Current students in Ethnic & Gender Studies (EGS) express the value of their program in their own words! Recorded in Fall 2024 by program intern Esther MacDonald, who is among our first graduating seniors in the major (May 2025). All quotations used with permission.
"Ethnic & Gender Studies has allowed me to view the world through countless perspectives. Taking the world around us and connecting it to the human experience through this framework has given me the ability to understand and interpret history. Going into the classroom I am looking forward to using Ethnic & Gender Studies to teach a culturally responsive and conscious curriculum."
--Mason Fuller (EGS and Social Studies Adolescence Education double major)
"My biggest takeaway from my work in Ethnic and Gender Studies is that knowledge is power. There is power in having difficult conversations and knowing how to navigate them. This program really prepares you how to empathetically listen to other perspectives, while being confident and researched in your own perspective."
--Sivan Adler (EGS and Acting double major and Honors program student)
"As a first-generation Mexican-American college graduate, this program empowered me to harness my bilingual and bicultural identity as vital tools to achieve accessibility for those left out by the systemic barriers deeply rooted in our society. Post-graduation, this dual experience has enabled me to bridge marginalized communities to services around them that meet their cultural and linguistic needs."
--Pedro Martínez (EGS and Psychology double major and Honors program student)
“These fields encourage students to confront their own biases and engage in difficult conversations about race and gender, which can be transformative.”
-- Victoria Iskra (English Adolescence Education BA/MA and EGS double major and Honors program student)
“In today’s workplace, employers want graduates who are culturally literate, adaptable, and can handle complex issues around diversity.”
-- Owen Wagner (EGS major and Honors program student)
“Gender and Ethnic Studies graduates are prepared for careers in social justice, community organizing, and even corporate social responsibility.”
-- Mason Fuller (Social Studies Adolescence Education/EGS double major)
“Faculty in these fields often push for new ideas and methodologies that reflect current social movements and global shifts in understanding race and gender.”
-- Emily Stoll (EGS/English Adolescence Education BA/MA and Honors program student)
“Ethnic and Gender Studies offer students a more holistic view of the world by combining multiple disciplinary lenses.”
-- Emily Stoll (English Adolescence Education BA/MA and EGS double major and Honors program student)
“These disciplines provide students with the tools to understand their own cultural backgrounds and identities in relation to others.”
-- Arianna Maglione (EGS major)
“These fields provide a global lens through which we can examine the effects of imperialism, globalization, and migration.”
-- Jacob Duran (Latinx Studies minor)
“There’s a misconception that these programs are biased or not academically rigorous, but in reality, they prepare students to think critically about the structures that shape our world.”
-- Victoria Iskra (English Adolescence Education BA/MA and EGS double major and Honors program student)
“Students are empowered to question and challenge systems of oppression, which is the basis of any meaningful social justice movement.”
-- Emily Stoll (English Adolescence Education BA/MA and EGS double major and Honors program student)
“Through exposure to diverse perspectives, students become better equipped to confront prejudice in their communities and workplaces.”
-- Arianna Maglione (EGS major)
“These fields help us understand not just who we are, but how historical contexts shape our everyday lives.”
-- Mason Fuller (Social Studies Adolescence Education/EGS double major)