Associate professor Katie Peel is new the director of the Women’s Studies Resource Center (WSRC).  Before becoming the director, Peel was a women’s and gender studies-affiliated faculty member, teaching in the English department. When Michelle Scatton-Tessier moved to become chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures in July of this year, Peel took on the position.

Peel holds a B.A. with honors from Wesleyan University and a M.A. and Ph. D. in English from the University of Connecticut, where she also holds a graduate certificate in women’s studies.

The WSRC has two components: the resource center, which is grouped under the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, offers resources to students, faculty and staff and the academic component includes a women’s and gender studies minor and a recently added post-bachelorette graduate certificate. This academic component is part of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“My job is to manage the academic components of the minor and the post bachelorette certificate, as well as the resource center,” Peel said.

Currently, the WSRC consists of two offices (administrative assistant Peggy Styes’ and Peel’s) in room 2053 of the Randall Library. In the future, Peel hopes to create a new space for the center similar to that of other resource centers on campus, which keep available reading materials and other resources, along with providing a space for meetings. Unfortunately, space is at a premium and in high demand by many departments, making it hard to achieve.

“I want to broaden the scope of women’s and gender studies on campus and part of that would entail rebranding, or a reintroduction,” Peel said. “I think people still think women and gender studies are about women and only women in a very limited way.”

Peel hopes to raise visibility and to correct misconceptions that women’s and gender studies is only directed to women.

“Feminism used to be the belief that people should be treated equally, regardless of gender,” Peel said. “But as the movement evolved, it became more inclusive, becoming the belief that people should be treated equally regardless of gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, ability, etc.”

This idea will not only help students seek out the WSRC for information, she says, but possibly increase interest in related courses.

“One of my goals is to make the minor more inclusive, which includes getting more members on board to teach courses for the graduate certificate,” Peel said.

Peel hopes to expand the course offerings for both the minor and post-baccalaureate certificate in the coming semesters. More courses could be applied to various majors to increase visibility.

In addition the academic and resource component, the WSRC holds and helps coordinate several events. Events for the fall semester include guest speakers and collaborations between other departments.

Peel also serves as a mentor for the Wesleyan queen alumni/student mentorship program and has served as a volunteer at the LGTQIA resource office volunteer group.