GSS Year-End Celebratories (2022)

July 7, 2022

GSS graduating seniors (2021-22)

Avery Adams (Majors: GSS, Journalism)
Pamela Chen (Major: Political Science – Minors: GSS, Legal Studies)
Sarah Eisenman (Majors: GSS, Psychology)
Adriana Garcia (Majors: GSS, Global Health Studies)
Meredith Gottliebson (Major: Neuroscience – Minors: GSS, Critical Theory)
Kate Hader (Majors: Social Policy, American Studies – Minor: GSS)
Cyn Jaimes (Major: English – Minor: GSS)
Kamaryn Johnson (Major: Communication Studies – Minor: GSS)
Grace Koplin (Majors: Communication Studies, Global Health Studies – Minors: GSS, Legal Studies)
Rebecca Lofton (Major: GSS – Minors: Legal Studies, Sociology)
Zoe Malin (Major: Journalism – Minor: GSS)
Anna Margevich (Major: Journalism – Minors: GSS, Theatre)
Maya Mojica (Majors: Journalism, English – Minor: GSS)
Ilda Mucollari (Majors: Psychology, Biological Sciences – Minor: GSS)
Akinele Reece (Major: Psychology – Minor: GSS)
Maya Rosental Saporito (Majors: Learning & Organizational Change, Psychology – Minor: GSS)
Payton Shearn (Major: Theatre – Minor: GSS)
Isabella Smith (Major: English – Minor: GSS)
Elizabeth Solleder (Major: Sociology – Minor: GSS)
Kiana Staples (Major: Asian Languages & Cultures – Minor: GSS)
Bryce Wilcoxson (Majors: GSS, Journalism – Minor: Sociology – Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications)

UNDERGRADUATE Awards

BETTY JO TEETER DOBBS PRIZE
The Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs Prize is given to an outstanding senior thesis written in the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program.

Sarah Eisenman
"'I still kinda don’t feel like enough': Trans*normativity, whiteness, and the diversity genderqueer & non-binary identities"

From Héctor Carrillo– “I’m sorry that I can’t be present to celebrate Sarah Eisenman’s accomplishments and this wonderful and well-deserved prize. Over the course of designing and implementing her senior thesis project, Sarah demonstrated her skills as an excellent researcher and as someone who is deeply committed to better understanding diverse gender identities and sexualities. Throughout her project, she put to work all the skills and knowledge that she acquired in her college education to imagine how best to create supports that can help genderqueer, non-binary, and trans youth enjoy a good quality of life. She demonstrated that she can translate complex academic concepts into practical ways of addressing the needs of the population she was studying. And she did all this with both enormous sensitivity and analytical rigor. Congratulations, Sarah, and my very best wishes to you as you embark on what will surely be an exciting next stage of your life.”

RAE ARLENE MOSES LEADERSHIP AWARD
This award is presented each spring to a graduating senior who has fostered initiatives and demonstrated leadership, both within the classroom and in co-curricular activities sponsored by the Gender & Sexuality Studies program.

Pamela Chen (Nominator: Ann Orloff)
From Ann Orloff – “Coming to Northwestern from a small town in Indiana, where, among other things, she stood out for her feminist convictions -- she was one of a few members of the high school feminist club -- she has displayed both intellectual and organizational leadership.

“I met Pamela in the fall of 2020 in my undergraduate class “Gender, Politics, Policy and Society,” a co-listed course in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Political Science, and Sociology. It was a large class held on Zoom, but I got to know Pamela well since she was an active participant in class discussions and the class blog and came to see me during office hours. She did extremely well – she was easily the best student in the class in terms of exams, participation and discussion posts, and submitted an excellent final paper on the topic of family leave. This was an upper-division course, with challenging materials, and she relished discussing and mastering them. Pamela later took my advanced undergraduate sociology of gender class, co-listed between GSS and Sociology, which covers some of the social aspects of gender identities, divisions of labor, and popular culture, in the spring of 2021, again excelling with a grade of “A.”

