Emily Cerkvenik
Blog Post #1
Hi all! My name is Emily Cerkvenik. I am a current Junior at Loyola studying History and French with minors in Women’s Studies and Gender Studies and Global and International Studies. I am originally from Saint Paul, Minnesota but I currently live a few blocks north of the lakeshore campus in Rogers Park. I have more than one Loyola connection as my older sister graduated from here in 2018! A few other things about me is that I am a part of Students for Reproductive Justice here at Loyola and I help coordinate our Txt Jane program to deliver safe-sex products to students within a mile radius of campus. I also work as an Orientation Leader during the summers and I’m a tour guide for the lakeshore campus all year round.
This is my third week of interning at the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives located right here in Rogers Park. Gerber/Hart is an archive dedicated to the preservation of LGBTQ history, primarily from the Midwest of the United States. They also operate a library offering queer literature and they occasionally put on educational exhibits. The current exhibit is called “Activism at the Margins of Identity” and focuses on queer activism in the 90s. The next exhibit, which will begin running in March, will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the decriminalization of sodomy in Illinois, the first state in the US to do so. Finding an internship at a queer organization was something I have wanted to do since I first knew it was possible at Loyola. I wanted the opportunity to explore my identity further in a way that actively gave back to my community and Gerber/Hart fit that bill perfectly. In my day-to-day work there, I hope to continue learning and growing comfortable with myself and expanding my knowledge of queer history, especially in Chicago. I also look forward to accomplishing the major project of the semester which is cataloging, archiving, and digitizing 500 t-shirts which make up the newest “Special Collection” at Gerber/Hart.
My first impressions of the archives have been wonderful! The workplace is dynamic and interesting and because the archives are mostly maintained by volunteers, I seem to meet a new face every time I go in. There is a wide range of ages, genders, and skills but we all share a common passion for the preservation of our history and the camaraderie that goes along with that. In regards to the actual work, each shirt has its own story which keeps the process engaging. The shirts the archives receive are mostly donations and they vary in just about everything, shape, color, size, condition, and of course, what they mean. My fellow interns and I jump from looking at shirts promoting AIDS rides to shirts featuring one-time events at gay bars, then to home-made bowling team shirts and then most recently, to shirts worn at the annual International Mr. Leather competition. It’s hard to get bored when there is always something new to discover or discuss. I can’t wait to see what else we’ll encounter as we work our way through the collection and I’m excited to continue sharing our best finds of the week!
Blog Post #2
Hi everyone! My name is Emily Cerkvenik and this semester I’m interning at the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives of Midwest LGBTQ History & Culture. I’ve now been working at Gerber/Hart for about a month and a half. There have been a lot of different projects within that time, but our main one which was cataloging 500+ t-shirts has just about wrapped up! There is always plenty to do at the archives so I know we’ll stay busy for the next half of the semester but it’s exciting to have one project completely done.
There are a lot of pieces that go into properly cataloging and archiving a document or artifact. With the t-shirts, my fellow intern and I got to personally manage every step of the process. After tagging and entering the shirts into our online database, we became professional photographers for a few weeks! We took a few photos before quickly realizing that the wrinkles from being haphazardly folded for a few months weren’t looking the best on camera. So, we ended up turning the back room of the archives into a bit of a costume shop as we steamed every single shirt to get it camera-ready. After taking all the pictures, all we had to do was match the photo IDs to the correct catalog number and we were set! While it could be a slow process at times, I’m sad to see the shirts be packed back away into the archives. It was so fun to be able to get our hands on some real pieces of history and imagine what it would have been like to wear some of these. We’re continuing to learn so much about queer history in Chicago and how queer people represented themselves and their identity through clothing, specifically. Being in a queer internship is educational in and of itself as well, allowing us to see the workplace and hierarchies through a feminist and queer lens.
While at Gerber/Hart, I feel that I am always developing knowledge that pushes me to advocate for social justice. A lot of the time that is because I’m physically touching the efforts of all those who came before me who continually fought for their rights and the rights of others. I am surrounded by people who share a common aspiration to preserve our history inside the archives and fight for our future outside. Just doing things like creating detailed descriptions for our t-shirts reminds me to think sensitively and deeply about how and why people chose to create these shirts, sometimes even hand-making them. Sometimes the job is about making sure that those reasons are preserved just as much as the shirts themselves. Our tasks as Gerber/Hart interns may seem small or mundane at some point, but I’m always reminding myself that we are furthering our commitment to protecting human rights and working towards social justice, one individual’s story at a time. I’m looking forward to our next projects and I hope they’re equally as exciting!
Blog Post #3
Hi all! My name is Emily Cerkvenik. I’m a current junior with a minor in Women’s Studies and Gender Studies and I’ve just finished up my twelfth week of working at the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives! I’m looking at my last four weeks of working there which feels hard to believe. The semester has gone quickly but it also seems like my first days at Gerber/Hart were so long ago. My fellow intern and I have accomplished a lot but we still have much to do. Fingers crossed that we finish archiving the t-shirt collection once and for all by the end of the semester!
