The University of South Dakota

Anne Rosenbaum

Anne Rosenbaum, who graduated in 2009, is now a law student at the State University of New York – Buffalo. She hopes that a law degree will allow her to help people in need and influence the creation of new government policies. Her Women's Studies classes at the University of South Dakota sensitized her to many of the issues she encounters in her studies, such as equal protection rights and violence against women. "This interest has helped make some of these dry law classes much more compelling for me," she says. Rosenbaum foresees two possible paths after graduation. One is working for a nonprofit advocating the interests of women, children, families and/or non-heterosexual people.

The other is practicing untraditional family law – helping LGBT families, handling cases involving reproductive technology, and working with single parents or grandparents who are the primary caretakers of minor children.

She is getting experience under her belt by serving as a student advocate on the Buffalo Human Rights Center and as article editor of the Buffalo Journal of Gender, Law, and Social Policy.

But a major shift in her interests has taken place since she graduated from USD, after she saw what she describes as "phenomenal equality and way of life" for men and women in Norway during a summer 2009 course at the International Summer School in Oslo.

"In Norway, I witnessed gender equality in ways that many Americans never conceived of," she says. "This got me very excited to study United States law and policy now that I had solutions in mind and not merely awareness of problems."

The experience in Norway led her from interest in women's rights per se to advocacy of healthy and equal parenting.

"While I had learned that women's subordination began in the home, in the family, it had never been clearer to me that this is where the solution may lie as well," Rosenbaum says. For example, substantial paternity leave could allow fathers to be seen as equal caretakers and women as equals in the working world. Witnessing equality at an early age, children might grow up without gender stereotypes.

"Perhaps the family approach will not be as successful for achieving equality in the United States as it was in Norway," she says. "I still think it's worth a try."

Her summer 2010 internship at the National Association of Counsel for Children in Denver appears to support what she brought back from Norway: much of the child welfare law intersects with gender equality issues. For example, the American job market forces many single mothers into low-paying jobs or unemployment; the resulting poverty often leads to neglect of children.

"This is one of the many unfortunately fascinating kinds of facts that I want to work at fixing," Rosenbaum says.

Abbey Jones

Abbey Jones, a 2010 graduate, has won a 2010-2011 Fulbright scholarship to teach English in Indonesia. She anticipates gaining experience as a teacher, and a deeper insight into how the mind perceives language. Her women's studies expertise, she says, will be instrumental in understanding the Indonesian culture from the standpoint of third-wave feminism, which emphasizes multicultural approaches.

"Many may believe Indonesia to be a place where women are mistreated because it is a Muslim country," Jones says. "My women's studies minor has taught me to understand Indonesians from a non-essentialized viewpoint, which will allow me to integrate myself into the culture, rather than judge it from afar."

After her return from Indonesia, Jones plans to pursue her interests in writing, editing and teaching to "create awareness of social issues and help others." Seeking advanced degrees is also in the stars, she says.  

Jones credits her minor with helping her look critically at the world around her.

"The Women's Studies program has allowed me to take classes over a variety of subject areas, which I think is one of the greatest things about the women's movement—it exists everywhere," she says. 

Abbey was awarded a 2010-2011 Fulbright scholarship to teach English in Indonesia. Read the press release.

We'd Love to Hear From You!

If you are a graduate of the program, tell us how you have used your Women's Studies minor in the workplace or in graduate school.   Email us at womensstudies@usd.edu.