“Pamela stands out for the extent and sophistication of her oral and written comments in class and outside of it. She is an excellent debater, who well understands how to incorporate social-scientific and historical evidence in her arguments -- no wonder her fellow students elected her Co-President of the Northwestern Political Union. She is able not only to summarize accurately the work of a wide range of scholars but to provide a keen assessment of relevant strengths and weaknesses of the competing arguments and empirical evidence. Last year, Pamela invited me to one of one of the events of Northwestern’s Political Union on the topic of parental leave; it is an issue in which we share a deep interest, and we’d discussed it a great deal in class and after. We had a number of discussions before the debate about the different possible dimensions of the policy and what social-scientific research has found about their effects; Pamela eagerly read and evaluated these materials. I was privileged to see her in action, and was impressed by her mastery of the subject, as well as her facility in leading the group. As a first-generation college student and second-generation immigrant, she has a keen sense of the challenges of inclusion and democratic participation across a range of contexts. These qualities of mind and of character will, I believe, stand her in good stead as she enters law school next year, either at Columbia or Harvard Law School, and once she embarks on a career in politics, policy or the practice of law in which she hopes to fulfill her commitment to gender equity and other forms of justice.”
Honorable Mention: Maya Mojica (Nominator: Jackie Stevens)
From Jackie Stevens – “Maya has played a leadership role in several groups on campus, including as President for Girl Up, Northwestern and as Editor in Chief for North by Northwestern. She has also participated in important policy and political research groups such as Justice Informed and the Coalition for Property Tax Justice. My interactions with her have been confined to GSS 307 Deportation Law and Politics where on occasion she would bring in information from some of her many professional experiences in political organizing. Maya's informed engagements with the assigned texts and comments of other students substantially elevated the class conversations and made a significant impression on me.”

GEORGE C. CASEY PRIZE
This award goes to the best undergraduate essay on any topic relating to gender & sexuality written in a GSS course this last year.

Morgan Frost (Nominator: Kate Masur)
"'I Am Equal to Anybody': White Feminism at Home & in the Workforce in the Mid- to Late-1900s"
From Kate Masur – “I’m delighted to congratulate Morgan Frost on winning the 2022 Casey Prize and am so sorry I can’t be there today to honor her. In this paper, Morgan deftly wove together an oral history interview she conducted with her grandmother, materials from our class on US Women’s History, and additional outside research. Focusing on her grandmother’s experiences with work (both inside and outside the home) and on dynamics of race, class, marriage, and childrearing, Morgan explores the seeming contradiction that although her grandmother became a tremendous advocate for her own career and personal independence, she never identified as a feminist. This is a beautifully written and nuanced paper that’s sensitive to the complex structural, ideological, and personal forces that shape women’s lives and decisions. Congratulations, Morgan, on this well-deserved honor!”
Max Lubber (Nominator: Myrna Moretti)
"No More Gender Trinary: The Danger of a 'Non-Binary Aesthetic'"
Honorable Mention: Cyn Jaimes (Nominator: Paulina Jones-Torregrosa)
"La Otra Frontera"

SENIOR MARSHAL
Senior marshals are graduating students whose home school is Weinberg College and are selected by their department or program to carry the banner for their major at the College’s convocation ceremony, when it is held in-person. Although this year’s celebration is virtual, the departments and programs of the College wish to recognize the students listed below as their senior marshals.

Sarah Eisenman

GRADUATE student AWARDS

ALEX OWEN RESEARCH PRIZE
This prize is given to doctoral students – at any stage – who have a research project that relates to the fields of gender and sexuality studies.

Enzo Vasquez-Toral
"LGBT Folklore and the Performance of Cultural Heritage in the Andes"
Honorable Mention: Aoi Saito
"Contesting Welfare in Red-light Districts: Women’s Networks, Self-Protection, and Public Health in Japan, 1925-1965"

FACULTY HONORS

Professor Jillana Enteen has been named the recipient of a Weinberg College Arts and Sciences Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research Award for 2021-22! She will be given this award at a luncheon and ceremony on June 7th. Jillana has been recognized for her innovative and dedicated teaching; for her extraordinary service to the GSS Program, the University, and the profession; and for her remarkable ability to maintain scholarly productivity even while devoting massive amounts of time to pedagogy and the maintenance of community.