UW-Whitewater Women's and Gender Studies Department

Home
United States
Whitewater, WI
UW-Whitewater Women's and Gender Studies Department

This page will highlight the activities and achievements of UW-Whitewater's Women's and Gender Studies’ faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

WGS explores why gender and sexuality matters in the pursuit of knowledge and social justice.

03/03/2026

Today is the day! Join us tonight in UC 275 at 5 pm for our conversation with Sonya Renee Taylor. We are so excited to celebrate 50+ years of WGS at UW-W and to learn from Sonya Renee Taylor!

“Radical self-love demands that we see ourselves and others in the fullness of our complexities and intersections and that we work to create space for those intersections.”

― Sonya Renee Taylor, The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

02/24/2026

As we celebrate 50 years of Women’s and Gender Studies at UW-W, we want to highlight the incredible dedication of the faculty and staff who built and sustained this department over the years. Dr. Ellie Schemenauer (she/her) came to Women’s and Gender Studies at UW-W in 2005. She has dedicated her career to our department and our students. As the story below indicates, Ellie is a fierce feminist educator who has transformed many student lives at UW-W and beyond. She also served as our longtime department chair, mentoring several faculty and staff along the way. Ellie is an example of the educational and communal power of Women’s and Gender Studies. We are so proud to see her recognized for her transformative praxis and commitment to WGS!

https://www.uww.edu/umc/great-teaching/ellie-schemenauer

02/23/2026

We are so excited to welcome Sonya Renee Taylor to UW-W on March 3rd! We hope to see y’all at our event: “Making Self Love Radical: a Conversation with Sonya Renee Taylor” in UC 275. Refreshments will be provided and all are welcome!

Importantly, this event is made possible by the Brian F. Bolton and Anne Nicol Gaylor Endowment. We are celebrating 50 years of Women’s and Gender Studies at UW-W. Get your commemorative t-shirt here:

https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/donor-form?svcid=renxt&formId=59aa4a51-be2c-46c5-a94d-b18cc01629e2&envid=p-BwXT1C3rMEmilT1RQkSAwA&zone=usa.

11/12/2025

Today, the world mourns the loss of Dr. Jane Goodall, an English primatologist and anthropologist who was well known worldwide for her studies of chimpanzees in Tanzania, at a Celebration of Life in Washington, D.C. Dr. Jessica Walz, affiliate faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies, is in attendance at this morning’s Celebration of Life. Dr. Walz is affiliated with the Jane Goodall Institute and did her dissertation work at Gombe National Park in Tanzania, where Goodall was based for 65 years.

Like Dr. Goodall, Dr. Walz is an incredible feminist anthropologist. Look for her classes and experience the transformative perspectives of feminist anthropology!

09/16/2025

Come be in community and have some fun!

08/29/2025

Women’s and Gender studies is so proud to share that Dr. Ellie Schemenauer (she/her) was recognized as the College of Letters and Sciences Chair of the Year. Ellie served as Chair of WGS since 2014. She has guided us with her powerful feminist leadership, accomplishing massive curricular changes such as establishing LGBTQ+ Studies, honing our close community, and securing department stability in turbulent times. Ellie models feminist care through her mentoring and community building. We have been so lucky to have her at the helm for so long and we are excited for her as she pursues the next steps in her career: stepping down as chair of WGS and stepping up as chair of Social Work.

As we celebrate Ellie, we also cheer on our new chair: Dr. Crista Lebens (she/hers*). Dr. Lebens is a Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Coordinator of Race and Ethnic Studies, and now Chair of WGS. Crista is a dedicated educator, advocate, and scholar of intersectional feminist philosophy. We are so excited for the next steps of our department and look forward to an amazing new academic year!

Stay tuned for more announcements about our exciting year ahead - especially as we celebrate FIFTY years at UWW!!

*https://pronouns.org/she-her

07/23/2025

Check out this amazing new article from Ms. Magazine on the success of WGS students:

Government “data clearly demonstrates that the education students receive in critical interdisciplinary classrooms provides them with a strong, flexible foundation to adapt to societal and economic changes. What if we shifted the conversation about pursuing a degree in gender studies and similar interdisciplinary programs, to the proposition that they might be the antidote we all need in this moment of political instability? Far from finding their degrees “useless,” our graduates are ahead of the curve and well poised to contribute in myriad ways to building a healthier, more vibrant and just nation.”

https://msmagazine.com/2025/07/20/college-degrees-womens-gender-sexuality-ethnic-africana-indigenous-disability-studies-graduates/

Join our department today!

