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Chair's Note
Dear GNSX Alumni and Friends,
 It has been quite a year. We began the Fall with the announcement of our shift in Department name and title of our major and minor from Women’s and Gender Studies to Gender and Sexuality Studies (GNSX) to better capture the state of our field and the focus of our work in the interdisciplinary field of study. The background and significance of this shift was discussed in a recent article in The Santa Clara titled, “Women’s and Gender Studies: Renamed, Reframed.” We were also thrilled when the story of our Department alum, Mirelle Raza, class of 2015, was highlighted on the SCU landing page as part of the University’s “Progress Needs People” marketing campaign.
In the fall, students in my Sex, Law and Social Justice course had the amazing opportunity to meet and speak with Sister Ngozi and Sister Rosemary from the Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI) in Nigeria, an organization dedicated to the social, legal and political equality of women in Nigeria. Later that day Sister Ngozi was announced as the 2024 Opus Prize Laureate which includes a $1 million dollar gift to advance the organization's outstanding work. The CWSI reflects the values deeply held by our community and we were thrilled to see them take this one million-dollar prize back home to advance their unique forms of advocacy.
We also experienced this year a significant election, the impact of which we are continuing to watch unfold and engage with across our classrooms. I developed and taught a new course in Gender, Race, Rights and Resistance for the first time this quarter and issues of citizenship, race, gender, and equal protection and weekly we were confronted with challenges to vital policies and precedents we were discussing in the class.
After the election in November, we worked to create an even more welcoming space in the GNSX/ETHN Resource Room in St. Joseph’s Hall. We’ve had snacks and art activities there. In February we hosted a fun cocoa and craft event planned by our wonderful office assistant and GNSX major, Leslie Duran Hinojosa and beloved faculty member Dr. Mukta Sharangpani.
Our amazing Dr. CiAuna Heard and Dr. Amy Randall continue to make vital contributions to the advocacy being undertaken by the LGBTQ+ Working Group. The group has made significant strides in the areas of LGBTQ+ scholarship, collaborating with departments and administrators across the College of Arts and Sciences to sponsor a historic and successful LGBTQ+ cluster hire, develop a pilot program for gender-inclusive housing on campus, and respond to discriminatory federal executive orders with an open letter to our SCU LGBTQ+ community in The Santa Clara. In the fall we will welcome a brand new tenure-track faculty member in LGBTQ+ Studies and Social Justice to the department. We look forward to the work we will be undertaking together in our new Dream Team which includes the development of an LGBTQ+ studies minor expanding curricular and experiential learning opportunities.
In the coming months, we are hoping to find opportunities to build up our alumni relationships and community. Not only do we miss you but we also know how vital building community is in these unprecedented times. Our first stop is an upcoming alumni panel followed by a happy hour mixer in Spring. If you are a Bay Area local interested in being on the alumni panel in person please fill out the interest form below. If you are out of state doing something cool in terms of work or graduate study please let us know in the form as well because we have space for a couple of “zoom” panelists.
We’re also playing with the idea of creating a GNSX Book Club. From time to time you text or write to me for book recommendations and I’ve been thinking to myself with technology perhaps we could jump on a Zoom call together or merge a feminist theory or a senior seminar class with a book club that includes alums. If this appeals to you, fill out the interest form. If you have other ideas for alumni activities you’d like us to consider, do send them on.
April 23rd is SCU’s Annual Day of Giving. Your donations of any amount make a huge difference to us. Last year we unlocked an anonymous gift by increasing our number of donors and your gift to the department at this time matters so much when our field of study and the communities we serve are being threatened.
Last but not least, I want to share that I was deeply moved to receive the Brutocao Award for Teaching Excellence in 2024. They do not show us the letters of nomination so I cannot thank you individually but I am so grateful to all of you for the kind things you shared that led to an honor I will treasure forever. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to teach and mentor so many of you and look forward to future opportunities to be connected.
In solidarity,
Sharmila Lodhia
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