Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Debra Bergoffen, honored at 30 year celebrations of Women and Gender Studies at Mason

Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Debra Bergoffen, honored at 30 year celebrations of Women and Gender Studies at Mason
From left, Mark Hopson, Marilyn Mobley, Rose Pascarell, Debra Bergoffen, Rinelda Horton, Robyn Hakanson, Angela Hattery and Wendi Manuel-Scott

On February 18th 2020, Dr. Debra Bergoffen was one of the invited guests at this year's Sojourner Truth Lecture. The event marked the 20th anniversary of this annual lecture hosted jointly by the African and African American Studies and Women and Gender Studies programs, and was also a celebration of the 30th anniversary of Women and Gender Studies at Mason.

A former Department Chair in Philosophy, Dr. Bergoffen is also a former Director of the Women and Gender Studies program, previously the Women’s Research and Resource Centre. She joined current WGST Director, Dr. Angela Hattery, and Dr. Mark Hopson, Director of African and African American Studies, to welcome former Mason Professor Dr. Marilyn Mobley, who delivered this year's lecture, “An Intersectional Mixtape: Lessons Learned from a Black Woman Scholar in the Academy.” 

Dr. Mobley helped found the African and African American Studies Program at Mason in 1991 and was its first director. She is currently a professor of English at Case Western Reserve University. In her talk, Dr. Mobley emphasized that "genuine progress has always come from collaborative models of learning, labor and resistance and from an understanding that our lives are interconnected.”

Click here to read more about Dr. Mobley's talk and this year's Sojourner Truth lecture.