What our graduates are doing

Below is a list of some of our M.A. graduates and their current positions/activities, in no particular order. The list demonstrates the variety of options open to M.A. graduates in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

 Jessy Lyons, 2013, whose M.A. project focused on domestic violence, is Associate Director of Green Dot, a violence prevention organization based in Alexandria, VA.

Christine Neejer, 2011, is a doctoral candidate in History at Michigan State. Her major fields of study are Women's History, US History and the History of Science and Medicine. Her dissertation is based on the M.A. thesis she completed for the WGS M.A. program.

Kathryn Hogg, 2011, worked for a few years in nonprofit administration in Louisville and is now a law student at Northwestern in Chicago.

Erin Riedel,2008, is a therapist working at Seven Counties Services, Louisville.

Amerisa Waters,2011, is working on a Ph.D. in Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.

Drew Clark, 2011, is working on his Ph.D. in History (focusing on gender) at Indiana University in Bloomington. Expected degree completion: 2016. Drew was editorial assistant at the Journal of American History from October 2011 to June 2013.

Jessica Ronald,2008, works for the Sierra Club in San Francisco as a Diversity Effectiveness Representative.

Robert Plienis, B.A. in WGS (2005) and M.A. in WGS (2010), went on to hold leadership positions with the Association on Higher Education and Disability in Charlotte, NC, and the University of Indianapolis in Indianapolis, IN where he worked to eliminate barriers to access for students with disabilities.  Currently, he serves as Success Strategies Coordinator at the Ball State University Learning Center in Muncie, IN where he promotes accessible learning environments to the campus community, and provides additional learning support to diverse learners.  Plienis also serves as a lecturer for WGS at U of L, teaching online and hybrid courses.

Elizabeth Hatchett, 2005, after completing the WGS M.A. was awarded her J.D. from UofL Law School 2009. She went on to clerk in the Jefferson County Attorney's Office and served as an intern for KY Supreme Court Justice Lisabeth Hughes Abramson. Elizabeth also served a four-year term on the board of the KY Commission on Women. She now works as Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Jefferson County, KY.

Kristin Burgoyne, 2009, is Project Director at the Americana Center in Louisville.

Cara Tuttle Bell, 2006, is director of Project Safe, Center for Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Barrett Bell, 2010, taught Gender Studies and English at St. Francis High School (Louisville) for several years.

Stacia Kock,2006, after completing the WGS M.A. went on to Ohio State where she earned a Ph.D. in Women's Studies. She is now Assistant Director and Advisor for the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Illinois State University.

Jill Bickel, 2008, teaches English at Manual High School (Louisville). She incorporates many female writers in her classes and directs a club for women interested in gender issues.

Jessica Underwood, B.A (2003), M.A. (2005) in WGS at U of L,is Grants Manager at Center for Women and Families (Louisville).

Erin Herbert, 2011, is education manager at the Muhammad Alie Center (Louisville).

Jessica Potish Whitish, 2014, is External Affairs Director at KY Youth Advocates (Louisville).

Lauren Copeland, 2014, began her doctoral work in Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Kentucky in fall 2014 and is a graduate teaching assistant there.

Merrit Gill, B.S. (2009) and M.A. (2011) in WGS at UofL, worked full time at Coalition for the Homeless (Louisville) after completing the M.A. Since 2013, she has been Grants Manager and Housing Department Supervisor for St. Vincent de Paul (Louisville).