Barnard WGSS Statement of Solidarity with the Student Workers of Columbia (SWC-UAW Local 2110)
The Barnard College Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies supports the Student Workers of Columbia (SWC-UAW Local 2110) in their strike for higher pay, adequate health and dental insurance, and neutral arbitration in cases of harassment. We know that the student workers face the withholding of stipends, potential retaliation and other hardships in relation to this strike, and we recognize the sacrifices being made, the material stakes of the strike and the necessity of solidarity at this time.
Defending Asian women, defending sex workers
With rage, grief, determination, and love, WGSS stands in solidarity against anti-Asian violence and endorse the powerful statement and growing list of resources produced by our colleagues at the Barnard Center for Research on Women, who write: “We defend the dignity, safety, and freedom of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities, women, queer, trans, and non-binary folks, sex workers, service workers, street vendors, people unhoused, people in prisons, immigrants, the undocumented, refugees, and all who are targeted by this racist violence. With heartbreak, rage, and committed solidarity, we share these resources for all of us to take action, support mutual aid projects, train in self-defense and bystander intervention, and build our political education.”
Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
In response to the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, Sean Monterrosa and Rayshard Brooks, WGSS stands in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and in opposition to all forms of racist violence, especially violence enacted by the state and including carceral uses of feminism. We particularly support our colleagues in Africana Studies who lead our campus in the study of African Diasporas and African American communities.
Current Affairs
A Statement From Africana Studies Faculty: The faculty and administrators of Africana Studies Department stands with those individuals and organizations in the Barnard-Columbia community, in New York City, in the United States, and throughout the world who have conveyed support for the individual and collective acts of resistance and rage in the streets of the United States in response to the ongoing devaluation and destruction of Black people of all ages, genders, sexualities, and abilities.
Read the full Africana Studies statement
WGSS Commitment to Action: WGSS is dedicated to linking inquiry and action, theory and practice, scholarship and feminism. We work with our colleagues in Africana Studies, American Studies, and the Barnard Center for Research on Women to develop analyses and practices that address the current moment, including scholarly discussions (examples here and here), student projects with local communities, videos on transformative justice, and the work of fellows in the BCRW Social Justice Institute.
Read the full WGSS statement and commitment to action.
Courses that Make the Connections: WGSS is a member of the Consortium for Critical Interdisciplinary Studies (CCIS), along with Africana Studies and American Studies. CCIS courses model collaboration, community, and interdisciplinarity. With our colleagues in CCIS we work to hold our College to its pledge to continue to diversify our community equitably and to offer our students a curriculum that engages intellectual risk-taking and discovery.
See CCIS classes in Africana Studies, American Studies, and WGSS that address relevant issues.