On June 24, 2022, in a historic and far-reaching decision, the US Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade, declaring that the constitutional right to abortion—upheld for nearly a half-century—no longer exists. The majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization proposes that the various provisions of the Constitution contain no inherent right to privacy or personal autonomy. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito stated unequivocally that abortion is a matter to be decided by the states.

CSWS sponsored three talks during winter and spring 2023. We invited five of our graduate student affiliates below to share some thoughts on the talks’ themes. 

February 16: “Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America” with Margot Canaday, Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University

Reflection by Leslie Selcer

by Sangita Gopal, Associate Professor, Department of Cinema Studies

CSWS turns 50 in AY 2023-24! We invite you to a thrilling year of events themed “Feminist Futures” that look to the future while commemorating the past. We will celebrate the cutting-edge interdisciplinary scholarship on gender and intersectionality that the Center has sponsored and disseminated for five decades, and showcase feminist collaborations across the arts, humanities, sciences, and technology that imagine feminist futures to negotiate the challenges of the next fifty. 

by Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor, Department of English

By Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor
Department of English

by Sangita Gopal, Associate Professor, Department of Cinema Studies

Thank you all for making the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Center for the Study of Women and Society so rich and fruitful! And filled with joy and remembrance. Indeed, it was an eventful 18 months where we collaborated with partners across the disciplines at the University of Oregon to showcase how diverse fields imagine feminist futures and archive feminist pasts at a time when gender and justice are once more at the forefront of our attention globally. 

by Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor, Department of English

For two years, Bryant Taylor, a PhD candidate in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies, had a special appointment working as a Graduate Employee (GE) on our 50th anniversary events and projects. I had the opportunity to chat with Bryant about his time at CSWS before he left for a summer internship on an African American archival history project at Harvard University.

by Jenée Wilde, Senior Instructor, Department of English