Fall 2020

WSGS Alumni Outreach Project – Mern Hogarth

An internship within the field of WSGS was always my plan since committing to the major Freshman year of college. I am fascinated by interdisciplinary nature this major entails and how deeply rooted gender, sex, race, class, ethnicity, etc. are into society and how these socially constructed categories built the institutions we claim exist and help this society function properly. This internship with the WSGS department at Loyola places me in direct contact with alumni who had once been in the same shoes as myself. By actively communicating and engaging with these graduates, I figure I can better formulate by post-graduate plans and discover a career which may incorporate my love of gender studies and queer theory. This internship also allows me to explore my creative ambitions through website development and design. I am proud to be representing my alma mater because I have fallen in love with the WSGS department, so this internship has re-fueled my educational engine and passions to learn frivolously and teach others in any way I can. READ MORE

Chicago Justice Project – Lauren Zeitz

Hi there! My name is Lauren Zeitz and I’m a senior majoring in Women and Gender Studies. I transferred to Loyola from Northern Illinois University in the beginning of 2019 as a sophomore. I live in Andersonville with my partner and our two cats. Since the pandemic began, I’ve been spending most of my time at home which has been a big change.

I decided to do a WSGS internship this semester because I wanted the opportunity to apply my knowledge and skills in a workplace setting. I was the research intern at SEIU Local 1 for nine months, ending May of this year, which really helped me to push myself to learn and try new things. However, that internship wasn’t directly related to my learning goals as a WSGS student. For this internship I’m working at the Chicago Justice Project whose mission is to fuel community based social justice by increasing data transparency in the Chicago criminal justice system. My hope is that this internship will help me to better understand how the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired in my studies translate to the workplace environment and how a nonprofit puts their mission statement into action. READ MORE