Living out Loud: Storytelling for Social Change Merrimack College Podcasts

March 31 is internationally recognized as Transgender Day of Visibility, an annual day of awareness and celebration for the transgender community around the world. Student leaders for Merrimack's Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) sit down with executive producer Debra Michals and producer Michael Senoff to talk about the power of having a day of visibility and the importance of celebrating trans joy in a polarized, divisive society.

In the final episode in our trilogy, Merrimack senior Nicole Rohlman shares the story of how she came to choose to major in mechanical engineering and offers her advice for other young girls looking to enter the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

In the second episode of this series, Tiffany Begin-Stearns speaks with Dr. Zoe Sherman, Associate Professor and Chair of Merrimack's Economics Department, who has had three different careers in male dominated fields. She also shares insights about how women entering male-dominated fields can, one by one, produce systemic and long-term change for future generations of women and girls.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, this three part series explores the experiences of women in male-dominated fields – either students studying for future careers or faculty members who have had experiences working in male-dominated professions. In this episode, senior Hope Makenzie talks with producer Tiffany Begin-Stearns about being a woman in STEM and the impact her female professors and teachers have had on her education.

This episode is a live recording of an event at Merrimack College on March 16, 2021. The panel discussion featured guest speaker Dr. Margo Okazawa-Rey joined by MC faculty Dr. Simona Sharoni, professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Dr. Debra Michals, Assistant Professor of Women's & Gender Studies, Dr. Bahia Munem, Lecturer in Women's & Gender Studies, and Gabrielle "Gabby" Womack, Librarian and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Ambassador. Dr. Okazawa-Rey, Professor Emerita San Francisco State University, is an activist and educator working on issues of militarism, armed conflict, and violence against women examined intersectionally. She is a founding member of the Combahee River Collective and has long-standing activist commitments in South Korea and Palestine, working closing with Du Re Bang/My Sisters Place and Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling. Dr. Okazawa-Rey also hosts a virtual transnational feminist dance party; to join or for more information email her at mor@sfsu.edu. 

 
The event was presented by the President's Initiative on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion with co-sponsorship from the Department of Women's and Gender Studies.

In celebration of Women's History Month, Merrimack College alums from the classes of 2012-2018 share stories of how what they learned about women's history in college has played a part in their careers and post college life. Joining host Dr. Debra Michals are Meg Saltzman '12, Maegen Sincleair Usher '13, David DupreWilson '16, Nick Davis '17, and Adrianna DeCicco '18.