Alumni News

Women and Gender Studies is about making sense of the real world and making real change. It is important for the field to bring your experiences, your questions, and your passions to your studies. Come ready to talk about your experience and passions, be prepared to challenge your own beliefs, and bring empathy and compassion to each space you enter.

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences is proud to honor Nikita Fernandes, BA Psychology '19; Women and Gender Studies Minor, with the 2024 Distinguished Alumni award in women and gender studies. Fernandes is an immigrant South Asian cisgender queer woman who was born and raised in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. She is a sex therapist and psychotherapist located in New York City.

Citing a lack of positive role models for young girls, George Mason University students and alumni stepped up to inspire hundreds of middle and high school students in the first Virginia Girls Summit on Nov. 15.

MAIS alumna Danielle Blunt has founded Girls Inspired and Ready to Lead, Inc. (GIRL), which empowers middle and high school girls to navigate educational and social challenges.

Lauren Heath first heard of Women and Gender studies while looking for a way to fulfill her Global Perspectives requirement. She said, “I had always felt very strongly about women’s rights but I didn’t really know much about it. After one class, I was hooked. I registered for more classes and applied to work at the Center, where I was happily employed for two years. Along with working at the Center, I was a Women and Gender Studies minor and spent as much time as possible at the Center and immersing myself in feminism."

Scholar, artist and photographer Deborah Willis, who earned a PhD in cultural studies at George Mason University in 2002, will have her work on display at a Mason exhibit throughout February. The showcase, called "Progeny," features the work of Willis and her son, Hank Willis Thomas.