There are so many things that I have learned at Gerber/Hart that I cannot wait to apply in my life. The one that immediately comes to my mind is how to structure and maintain a workplace. I’m writing my final paper on what it is like to work in a predominantly queer setting and how ideas of queer and feminist equity can positively transform traditional heteronormative workplaces. The mutual respect and appreciation for the work of the others around you shines through every interaction at Gerber/Hart. In particular, there is a massive age range of those volunteering at Gerber/Hart but everyone’s individual experiences are valued and understood without any condescension from either side. Communication flows freely back and forth from volunteer to volunteer, from the director to the volunteers, from the board to the director, and so on. These are just a few of the themes I’ve noticed at Gerber/Hart that I want to take to all of my future workplaces. I’ve also learned a number of practical skills, such as Excel proficiency! And an extensive knowledge of different t-shirts brands and composition, which will perhaps be less helpful, but who knows! Maybe I’ll find a use for all that shirt knowledge one day.
My favorite moment of my internship actually just happened recently! It was Gerber/Hart’s 40th anniversary on April 7th (and also Pearl Hart’s birthday, one of the founders of Gerber/Hart!) so there was a large fundraiser hosted at Sidetrack in Boystown. The other intern, Sarah, and I got to volunteer at the event and enjoy the party! There was a drag show, a poetry reading, a short film celebrating Gerber/Hart, and hors d’oeuvres everywhere. Sarah and I were mostly tasked with the silent auction and the raffle but we also got to watch the shows and had a wonderful time. The biggest thing for me, however, was getting to be surrounded by my community and to share the joy of the moment together. For anyone considering a major or minor in WSGS, my advice is to take all of the opportunities like that event that you can. These chances to engage in the wider Chicago community has really made my internship that much more valuable to me and I hope to continue some of those connections even after I finish my time at Gerber/Hart!
Tessa Spooner
Blog Post #1
Hello all! My name is Tess Spooner, and I am a senior at Loyola University Chicago studying Women’s Studies and Gender Studies and Political Science. I am currently in my final semester of undergraduate studies, and because I enjoyed the undergraduate program greatly, I have plans to continue my education at Loyola with their dual degree program for a master’s in WSGS and Social Work. My passion for feminism and equity began when I was in high school, but I would not have the language or tools to apply an intersectional approach in my goals without furthering my education at Loyola. One of the appealing aspects of the tight-knit program is that I grew close to many of my peers and founded dependable relationships. One of these relationships led to my knowledge of an internship opportunity within the Women’s Studies and Gender Studies department at Loyola! At the end of my junior year, when we were celebrating the graduating WSGS students, I found out that one of them had begun a position within the department, but at this point, there was no one assigned for continuing the internship. After reaching out and meeting with Dr. Hemenway, I was offered the opportunity to work for the department. Since the beginning of the fall semester of my senior year, I have been working as the Alumni Relations Intern in the WSGS office. Because of the pandemic and other unforeseen circumstances, I ultimately completed my undergraduate studies in three years instead of the traditional four. It is a great opportunity to finish early; however, it has also put pressure on me to figure out my future career and life goals. My plan is to work in advocacy during and following my master’s program, but eventually, my goal is to work at a university and hopefully become a professor. With this considered, I wanted my WSGS internship to incorporate either working for a non-profit focusing on advocacy for survivors of sexual violence or attaining the experience of working in a university. Thus, when I found out about the undergrad position within our own office, I was ecstatic. Being involved with a WSGS internship would be the only kind to spark my interest. I want to work in spaces with an emphasis on comfortability, being vulnerable, and an ethics of care toward one another. This is something that not all workplaces gear their attention toward, so I am grateful I have found an internship that values these tenets of feminism. My primary goals during my internship are 1) learn the function and practicalities of working in a university office, 2) gain an understanding of how to continue and strengthen the relationship with alumni through our newsletter, 3) acquire T4 and Mailchimp skills, and 4) understand the significance of working in an office that focuses on empathy and teamwork. I hope to accomplish these and continue learning about the significance of feminism in every avenue of collaboration.
In my first few months working for the department, my initial understanding was that each team member had their own responsibilities, and then at our weekly meeting, we would check-in and see how things were progressing. At these meetings, everyone is given the opportunity to ask questions about their work and for help if something becomes too difficult for one person. I found these tactics to be useful because they keep everyone on the same page and help promote cooperation. My responsibilities surrounded a monthly newsletter and uploading alumni profiles to the department site. As the semester went on, there was a need for attention to updating the department’s website as a whole, especially the home page. Because of this, my attention this semester focuses on those updates and how we can continue to post new content. The newsletter will continue this semester, but we are trying to send it out quarterly instead of monthly. I am looking forward to how working on the website helps create greater awareness of the program and expands my marketing and creative abilities.
