Introducing Jamiee Cook: Graduate Assistant for the Women's Center

​UCSB's Women's Center is the primary organization on campus dedicated to providing education on women's issues, feminism, healthy masculinities, and gender and social equity. In addition, ​​the center serves as a conduit for many other women's and social justice organizations, and a site for mentorship and external educational programs. ​The Women's Center's space and programs are available to all individuals of all genders interested in understanding how gender shapes our social world, and how we can work to eliminate all forms of gender-based oppression.

The Women's Center uses a feminist approach to provide support, advocacy, resources and education to the UCSB community. ​They value and respect all gender identities and presentations, bodies, sexual expressions, and racial and ethnic identities while challenging all forms of oppression. ​They work towards creating a campus environment that is safe, equitable, and just.

In addition to programs for both undergraduate and graduate students, the Women's Center works with Health and Wellness to provide condoms, pads, and tampons free of charge in the Student Resource Building. In partnership with Student Health, ​they run the Wellness Vending Machine in the Pardall Center in Isla Vista, which provides low-cost wellness items such as emergency contraception, condoms, pregnancy tests, and lubricant. For more information about these services, please visit ​their website.

​​​JAMIEE'S STORY I grew up in Modesto, CA and earned my Bachelor's Degree in English and Gender Studies at CSU Stanislaus. I then entered the M.A. program at CSU Stanislaus and graduated with my Master's in literature in 2016. Before attending UCSB, I taught writing, literature, and gender studies at community colleges in the Central Valley. I am now a 3rd year PhD student in the English department at UCSB, and my research is on the intersections of feminist and LGBTQ+ politics in post-1950s American literature. As a former instructor-of-record and current TA, I am committed to pursuing a feminist pedagogy and hope to engage graduate students across disciplines in these important conversations. Please reach out to me at jcook@ucsb.edu with any questions about the forthcoming graduate student event series, "Feminist Pedagogies."

HER ​ROLE AS A ​GRADUATE ASSISTANT My role as the Graduate Assistant for the Women's Center includes creating programs for the graduate student body, supporting undergraduate programmers who are creating compelling events to engage the undergraduate population, and working to support the services the Women's Center offers. This year, I am leading an event series called "Feminist Pedagogies," which includes a graduate student mixer (12/6/19), a pedagogy workshop on "Trauma-Centered Pedagogy" with CARE (1/27/20), and a graduate student conference in collaboration with the Feminist Studies department (5/16/20). Please see our website and Facebook page for updates and more information!

Welcome, ​​​Jamiee!