CSWS Launches Fundraiser to Support New Undergraduate Initiatives

Posted by Jenee Wilde on
CSWS logo

On Oct. 23, as part of our 50th anniversary celebration, the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) launches a year-long DuckFunder campaign to enrich undergraduate education at the University of Oregon.

A contribution this year in support of our mission—to generate, support, and share research on the complexities of women’s lives and the intersecting nature of gender identities and inequalities—will ensure that we can do even more to grow the next generation.  

“Jane Grant’s generosity saw us through these past five decades, and as we look forward to the next five, we are so excited to widen this network of support to a new generation of feminists and allies,” said CSWS Director Sangita Gopal. “Much gratitude to you for sharing this journey!”

The CSWS DuckFunder campaign goal of $50,000 will allow us to implement two important initiatives that enhance undergraduate learning experiences in gender focused cross-disciplinary research and public-facing writing:

Initiative 1: CSWS Undergraduate STEAM Summer Research Fellowships

CSWS is collaborating with the Center for Undergraduate Research and Engagement (CURE) to create opportunities for STEAM-field undergraduates and faculty mentors to partner on cross-disciplinary summer research and creative projects with a focus on women and intersectional gender issues. These team-based fellowships are designed to fill a need for undergraduate arts and humanities research opportunities by linking creative work and scholarship to research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.  

CSWS Undergraduate STEAM Research Fellowships will help to:

Guide undergraduate exploration of research and experiential learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics fields (STEAM).

  • Provide financial awards for undergraduate research and conference presentation on pressing social issues. 
  • Offer faculty mentorship, advising, resources, and guidance on research skill-building.
  • Provide opportunities for students to showcase research, scholarship, and creative work on campus and beyond. 
  • Support students whose ethnicity and socioeconomic backgrounds remain underrepresented in higher education. 
  • Strengthen the academic pipeline for women and minority students entering STEAM fields.

Raising $37,000 will fund four summer STEAM research fellowships over two years.
 

Initiative 2: CSWS Calderwood Undergraduate Seminars in Public Writing

CSWS is collaborating with the Clark Honors College, Department of English, and the Calderwood Seminars in Public Writing to train undergraduate students to effectively communicate cross-disciplinary research on women and gender to the public.

Effective cross-cultural communication is more important than ever in the wake of recent Supreme Court decisions affecting women’s, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ rights, affirmative action, voting, and more. In an era of polarization, social media encourage content producers to interact positively with those who share their views and negatively with those with whom we assume no common ground. Similarly, university courses often encourage students to write for those who agree with their viewpoints.

The CSWS Calderwood seminars are designed to teach undergraduate students how to deeply listen to conflicting points of view so they can translate complex, specialized knowledge on women and intersectional gender issues for broad audiences across ideological divides.

With an investment sponsoring one seminar ($12,000), the Calderwood Foundation will provide grant funding for three additional seminars ($36,000), allowing CSWS to fund four seminars over two years.

To contribute to these initiatives, please go to duckfunder.uoregon.edu/csws50th. You can learn more about CSWS’s 50th anniversary celebration at https://csws.uoregon.edu/50th-anniversary.