05/06/2025

In March, two of our recent graduates - Lys Dobbs and Holly Barnett - were featured in the Royal Purple. WGS is a field that transforms whatever career you go into. Lys and Holly show the value in building inclusivity through a clothing business in rural Wisconsin. We are so proud of you!

“It is important in small towns to create a space where LGBTQ and other diverse groups can come and feel accepted. It is essential to have that in a small town,” Barnett said.

Barnett and her partner, Lys Dobbs, recently got engaged and have UW-Whitewater’s women’s studies professor, Ashley Barnes Gilbert, to thank. Both Barnett and Dobbs were women and gender studies minors and had a race-ethnicity class together with Gilbert. While this could be considered their first place of meeting, they technically met during an IMPACT club meeting with the Chancellor where Dobbs sat next to Barnett. Not long after they started dating in 2022 as juniors at UW-W. Building a safe place for those that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and other minority groups alike has always been a top priority for them.

“Clothing is, and historically can be, a very political thing. We’ve seen in the past that a lot of LGBTQ people in the community have been victims of hate crimes because people see them at face value and can judge them by what they’re wearing,” Barnett said.

https://royalpurplenews.com/47219/community/clothing-should-be-freeing/

04/24/2025

Congratulations to Gabrielle Morales- winner of the 2025 Gender and LGBTQ Studies scholarship! Gabby and WGS Chair Ellie Schemenauer celebrated last night at the College of Letters and Sciences Scholarship Awards. We are so proud of you, Gabby!

04/16/2025

Women’s and Gender Studies at UW-W is so proud of our undergraduates! Last week, we brought undergraduates to the annual Women’s and Gender Studies 2025 Conference: Embodying Feminism: Calling in, Calling out, Calling to Action. Our students presented their advanced undergraduate research, spoke on a round table discussion titled “Showcasing Skills and Strengths in Women’s and Gender Studies: Undergraduate Students Prepare for Life after Graduation,” attended transformative panels, and celebrated Joey Padgett’s research award. We are so proud of y’all!

Undergraduates who presented include:

Devinn Smith
Evelyn Schmidt
Lily Portman-Kranz
Gabrielle Morales
Reagan Hammons
Bex Clevenger
Ky McCombe
Sierra Houlihan-Groebner
Joey Padgett
Briar Chambliss
Makayla Millhouse
Millie Patterson
Orin Smith
Toni Shields
Izzie Jones

04/13/2025

Last month, UW-W celebrated innovative campus leaders at the Chancellor’s State of the University Address. We recognized 4 incredible campus leaders with the newly named “Women, Gender Equity, and Community Leadership Awards.” Awardees include our very own Jeanne Quevedo! As our Department Assistant, Jeanne is a central member of our community and has super powers as a community builder! We are so lucky to work with her everyday. Congratulations, Jeanne! Thank you for your commitment, joy, support, community care, and excellent coffee.

04/08/2025

Congratulations Joey Padgett on your incredible work! We are so proud of you!

Repost from
•
Join us in celebrating this year’s UW Women’s & Gender Studies Consortium Student Award Winners for their hard work and exemplary research!

Top row (l to r) - Lauren Upmeyer, UW-Platteville; Michael Rozier, UW-Madison; Lily Simon, UW-Platteville; Izzy Fincher, UW-Milwaukee
Middle row - Brett Dunn, UW-Madison; Valeria Rodrigo Rojas, UW-Madison; Mallori Martin, UW-River Falls; Abbie Laundrie, UW-Oshkosh
Bottom row - Claudia Liverseed, UW-Madison; Fatima Chavez, UW-Eau Claire; Angel Bronk, UW-Stevens Point; Joey Padgett, UW-Whitewater
Not pictured - Alexis Smiezek, UW-Madison

Congratulations!

You can read more about these students and their amazing work here:
https://consortium.gws.wisc.edu/conference/2025-conference/wgsc-student-award-winners-2025/

Address

Whitewater, WI
53190

Website

https://www.uww.edu/cls/departments/womens-studies

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when UW-Whitewater Women's and Gender Studies Department posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to UW-Whitewater Women's and Gender Studies Department:

Want your university to be the top-listed University in Whitewater?