Student Showcase

See what students are doing in their FGSS classes!

Uter(us) Culture: Toxic Period Culture and the Policy of Gynecological Artifacts

The goal of this project is to help individuals be aware of the products they consume and how these influence the decisions they make about their bodies. But beyond that, the bigger purpose is to deconstruct the tight relationship that menstruation has had with gender over the years and destigmatize the generational shame that surrounds periods. By understanding that menstruation is a natural process that is experienced differently across individuals, we can unlearn these myths and stereotypes that prey on our insecurities and limit the way we manage our bleeding to fit society’s cookiecutter definition of how menstruation should look or not look. Ultimately, having an opportunity to learn more about our bodies, its processes and how they serve us. In a time where our bodily autonomy and reproduction rights are being legislated on by others, one of the most powerful tools we can have is knowledge over our bodies.

Big Red Feminisms: Making Cornell equitable since 1865

2022 marks fifty years of Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies and thirty years of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at Cornell University. Marking the event, students enrolled in Introduction to Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies (FGSS 2010) in Fall 2021 looked to Cornell’s past as inspiration for Cornell’s future. This site is a culmination of these efforts: it salvages Cornell’s hidden history of feminist and queer activism on campus and documents contemporary feminist and queer actions organized by Cornellians enrolled in FGSS 2010 in Fall 2021. We hope that these projects from the past and present have the potential to spark future collaborations and demonstrations.

Student films document Cornell's LGBTQ history 

From exploring Ithaca’s drag history to researching AIDS activism on campus to offering a tour and history of Cornell’s Loving House, students in an Introduction to LGBTQ Studies class this semester brought key events in Cornell’s history to light through short documentaries.

The films created by the class, which draws students from all of Cornell’s schools and colleges, are appropriate as a way to help to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Cornell’s LGBT Studies Program this year. Sara Warner, associate professor of performing and media arts and director of the LGBT Studies Program in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the eight student groups used the Cornell University Library’s digital Cornell Daily Sun archives and History of Sexuality collection for research before bringing their works to life on film.