ISU Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

04/20/2026

Recent news article on Dr. Sarah Ensor, the keynote speaker for this Friday's WGSS Symposium! 📰

The WGSS Program at Illinois State University will host the 29th annual WGSS Student Research Symposium on Friday, April 24. The symposium invites students, faculty, and community members to explore an important question: What does it mean to imagine collective life at a time when the future feels so uncertain?

This year’s keynote will feature Dr. Sarah Ensor, an associate professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Ensor will present a talk titled “Q***r Extinctions: Or Learning How to Last” at 1:30 p.m. in the Bone Student Center’s Circus Room at Illinois State.

Turning to q***r literature, Ensor explores forms of persistence that emerge “at the last”: at the end of a life, a lineage, or even a species. Her work revisits two historical periods marked by experiences of q***r extinction: the 1890s and the 1980s.

By examining literature and cultural history from these two eras, Ensor identifies models of care, continuance, and collective action that emerge in times “when the future feels uncertain.” Her talk invites audiences to rethink how communities endure, organize, and imagine possibility amid environmental and social cataclysm, which often involves either safeguarding the future (as we think we know it) or, alternatively, speculating and working toward alternate futures. Ensor considers what becomes possible when we take our eyes off that nominal futuristic prize, setting our sights elsewhere and directing our energies otherwise.

Read the full story: https://news.illinoisstate.edu/2026/04/lasting-at-the-edge-of-the-extinction-2026-wgss-student-research-symposium-is-friday-april-24/

Remember to register!

Register for the Annual WGSS Student Research Symposium on April 24, 2026.

04/14/2026

Next Friday is the WGSS Student Research Symposium! 📚

Come support students from across ISU as they present their WGSS research.

Registration and the full 2026 Program are available on our website and the link in our bio. 🔗

You can preorder Dr. Sarah Ensor's book Q***r Lasting (2025) from !

04/10/2026

Want to build an online collection or database but not sure where to start? Have you digitized some rare items and want to create an online catalog but need to figure out the best way to do it? If so, this workshop is for you! It chronicles a semester-long Digital Humanities Fellowship sponsored by Milner Library with Dr. Whitesel’s archival research on fat-gay men’s clubs.

This workshop is free and open to the public. You can find the lunch registration link in our bio. 🔗

04/07/2026

In recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), WGSS will table on Schroeder Plaza on Wednesdays from 11a-2p with Health Promotion and Wellness, SERC, Q***r Coalition, Stepping Stones, and more. Drop by our table to learn more about SAAM and how you can be involved in bringing awareness to sexual violence.

Day of (No) Silence, April 8: Day of (No) Silence is a nationally recognized day of action created to spread awareness about the impacts of bullying and harassment on LGBTQ+ students. The tabling will prepare you for April 10, when people across the world take a vow to silence to represent the repression of the LGBTQ+ community. (Rain date: April 15)

Consent Day, April 15: Campus and local organizations will join to teach about consent and the way it plays a role in our daily lives. Students can receive a SAAM t-shirt from HPW! (Rain date: April 22)

The Clothesline Project, April 22: The Clothesline Project is an art installation that displays t-shirts made by survivors of IPV. Survivors can create their own shirt to add to the collection. (Rain date: April 29)

Denim Day, April 29: Denim Day is a worldwide campaign that began after the Italian Supreme Court ruled that because a survivor was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped the person who r***d her remove them. The next day, women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the survivor. Wear denim to show your support of survivors of sexual violence.

03/30/2026

📣 Join us next month for the second meeting of the WGSS Book Club! 📖

We will discuss "Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis" (2025) edited by Kelly Hayes. The book is a collection of letters written by activists working to combat fascism, climate change, reproductive injustice, and mental health crises. It aims to offer hope and ideas to readers when things feel insurmountable, and is described as " a survival guide for the heart."

We have a copy in our Resource Center and can provide printed versions of the letters by request. It is available as an ebook through Milner Library.

We plan to meet and discuss the second half of the book, pages 109 - end, on April 30th from 3:30 - 5:00pm in the WGSS Resource Center.

All are welcome! This event is free and open to the public. If you require any accommodations, please contact [email protected].

03/25/2026

Calling all seekers of arcane knowledge, lovers of the esoteric, and students of the occult! ✨

WGSS is sponsoring Witch Club, an open weekly meeting to discuss and practice tarot and other divination tools. Learn the basics of tarot reading, feminist witch studies, and hexing the patriarchy. No experience needed!

Witch Club meets in the WGSS Resource Center on Fridays at 4:30pm. Bring your own tarot or borrow one of ours. 🔮

If you have any questions or require accommodations, contact [email protected].

03/24/2026

New WGS class for Fall 2026 just dropped! 📚

WGS 391/491: Gender & Power in Human-Animal Relationships is available for enrollment, taught by Dr. John Hawkins. The class meets 9:35 AM - 10:50 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is available to both undergraduate and graduate students.

The class is a substitute option for WGSS minors who need their theory requirement. It is recommended that students have already taken WGS 120.

About the class: This course will explore sites where the politics of gender, race, and power meet up with stories people tell about relationships between humans and other animals. From Princess Mononoke to feminist theory to social media discourse, the way we talk and think about animals impacts our sense of what kinds of politics are possible in the world. Students will have an opportunity to create their own animal narratives and theories in addition to exploring those of others.

If you need help finding classes or registering, contact the WGSS advisor at [email protected].

03/23/2026

Become a volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual assault! You can be there for someone in crisis, either directly or indirectly, by being a trained volunteer support person at YWCA Stepping Stones.

Alysa Chandler, Volunteer & Operations Coordinator for Stepping Stones, will be in the WGSS Resource Room all day on Wednesday, April 1st to talk about volunteering opportunities. For more information, e-mail [email protected].

03/18/2026

This Thursday, alum Dr. Jenna Goldsmith will be on campus for a Book Party and Poetry Reading with the English Department's Publications Unit.

Dr. Goldsmith previously served as Assistant Director for the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program and graduated from the program with a WGSS minor in '08 and the WGSS Graduate Certificate in '10. She was City Poet Laureate of Rockford, Illinois from 2023-2025, and currently works as an instructor of writing at Oregon State University.

The poetry reading takes place March 19 at 5:30pm in the Publications Unit of Williams Hall Annex, and will feature Dr. Goldsmith's new collection, The Worse for Wear (2026), followed by a Q&A and book signing.

If you require any accommodations to attend, contact Steve Halle at (309) 438-7481.

03/17/2026

Registration is open for the 29th Annual WGSS Student Research Symposium! 📝

Register to join us for a full day celebration of WGSS student scholarship and creative works on Friday, April 24. The Symposium includes free breakfast and lunch, and a keynote address from Dr. Sarah Ensor, Associate Professor of English at UW–Madison, titled "Q***r Extinctions: Or Learning How to Last."

Registration is free and open to the public! If you require any accommodations, please contact [email protected].

Register: https://illinoisstate.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bDfmjF9YHkfevum

This year's Symposium is sponsored by: College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University, Illinois State University,The Alice and Fannie Fell Trust, Harold K. Sage Fund, Illinois State University Office of Sustainability, College of Arts and Sciences, Illinois State University, Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, Department of English at Illinois State University, Illinois State University Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Office of Research at Illinois State University, Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment, @ Q***r Coalition at Illinois State University, and the LGBTQ+ Student Support Fund.