Within the School for Cultural and Social Transformation’s four divisions, there are a myriad of incredible faculty working tirelessly to positively influence both students and the community at large. Two of these faculty members recently had the opportunity to pursue research fellowships with groups of scholars from institutions around the world.
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Dr. Susie S. Porter (she/her), a professor in history and gender studies, recently completed a fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study of Nantes which focused research in Latin American feminism and the historical development of women’s rights and gender studies in Mexico. Dr. Porter’s work involved collaboration with researchers from several countries and including those diverse perspectives in her writing. “The focus of the IAS Nantes is to bring together scholars from the so-called Global South and Global North,” noted Dr. Porter. “I had the opportunity to work with people from South Africa, Pakistan, India, Costa Rica, and more.”
This project challenged her assumptions, in ways she believes will be beneficial to both her research and teaching. “Participating in the fellowship enriched my thinking process,” said Dr. Porter. “It allowed me to be more creative, and helped me better understand the development of gender studies as a collection of fields of research in different international contexts. It also allowed me to immerse myself in issues that people interested in gender justice face elsewhere in the world.”
Dr. Porter’s research agenda was diverse, including work related to feminist thought in Mexico, the feminist economics and history of gender studies within Latin America, and the importance of education and teaching as a profession in turn-of-the-century Mexico. On top of these critical categories, she also worked on completing her latest book on maternity leave and the struggle against workplace sexual harassment in Mexico in the early 20th century. This work will be beneficial to scholars and students alike for generations to come.
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Dr. Jaimie Crumley (she/her), assistant professor in ethnic studies and gender studies, went a bit further back in time with her research at the iconic Old North Church. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, the Old North Church is where two steeple lanterns were hung to alert townspeople of the approach of British troops ‘by sea’ across the Charles River during the Revolutionary War. Thousands of visitors descend upon the church every year, longing to connect with this moment in history. Yet, this is only a small moment in the history of the 300-year-old faith community. During her yearlong fellowship, Dr. Crumley worked with the church to help them continue their efforts to uncover the stories of the African and Indigenous peoples who attended Old North from the time it was established in 1723 until the early nineteenth century when many of the African parishioners began to join the African-led religious communities in the city.
Bringing this East Coast work home to the Intermountain West was a simple proposition for Dr. Crumley. She reflected that there are multiple ways in which doing work rooted in history can aid in consistently working to improve education at the University of Utah. “This fellowship allowed me to interpret scholarly research about race, religion, and colonialism for public audiences, and informed my pedagogy in two ways,” said Dr. Crumley. “First, it taught me to connect heady academic concepts to contemporary, ‘real world’ issues. This skill makes me a more effective educator. Second, it prepared me to teach students how their niche historical questions and interests can help them understand the world around them. In other words, I am better able to help students ask themselves, ‘What were the decisions that people made in the past that inform this contemporary moment?’”
She also had the unique opportunity to share some of her research in the Old North Church video series, Illuminating the Unseen. The video series went on to win a preservation award from the Boston Preservation Alliance and served as the basis of middle and high school curriculum produced by the education team at Old North Illuminated. “I had never shared research findings so publicly and in real-time,” she said. “It was exciting to hear from people who watched episodes and shared their insights or asked questions.”
Dr. Crumley’s time in Boston underscored the importance of grappling with history to ensure a brighter future. “We are facing a crisis in this nation when it comes to our ability to teach complete histories—complete histories of times when our nation did not live up to its promises to be a nation that offers freedom and justice to all people. Historical sites such as the Old North Church function as living classrooms where visitors can access challenging histories without restrictions.” She continued, “Those of us who care about ensuring that future generations can learn the ‘hard histories’ of racism, sexism, colonialism, xenophobia, and the like, alongside the triumphant histories of moments when the nation did live up to those lofty promises, must invest in public history sites that help us make those often marginalized or suppressed histories more visible.”
Dr. Crumley is working on multiple articles based on her research and public history work at Old North, in addition to the one short article she already published while there.
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As these fellowships have shown, studying how people have lived and what people thought in the past provides invaluable knowledge to inform the future. In guiding the next generation towards a better future through education, the history of the world is a priceless resource to draw from.