The lecture is co-coordinated by a committee working across the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender, LGBTQ Center, the Taubman Center for American Politics and Public Policy, and one of the following concentrations: Gender Studies, Economics, or Sexuality and Society.
Division of Campus Life
Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender
Masha Dexter Lecture on Gender, Sexuality, and Public Policy
Gift Agreement
The purpose of the fund and of the lectureship is to memorialize and promote in other students Masha Dexter's extraordinary energy and engagement with the overlapping issues of gender, sexuality, and public policy, as reflected in the broad range of her own activities. Masha was active in planning the LGBTQ Resource Center. She was also active in the Queer Alliance, the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center, Students for Choice, and the American Civil Liberties Union. Masha was a Writing Fellow, a teaching assistant in economics, and a Meiklejohn Advisor. An economics concentrator, she was also a talented writer, an outspoken feminist, an engaged activist, a spirited debater, and an ardent friend. Her commitment to the principles of equality and justice in society were equal to her commitment and love for friends from all places and of all ages.
Past Lecture Topics and Speakers
2022
Intellectual Freedom and Social Justice: Understanding the Discourse of Censorship
- Emily Knox, Associate Professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3_Q4OyrRBBI
2018
Safety, Sanctuary, and Power: A Meditation on Your Campus and Mine
- Karma R. Chávez, Chair and Associate Professor for the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at University of Texas at Austin
What Comes Next: The Future of Reproductive Justice
- Marlene Gerber Fried, Professor of Philosophy at Hampshire College and Faculty Director of the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program
2017
Trans: Bodies & Power in the Age of Transgenderism
- Jack Halberstam, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Gender Studies, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California
2016
Prison Birth Project and Reproductive Justice
- Marianne Bullock and Marisa Pizzi, Co-Directors of Programs for Prison Birth Project
2015
Responding to Mishandled Cases: How Universities Can Improve Sexual Assault Policy
- Colby Bruno, Esq., Senior Legal Counsel, Victim Rights Law Center
2014
Gender Equity in Education: The Many Legacies of Title IX (panel)
- Asaf Orr, Staff Attorney, National Center for Lesbian Rights
- Amanda Walsh, Esq., Staff Attorney, Victim Rights Law Center
- Donna Lopiano, Ph.D., President and Founder, Sports Management Resources
2013
Violence Against Women Act: Politics and Realities (panel)
- Rachel DiBella, Sexual Assault Network, Boston College
- Erin Miller, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital
- Michelle Nuey, Special Victims Unit Advocate, Brown Department of Public Safety
- Vanessa Volz, Executive Director, Sojourner House, Providence
Find the Next Lecture
Go to our calendar of current and upcoming events to find information about our next lecture.
Additional Programs
The Gender and Sexuality Peer Counselor (GSPC) Program is a collaborative student peer leadership and mentoring program co-supervised by the LGBTQ Center and the Sarah Doyle Center for Women and Gender.
In coordinating the Women's History Series (WHS), the Sarah Doyle Center staff develops a theme to build our programming around during the academic year.
The Sarah Doyle Center coordinates events and programs aimed specifically towards the Graduate Student community. These include dissertation brown bag lectures, work/life balance events, faculty conversations, and reading groups.