Student Profile: Emily Havelka
For Emily Havelka, women's and gender studies is more than just another academic discipline. According to the Ithaca junior, it’s about making the world a better place.
“I don’t think anyone can lead a truly moral life without trying to improve life for others,” she says. “One day, you will have to ask yourself, ‘Am I the type of person who can live my life without noticing the injustice in this world?’ If you can’t, then women’s and gender studies will matter to you.”
One of Havelka’s favorite women’s and gender studies courses has been Religious Studies 399: Biblical Vagina Monologues. For the class, she and five other students picked stories about women from the Bible and rewrote them from the female perspective.
“All the monologues ended up being very powerful,” says Havelka, a women’s and gender studies minor. “I feel so grateful that I got to spend so much time getting to know such wonderful young feminists.”
Of course, the English major always appreciates the candor and engagement of other students in her women’s and gender studies courses.
“They are willing to be wrong, to challenge their own beliefs and misconceptions, and to fight tooth and nail for the benefit of people they will likely never meet simply because it is the right thing to do,” she says.
