Construyendo Latinidades: Continuing on Our Ancestors’ Legacies

MJ Jolley | Changemakers in Focus

Preferred Name: MJ Jolley Pronouns: they/she Program/Major: Biochemistry (major), Disability Studies (minor) “I was led to this program when I transferred as a sophomore from USU studying biochemistry with a minor in ASL. There wasn’t a minor in ASL here, but at my new student orientation, I learned about the disability studies minor. I wasn’t […]

Quincy Brown | Changemakers in Focus

Preferred Name: Quincy Brown Pronouns: they/them Program/Major: Political Science (major), Gender Studies (major) “I was introduced to the gender studies program in my first year on campus when I took a course on political economy, race, class, and gender with Dr. Gunseli Berik. That semester I was also in a gender studies course with Dr. […]

Exploring Hxstories, Dance, and Activism

Recently we caught up with modern dance and gender studies student Terra Killpack-Knutsen on her work as co-curator of the upcoming exhibit Half a Century in Motion: Honoring Chicanx Dance, Art, and Activism. This exhibition was created to honor the 50th anniversary of the “Chicano Awareness Week” held on the University of Utah campus in […]

Sadie Werner | Changemakers in Focus

Preferred name: Sadie Werner Pronouns: she/they Program(s): Psychology (major), African American Studies (minor, Ethnic Studies), Family Financial Planning (minor) “My identity led me to this degree. As a transracially adopted individual, I felt a lack of knowledge regarding my identity, supposed community, and knowledge on the history of African American people within the United States. […]

Undergraduate Research | Summer 2025

Summer Program for Undergraduate Research Each Summer students from all over the United States come to the University as part of the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research (SPUR).  University faculty participate as mentors for these students and work with them for the 10 week program.  Ed Muñoz participated as a faculty mentor for the 2025 […]

Black Studies at the University of Utah

Why did you decide to focus on the history of Black Studies at the U for your project? I decided to focus on the university’s Black Studies program because there was very little accessible information available about the history of the program. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the University of Utah created the Black […]

Felt Identity

At the end of last semester Professor Juliet Reynolds did a short unit on the roles of quilts, flags, and other textiles in a wide range of social movements in her GNDR 1100 course, Gender and Social Change. Over the course of several weeks, class discussion shifted from focusing on the heaviness of oppression to […]

Changemakers Far Afield

written by Juniper Nilsson, BS’ 27, Gender Studies + Urban Ecology — This semester, I got to go to the 2025 Creating Change conference in Las Vegas, NV at the Rio Hotel and Casino. What an experience! But first, some context. The Creating Change conference was started by the National LGBTQ Task Force in the […]

Honoring Excellence in Research & Mentorship: Celebrating Rosa Pimentel & Dr. Andrea Baldwin

The School for Cultural & Social Transformation is proud to honor Rosa Pimentel, a senior graduating with dual majors in ethnic studies and gender studies, and Andrea Baldwin, associate professor of ethnic and gender studies, for their outstanding contributions to research and mentorship through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). Their work exemplifies the power […]