Gender, Sexuality, & Fem Studies

Fraker Prize Awards Established in 1990 by Drue Cortell Gensler ’57, Middlebury College trustee, this award honors the memory of Alison Gwen Fraker ’89, a much-beloved, vocally feminist student, on International Women’s Day. The prize is awarded to a student whose essay on a topic specifically related to gender, sexuality, and feminist studies is judged the best.

A section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display from April 11 through April 29. The Quilt was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and is today the largest community art project in the world. Today it consists of more than 48,000 panels with the names of more than 94,000 individuals who died of AIDS. The display will be open during the Davis Family Library regular open hours. Sponsored by: Center for Teaching, Learning and Research; American Studies Program; Davis Family Library; Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life; Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies

On Saturday, Jerry Koch will lecture about political prisoners in the US, connecting the story of his political imprisonment to recent activism trying to end political imprisonment and all imprisonment. He will then facilitate a workshop on organizing prison support campaigns. This workshop will include the option for attendees to write letters to political prisoners. On Sunday, he will lecture about the history of US anarchist activism, highlighting general assemblies and social movements, consensus-based organizational models, and participatory direct democracy processes.

Andrea Barrica is a Filipina-American queer serial entrepreneur and activist. She co-founded inDinero, generating the company’s first $1M, a venture partner and entrepreneur-in-residence at 500 Startups. She is a powerful force in the tech start up world and is the founder of O.School, a shame-free platform for female and gender diverse pleasure education.

“Life of the Mind” talk by Mez Baker-Medard, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies Program

Holly Allen, Assistant Professor of American Studies, gives a “Life of the Mind” talk sponsored by Chellis House and the Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. Lunch will be served.

Paul Julian Smith, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Languages at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, will continue a line of inquiry developed in his recent book Mexican Screen Fiction by discussing the intersection of popular cinema and “quality” television in contemporary Mexico.

Join in a conversation about sex! Sacred sexuality teacher Sarah Byrden’s talk will focus on claiming and reclaiming sexual agency, releasing shame around sexuality, why sexual relationships get “messy”, the importance of healing after sexual trauma, and much more.