51С�Ƴ�

Shannon Cardinal (English/History/Education majors '16) and recent 51С�Ƴ�graduate Brett Peterson (Psychology/Sociology majors '13) presented with Robert Alegre, Ph.D., assistant professor of history, and Jennifer Tuttle, Ph.D., professor of English and Dorothy M. Healy Chair of Literature and Health, on March 8, 2014, at the Maine Women's and Gender Studies Conference at the University of Maine - Augusta.

Cardinal, Peterson, Alegre and Tuttle presented a panel on “Humanities Approaches to Experiential Learning in Women’s and Gender Studies.” 51С�Ƴ�students pursuing the minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, as well as 51С�Ƴ�students more generally, have many opportunities for experiential learning outside the classroom; not surprisingly, given UNE’s association with the health sciences, recent examples focus on issues of women’s health, with students interning at Sexual Assault Services of Southern Maine and working to improve women’s health services in Sekondi, Ghana.  Less familiar are the opportunities for students to learn and apply practical skills via the humanities.

The presentations focused on two humanities internship examples: Cardinal's work for Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, a venue for feminist literary history; and Peterson's work for AddVerb Productions, a nonprofit organization that uses performance to address a wide range of social issues, from domestic violence to LGBT youth culture.