Blog Post #2
Greetings again! My name is Tess Spooner, and I am in my final semester of undergrad at Loyola with majors in Women’s Studies and Gender Studies and Political Science. Last fall, I began an internship with the WSGS department as their undergraduate intern working on alumni relations and website building. Over the past few months, I have taken on the responsibility of updating content for the department website. My skills on T4, the programming system for our website, have improved greatly. This program is fairly complicated, and as someone who has never worked on website content in this capacity, there was a learning curve at the beginning of this work; however, with help from a previous department assistant, I am progressively feeling more confident in my capabilities. The new content posted on our home page began with things like our summer course offerings and promotions for the Feminist Lecture Series. More recently, the posts were on features of affiliate faculty to the WSGS program. One highlight centered on recently published research, and the other was a faculty profile based on a questionnaire that I created. It asked the professor about their experience with the program, why they enjoyed being involved with WSGS, and their advice to prospective students. With the website updates, I also am continuing the alumni newsletter. My first half of the internship was sent out on a monthly basis, but as my focus shifted toward the website, we decided a quarterly basis would be better for this semester. I reached out to alumni of the WSGS program, and thankfully a few folks responded, and therefore I was able to work alongside them to develop their newsletter feature. The alumni answered some biography questions with a short essay question describing an important aspect of their interest in WSGS.
Although the work of an office intern may not be as rewarding as working hands-on in advocacy services, my job is significant in that it supports the continuation of Loyola’s WSGS program. By providing the space for a relationship with alumni with their former school, I am deepening this connection and also providing resources for these alumni to further their experiences in work and volunteering. Each alumnus I work with has a unique experience from their time at Loyola and how this shaped their work post-grad. The range goes from people who work in art design for play and musical sets to those who intend on working in healthcare. This shows how WSGS is applicable to all persons and how every career path can utilize feminist methods. Completing the website updates also incorporates learning about the multitude of studies conducted with feminist theory. Like with the faculty research spotlights, I am taking in the different ways professionals apply a feminist methodology to their work as a professor and Researcher.
While creating the first newsletter of this semester, I made a feature for an alumnus who holds both a queer and religious identity. Due to my own experiences as a queer person ,continuing to hold a religious identity after coming out was not the option for me, but it is always rewarding to hear about those who do have a positive experience. Although this alumni had to leave their original church, they kept the faith and even became a student in the WSGS program to help their self better understand how they could hold both of these identities. This experience is extremely powerful to hear about because so many young queer people can feel excluded in religious settings. Hearing about this alumni experience challenges my bias on religious people and their connection to homophobia. Through this, I built on my ability to hear other perspectives with an open mind and heart.
Blog Post #3
Hello all! This is Tess Spooner again checking in for the final time about my internship with Loyola’s Women’s and Gender Studies department. My responsibilities pertain specifically to alumni relations, and I lead in updating the department’s website. I am finishing up my intern agreement at the end of this semester, and I am honestly sad about leaving the office as I have grown close with my coworkers and love the atmosphere we have created. I started working in the office in August, and although my required time is coming to an end, I plan on still visiting the office over the next few years while I am in grad school.
Some skills I have acquired from working in the office include proficiency in MailChimp and T4. I had never heard of these services before, but I am grateful that by working this internship, I now have the capabilities to create content with these often from scratch. MailChimp is a program we use for sending out office newsletters, and T4 is the site used for updating the website. Both of these may be useful in future career paths, especially if I work for a major department again, which I would be extremely interested in after working in this space.
One of my goals for my internship is to learn how an office functions and utilizes collaboration with a focus on feminism, empathy, and teamwork. Through this internship, I am researching what factors make working in a feminist office unique and showcase the value of equity. In one of my recent reflections, I wrote about how the graduate assistants and I feel working for this department, and there was a commonality in feeling safe and supported within the office. We agreed that our collective group sets standards to work with shared goals in collaboration when possible and a general comfortability around our abilities to be ourselves. The environment in our office focuses on creating community with each other and those affiliated with the program. It is welcoming and aims to uplift one another in our successes and provide support if tasks become overwhelming. In my future personal and career goals, I hope to continue to be a part of spaces like this or help build them to be more centered in this feminist practice of empathy and collective action.
Another component of working in this feminist office I noticed is the attention and care put into listening to one another. I find that whether we are discussing work-related tasks or our personal lives, each office member is intentional in providing space and support for one another. My fondest memories in the office will be the relationships I have built with my coworkers. Those affiliated with Women’s Studies and Gender Studies make up a small community on campus, and I am grateful for this experience in becoming an integral part of its continuation and finding shared values with those I work with. I will miss our morning debriefs while someone makes coffee and the office glows like we have created a home away from home.
Women's Studies/Gender Studies Internship 