Women and Gender Studies class featured in NBC Boston
Professor Rosanna Hertz and students in her WGST 322 – Contemporary Reproduction seminar were featured in a segment on NBC Boston about former first lady Michelle Obama’s new memoir, Becoming. In the book, Obama reveals that she used in vitro fertilization to conceive her two daughters. In the discussion featured in NBC Boston, students were asked how they felt about Obama including information as personal as her challenges in having children. The discussion took place on Nov. 12, a day before the memoir was scheduled to release on Nov. 13. However, the class discussion was aided by an interview that Obama had done with ABC’s Robin Roberts on Nov. 9. Professor Hertz, who is a professor of both sociology and women and gender studies, said that Obama featured a topic that is not often discussed, telling the Daily Shot, “The stigma for middle-class women of all races over 35 is that you have succeeded and are successful at work, and now having a baby is not as easy as you thought and IVF is not regarded as a ‘natural’ way to get pregnant.”
Ethnic Studies Coalition keynote lecture to feature Juanita Tamayo Lott
On Nov. 29, the Wellesley Ethnic Studies Coalition will be hosting a dinner and lecture with Juanita Tamayo Lott, a prominent Asian-American activist in Tishman Common from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Lott grew up in San Francisco and participated in the historic 1968 strikes at San Francisco State (SF State) for more funding for faculty of color and access to courses that would address the histories and studies of ethnic minorities. The protests led to the establishment of the College of Ethnic Studies at SF State and inspired similar programs at other institutions of higher education across the United States. Lott went on to become a senior demographer in Washington D.C., direct the first Office of Asian American Affairs from 1973 to 1977 and help plan the 2010 Census at the U.S. Census Bureau. This event follows several other events hosted by the Wellesley Ethnic Studies Coalition during the month of November, including a professor panel and a documentary screening.
Students and alumnae continue the tradition of sharing Thanksgiving together
This past Thanksgiving break, the Wellesley College Alumnae Association and the Slater International Center paired 28 students with 19 hosts for Thanksgiving dinner as part of the Thanksgiving Match Program. Many of the students who participated in the program were international students or U.S. students who were far from home. The program has been in place since 2008 with the help of local alumnae. However, some alumnae have hosted Wellesley students for Thanksgiving since before the program was official. Jocelyn Bailin ’89 has hosted students for the past 12 years in her home in Needham, Mass., and said to the Daily Shot, “We have omnivores, vegetarians and vegans so there are always a wide variety of options … mostly we stick to traditional-style foods because that seems to be what folks want for this particular gathering. That being said, I’m always up for a culinary adventure.”
