UCI Giving Day 2020

BACKGROUND

UCI Humanities serve as a hub for LGBTQ+ scholarship. In addition to a major and minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies, as well as a Queer studies minor, students throughout their college experience and from majors and schools across campus learn about LGBTQ+ issues in a wide range of fields such as film, history, literature, art history, and ethnic studies classes (to name a few). Our students are trained by globally recognized faculty, celebrated as innovators in the field and distinguished through awarded grants and teaching awards.

IMPACT ON STUDENTS/COMMUNITY

In recent years, society has changed quickly to more widely acknowledge a range of sexualities and gender identities. Humanities courses provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to study gender, sexuality, and identity as complex historical and cultural phenomenon, expressed in literature, art, film, and contemporary culture(s). The humanities bring up-to-date scholarship and learning opportunities, as well as deeper understanding and cultural competence in issues related to LGBTQ+. By supporting this initiative, you will help students across the campus comprehend, imagine and work to create a world that was not available to older generations.

Many students arrive on campus without an understanding of LGBTQ+ legacies and current issues. Your gift allows them to pursue research projects that deepen their understanding while informing others. While expanding notions of gender have been more widely accepted on college campuses, there is still much conversation, education, and research needed to secure these changes in our society. Funding student research in these issues allows students, faculty, and the community to question prevailing ideas around gender and sexuality and imagine a different future.

FUNDING NEEDS

On Giving Day, we seek to raise $10,000 in support of graduate and undergraduate students in the form of fellowships, scholarships, summer research stipends, and paid experiential learning opportunities, specifically for those seeking to engage in LGBTQ+ research and project opportunities. Your generosity gives our students the opportunity to continue their studies, conduct research, pursue original scholarship, and participate in essential internship opportunities that are only possible with the time and financial security that fellowship and scholarship funds allow. Your gift to UCI Humanities will allow students to explore important concepts in LGBTQ+ research and will allow them to focus on their studies and thrive academically. Their work contributes to the academic life on campus, to their personal growth, and to understanding within greater communities, as each student’s research and new learning is disseminated.

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS

“I took a Queer Studies class my freshman year, and then another Women's Studies class the next quarter, and I had never felt so passionate about any other topic, so I knew I had to change my major.  I have most enjoyed learning about how gendered perspectives in media have developed. People should choose to study Gender & Sexuality Studies because it educates students on so many ongoing social issues and the history behind them.” Siobhan Daley

“The Gender and Sexuality Studies program has equipped me with critical thinking, writing, research, and public speaking skills that have enabled me to think through and organize in a global, transnational context. Many of the books, films, theories, and ideas that we discussed remain a critical part of my political and ethical framework that enhances and informs the work I continue to do professionally. The faculty provided a nurturing space for students from all backgrounds to learn and grow. The faculty also went above and beyond to ensure that spaces were welcoming, accessible, and warm. This sense of community—intellectual, social, and political—is something I did not find anywhere else on campus, and something that I sorely miss after leaving the university. I personally would not be where I am in life if not for the faculty and students in the GSS program.” Cameron Joe