn’t let you off the hook regarding difficult issues. I’m in her Sex and Medical Ethics course right now, and it rocks!
—Alice Evans interviewed Rebecca Sprinson and Robyn Singleton in May 2009.