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"I grew up in a small rural college town, was raised by a single mother, and had the
opportunity to attend an all-girls boarding high school, consisting of international
students. I honestly didn’t experience much blatant sexism until college because I
was fortunate enough to grow up steeped in feminism. My background presented me with
the female experience in a lot of different ways and helped me realize and solidify
my position as a woman. The events leading up to and during the 2016 Women’s March
though, opened my eyes to just how alive and well sexism is in this country, and that
gender and sexuality continue to be weaponized. With the exposure I had coming into
college, I knew gender and gender studies were extremely important to me. I began
my minor as a sophomore and was finally given vocabulary and theories that explained
what I had been seeing for years. It was a baffling first semester of classes because
I thought as a woman, who grew up around a variety of women, I knew what it meant
to be a woman, but I quickly learned how naïve I was. Having the option to pursue
WGSS as a minor allowed me to have a more holistic college experience, and helped
me develop my interpersonal and professional skills from research to outreach. Coupled
with my major in health science, I hope to someday work with underserved women and
children, preferably in healthcare education and advocacy. I hope to give back to
the communities that have shaped me, and without the deeper knowledge and understanding
I gained through my minor I would not be able to do that." - Karyna Colyer (May 2022)
"I enrolled in WST 103 with Professor Montegary in the second semester of my freshman
year. My 101 fellow is also a WGSS major and talked to me about the program after
I decided to stop pursuing the pre-med track. During our first class, we dove right
into learning about critical feminist theory, something I’d never been exposed to
before. It completely blew my mind! As someone who loves abstract thinking and is
passionate about rectifying injustices, I felt like I’d finally found what was missing
in my entire academic career up until that point. Nothing in school had really made
me think about complex big ideas before that, but intersectional feminism now allowed
me to explore concepts without fear of being wrong, because a “right” answer is always
subjective." - Sophia Garbarino (May 2022)
"I discovered myself living through a viral pandemic, one traversing centuries before
I was born. A pandemic that privileges the few and oppresses the many. I knew these
inequalities existed, but I found why they existed to be incomprehensible. I was ecstatic
when I learned about the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies major at Stony Brook
University, feeling that I might finally be capable of answering the question we have
all asked at some point in our lives… why? My passion is for genuine social change,
establishing an alternative society that raises us all up and leaves none of us behind.
The Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program incorporates interdisciplinary methodologies
that prepare students for critically assessing the world around them. These skills
are something I knew would be invaluable for my future pursuits!" - Cassandra Skolnick
(May 2022)
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Testimonials from our WST Graduates!
What made you pursue a Women’s and Gender Studies (WST) major/minor?
"WGSS courses are very interesting and enlightening and helped me to reconcile my
experiences living within the intersectionality of my identities as an African American
woman. I loved learning about the intersection between race, gender, and sexuality
and how these identities have impacted my life experiences which have been very empowering
to learn about throughout the WGSS courses I have taken over the last four years at
Stony Brook." - Amanda Stuart (May 2022)
"I grew up in a small rural college town, was raised by a single mother, and had the
opportunity to attend an all-girls boarding high school, consisting of international
students. I honestly didn’t experience much blatant sexism until college because I
was fortunate enough to grow up steeped in feminism. My background presented me with
the female experience in a lot of different ways and helped me realize and solidify
my position as a woman. The events leading up to and during the 2016 Women’s March
though, opened my eyes to just how alive and well sexism is in this country, and that
gender and sexuality continue to be weaponized. With the exposure I had coming into
college, I knew gender and gender studies were extremely important to me. I began
my minor as a sophomore and was finally given vocabulary and theories that explained
what I had been seeing for years. It was a baffling first semester of classes because
I thought as a woman, who grew up around a variety of women, I knew what it meant
to be a woman, but I quickly learned how naïve I was. Having the option to pursue
WGSS as a minor allowed me to have a more holistic college experience, and helped
me develop my interpersonal and professional skills from research to outreach. Coupled
with my major in health science, I hope to someday work with underserved women and
children, preferably in healthcare education and advocacy. I hope to give back to
the communities that have shaped me, and without the deeper knowledge and understanding
I gained through my minor I would not be able to do that." - Karyna Colyer (May 2022)"I enrolled in WST 103 with Professor Montegary in the second semester of my freshman
year. My 101 fellow is also a WGSS major and talked to me about the program after
I decided to stop pursuing the pre-med track. During our first class, we dove right
into learning about critical feminist theory, something I’d never been exposed to
before. It completely blew my mind! As someone who loves abstract thinking and is
passionate about rectifying injustices, I felt like I’d finally found what was missing
in my entire academic career up until that point. Nothing in school had really made
me think about complex big ideas before that, but intersectional feminism now allowed
me to explore concepts without fear of being wrong, because a “right” answer is always
subjective." - Sophia Garbarino (May 2022) "I came in as a freshman AMS major and quickly realized that I did not want to
spend all my time in math classes. I took WST 102 with Suzanne Staub (amazing class!!)
for an SBC requirement and fell in love with the content and the style of learning.
I enjoyed being exposed to different issues and perspectives every week through a
variety of readings and having the opportunity to discuss them with our class in a
respectful way. I realized that it was important to me to make sure that I was learning
as much as I could about the way the world works and how people are impacted by these
systems, even if the topics are a little difficult at times. As someone who identifies
with a few different minority identities, being able to learn about people like me
as well as people not like me at all is eye-opening and has led me on a journey of
personal growth as well as academic learning." - Pavithra Venkataraman (May 2022)
spend all my time in math classes. I took WST 102 with Suzanne Staub (amazing class!!)
for an SBC requirement and fell in love with the content and the style of learning.
I enjoyed being exposed to different issues and perspectives every week through a
variety of readings and having the opportunity to discuss them with our class in a
respectful way. I realized that it was important to me to make sure that I was learning
as much as I could about the way the world works and how people are impacted by these
systems, even if the topics are a little difficult at times. As someone who identifies
with a few different minority identities, being able to learn about people like me
as well as people not like me at all is eye-opening and has led me on a journey of
personal growth as well as academic learning." - Pavithra Venkataraman (May 2022) "I discovered myself living through a viral pandemic, one traversing centuries before
I was born. A pandemic that privileges the few and oppresses the many. I knew these
inequalities existed, but I found why they existed to be incomprehensible. I was ecstatic
when I learned about the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies major at Stony Brook
University, feeling that I might finally be capable of answering the question we have
all asked at some point in our lives… why? My passion is for genuine social change,
establishing an alternative society that raises us all up and leaves none of us behind.
The Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program incorporates interdisciplinary methodologies
that prepare students for critically assessing the world around them. These skills
are something I knew would be invaluable for my future pursuits!" - Cassandra Skolnick
(May 2022)