Katy Jaekel has assumed the role as acting director of NIU’s Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality (CSWGS) through June 30.
Jaekel, an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education, has served as a faculty affiliate of the center since 2016. They took on the leadership role following former director Jessica Reyman’s appointment as associate dean in the NIU Graduate School.
“It’s a really cool opportunity to get to work with different offices, different spaces and different faculty that I haven’t had the opportunity to do so before,” Jaekel says.
“My goals are to continue and strengthen some of the partnerships with other campus partners, faculty, staff and students,” they add. “The best part is just touting the really cool stuff we’re doing here. The center is a really cool place, and I think more people should know about it.”
Launched in 1981 by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the center offers a variety of programs, including an undergraduate major, undergraduate minors and certificates, graduate certificates, general education courses and interdisciplinary courses.
Undergraduate programs include bachelor’s degrees in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies along with minors and certificates in LGBT Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies.
Graduate certificates are available in LGBT Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies and Law and Women’s Studies.
Students gain a foundation in the contributions and status of women and LGBTQ+ people; the experiences of LGBTQ+ people; love and sexuality in relationships; the dynamics of sex roles and gender ideals, past and present; and the impact of race, ethnicity, age, social class, sexual orientation, ability and other factors on women’s experiences.
“The center does such critical work around student development, student growth and student learning,” says Jaekel, who arrived at NIU in 2015 to teach courses on diversity, critical multiculturalism and pedagogy.
“This also is an important center as it pertains to presidential goals and the overarching mission of the institution. I also think that we are central, as are our other centers, to the presidential goals around transdisciplinary research,” they add. “It’s just one of those really cool things that we get to actualize what it is that we want to do here at NIU.”
As a faculty affiliate, Jaekel taught CSWGS courses, served on the governance council and participated in center programming.
While their work in the Department of Counseling and Higher Education is paused – “I’m still teaching a course for HESA and still working with my doctoral students,” says Jaekel, recipient of NIU’s 2022-2023 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award – they are looking forward to a fun semester.
“Our students are amazing. They are just the type of people you want to learn alongside, and being able to be in these classroom spaces with them is just amazing,” they say. “I’d like to learn as much as is humanly possible.”
For more information on the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality, visit Reavis 103, call 815-753-1038 or email wgs@niu.edu.
