Five WGS students and their fight for social change
In Spring 2019, a small group of Women’s and Gender Studies students who were passionate about social justice came together with a mission to create social change. The group will choose one issue each semester, research causes and effects, and build long and short term solutions. The Cohort seeks to go beyond bringing awareness to problems- they have set off on a journey to implement actual social change.
The topic the students chose to work on this semester is food insecurity on campus. They will be researching causes of this issue and working towards a solution, which they will present to the community and to administration in December. The students are currently in the evaluation stage: researching, surveying, and conducting key informant interviews and focus groups. They are hoping to address at least one root of the issue and not only bring awareness, but create actual policy and planning changes. They are not the first group to address the issues of food insecurity and food waste- UNH’s Sustainability department, local nonprofits, and UNH staff and administration have brought attention to this problem before, and the SJL Cohort hopes to take this movement a step further.
The project is a combination between a class and an internship experience in which students can earn 1-4 credits. Applications for next semester are open until December 1st. This is an amazing opportunity for people of all majors looking to build leadership and problem solving skills, and to get involved in the community.
Laney Meldrum, she/her, WGS Program Assistant