Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies offers us the tools we need to understand and change our world. I was reminded of this power during the department’s 50th anniversary celebrations in September 2025. Over the course of two incredible days, we heard from alums across the generations. They are feminist change-makers in a wide variety of fields, and we learned how they bring WGSS analysis into their daily lives and careers in countless ways. As we remembered shared histories, spoke openly about challenges, and celebrated successes, we could also dream together about the department’s next fifty years. In these challenging times for our field, the anniversary celebrations were an important reminder of why we need WGSS now and into the future.
With an eye towards that future, the department continues to increase its impact. We hired new faculty and graduated new students. Thousands of undergraduate students enroll in WGSS classes each year. Our fabulous WGSS majors, alongside our minors in WGSS, LGBTQ+ Studies, and Women, Gender and Public Policy, continue to inspire us with their brilliance and commitments. We include among our students a fabulous cohort at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, who this year continued their WGSS degrees as part of the Ohio Prison Education Project (OPEEP). Meanwhile, the Center for Feminist Research, Education, and Engagement (FREE Center) is now well established as a hub for feminist scholarship across the university and in Central Ohio.
While maintaining a robust presence on campus and beyond, the department continues to spearhead new initiatives. This year, we launched a new LBGTQ+ Continuing Medical Education (CME) program. Led by the efforts of Professor Shannon Winnubst and Ali Alkhalifa (Education Program Specialist), this online CME brings together the expertise of feminist scholars and practitioners and is designed to meet the needs of professionals in healthcare and allied fields. You can read more about the new program in the pages ahead, and please spread the word to your networks!
WGSS faculty continue to engage in robust, impactful research with multiple publications, exhibits, research presentations, and grants. Among the highlights are four new edited books by faculty: Religion in the Américas: Trans-hemispheric and Transcultural Approaches, co-edited by Professor Jessica Delgado; Hip Hop Studies and Queer Black Feminism, co-edited by Professor Treva Lindsey; The Crip Linguistics Reader, co-edited by Professor Octavian Robinson; and Intersectionality and Human Rights: Reimagining European Court of Human Rights Judgements, co-edited by Professor Lyn Tjon Soei Len. I’m excited to share that Professor Dionne Lee’s first monograph, Dionne Lee: Currents (Aperture, 2026) brings together her key works from over a decade on land as a site of refuge and loss. And if you are looking for a new podcast, check out The Rolling Archives, a digital scrapbook that amplifies the voices of Black women and girls launched by Professor Ashley Smith-Purviance this year.
This year, we welcomed two new colleagues to our team. Dr. Emily Cornish joined the department as Assistant Professor. With expertise in indigenous feminist studies, Professor Cornish comes to us with a PhD in Art History from the University of Michigan. Kaitlyn Jones, Education Program Specialist, serves as the onsite coordinator of the WGSS major program at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Welcome, Emily and Kaitlyn!
We celebrated the retirement of our beloved colleague, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor Linda Mizejewski at the end of the Spring 2026 semester. A specialist in film studies and popular culture studies, Professor Mizejewski is the author of six books and co-editor of two anthologies. An award-winning teacher and decorated scholar, Professor Mizejewski has many accolades to her name, including the American Humor Association’s Award for Most Influential Scholar. A former chair of WGSS, Professor Mizejewski has introduced thousands of students to feminist film and cultural studies since she joined Ohio State in 1991. I regularly encounter alumni who remember her course on horror film as the most impactful of their college careers, and her London study abroad course has acquired legendary status in the department. Congratulations, Linda! We will miss you dearly.
We will also miss our terrific graduating students. A very warm congratulations to our newest PhD graduate, Kashif Dennis, and to our newest MA graduates, Nowshin Sharmila and Hannah Moore. I am excited to see your next steps! And hearty congratulations to our newest cohort of WGSS undergraduate majors, some of whom shared their capstone research projects at the department’s 2nd Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium in April. Their innovative projects modeled the possibilities for robust, rigorous, and interdisciplinary research at the undergraduate level.
As the department moves into our next half-century, we will be able to expand our impact even further thanks to generous support from donors. From new funds for student research, to visiting speakers, student scholarships, and other programs, I am deeply grateful to everyone who has supported the WGSS department this year. Thank you.
- Mytheli Sreenivas
WGSS Chair and Designated Professor