Author Archives: August Laska

Feminism in the Global Arena

Every spring, the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies department at Middlebury hosts a week-long symposium called the Gensler Family Symposium on Feminism in the Global Arena. The symposiums focus on the many challenges that women face in our ever-changing social, political, and economic environments. Some examples of broad topics from past years include: “Interrogating Citizenship: Sex, Race, Class, and Regimes of Power,” “The F Word: Feminist Texts, Feminist Lives,” and “Sexual Straightjackets & Queer Escapes.” How exciting do these sound? This past spring, I was given the opportunity to help plan the 2016 Gensler Symposium: “#IntersectionalTV: Mediating Race, Gender, and Sexuality.”

This academic symposium, during the spring of my junior year, was one of the most memorable and exciting academic experiences during my time at Middlebury. I am a Film and Media Culture Major, minoring in Gender Studies –– so the topic of the intersection of television and race, gender, and sexuality was almost too exciting for me to handle. The symposium consisted of a bunch of panels, screenings, discussions, and meals with other students, faculty members, and visiting professors from other institutions. Some of my favorite academic topics included the concept of casting, the importance of women and minority show runners in Hollywood, and the growing Queer TV movement, focusing on self-expression and performance art. Can you tell that I geeked out over this the entire week?

My favorite event of the week was a talk given by Susan Douglas, author of the book The Rise of Enlightened Sexism: How Pop Culture Took Us from Girl Power to Girls Gone Wild. Douglas presented in Dana Auditorium to an audience full of students across all disciplines, not just students of gender and film. Her lecture focused on everything from problematic contemporary television shows to Beyoncé’s self-proclaimed feminism. The best part of the day was when I joined Douglas and my four professors for dinner in town at Two Brothers Tavern. It was so special to share a meal with the author of a book that I have read in multiple classes and to discuss topics of feminism and pop culture with all of my professors outside of the classroom setting.

Middlebury is the kind of place where it’s cool to geek out over getting to meet an author. The 2016 Gensler Symposium was a week at Middlebury that I will never forget –– and I am looking forward to the upcoming one in 2017!

Here’s the poster from Gensler 2016:

intersectionaltv2

Moving In!

Moving in to your dorm for the first time can certainly be one of the most stressful parts of starting college.  Having just moved in to Middlebury for the last time (it was more enjoyable this time around), I find myself looking back on those previous move-in days.

When I was a Feb orientation leader a few winters ago for our incoming class of February first-years (see http://www.middlebury.edu/admissions/apply/february for more information), I remember running like crazy from dorm to dorm, all the while lifting mattress pads and hauling winter coats up numerous flights of stairs. It was also a blizzard and freezing cold out which didn’t make things easier. I loved meeting these new students and their families, but man, I got a workout that day. I guess that’s one upside to moving in: you get a great workout, even in the middle of a Vermont winter.

When I myself was moving in as a first-year Feb, I needed so much help from a combination of multiple Feb leaders and my parents to move my things in. I brought so much stuff with me to college. I remember I had a plastic box full of Colgate Advanced Whitening Gel, because, in my mind, it was so important to me that I not be distracted from making new friends and meeting professors by going to buy toothpaste. Little did I know that Midd Express was right on campus and that Kinney Drugs was just a short walk away. I was so nervous about making meaningful connections that I over-packed myself with toothpaste. So random, right? I’m pretty sure I haven’t yet bought more toothpaste in Middlebury, Vermont –– six semesters later. That’s how much I brought.

Once your bed is made, your posters are hung, and your desk is organized, the hard part is over. You’ll then have a great orientation with some awesome leaders and will meet plenty of new friends. You might even travel in packs (it’s a thing) to the dining hall and all around campus, figuring out which building is which. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.

Moral of the story –– you’ll have time to buy toothpaste in college. Don’t worry.