The Spaces In Between

It is hard to believe that another academic year is over, and that this past weekend was the summer solstice. The last few months have been intense, with the sudden move to online learning, quarantine and covid-19, and the uprisings against police brutality sweeping the nation. I have been busy teaching, doing job interviews, packing (again!), writing, and advocating for Black lives. Time has felt slippery: moving too slow, and too fast at the same time. Before more of the summer slips away from me, I wanted to write and let my readers know how the semester ended, and also update you on where life is taking me next.

End of the Semester:

Although teaching remotely was hard, and nothing like teaching face to face, my students and I survived the semester! In the process, I learned a lot about Zoom, online discussion boards, and the importance of flexibility. Some of my students’ struggled with the switch to online learning, and some of them had the horrific experience of losing family to covid. Others had difficult situations at home in regards to finances and internet connection. I tried to always lead with compassion and I am pleased to say that all of my students were able to make it through the semester.

Overall, I feel that I made the right decisions in regards to moving my courses online, and I am particularly glad that I gave my students the option of freezing their grades. The experience of doing so has made me think more about grades and the ways that they may actually hinder learning, and reflect inequities/privilege more than knowledge and learning, and I hope to write more about this soon.

Although I wasn’t able to say goodbye to my students in person, I feel good about the way that the semester ended. The WGSS department organized a senior celebration over Zoom that was fantastic! It was lovely to see many familiar faces and to have a chance to reflect on their achievements, and say congratulations and goodbye. I was also able to connect one on one via Facetime, Zoom, and email with many of my students from both Fall and Spring semester before I left, and I know that I will stay in touch with many of them.

A highlight of April was that I received two teaching awards, the Joyce A. Bylander Excellence in Diversity Education Award and the Faculty and Staff OUT-Standing Service Award.

The Joyce A Bylander Award is for someone who “challenges and supports students to engage beyond that which is comfortable and to embrace intellectual risk and gain self-knowledge, as well equip students with the knowledge, awareness, and skills to effectively and responsibly engage in diverse environments.” The Faculty and Staff OUT-Standing Service Award is given to individuals who have demonstrated “leadership and service” to the LGBT community at Dickinson, have worked to improve “campus or community policies”, and who have contributed to “solidarity and coalition building within the LGBTQ+ community.”

As someone who cares deeply about teaching, and mentoring LGBTQ+ students, I was honored to recieve these awards, and it was lovely to read these words written by the folks who nominated me.

“They are absolutely amazing at incorporating diversity issues into their classroom…Throughout the semester, they made us students reflect on our own positionality and how that affects the way we view the world.”

(Joyce C Bylander Award)

“In the year that Professor Vooris has been at Dickinson they have made an incredible impact on LGBTQ students. Professor Vooris has been credited as an affirming and challenging professor and a role model for trans and queer scholars pursuing a career in academia.”

(OUT-Standing Service Award)

I am sad to be leaving Dickinson, but I am glad to have had such an impact on students while I was there, and these awards were a nice way to end my time there.

What’s Next?

Dickinson was a one-year visiting position, so I was on the academic job market again this year. In March, I was starting to think that I might not have a job for the Fall, and then the pandemic hit, and my options looked even slimmer. However, I received an invitation to a job interview (which I did virtually over Zoom), and then a job offer from Depuaw University in April!

I happily accepted, and I will be heading to Indiana for a two year visiting position in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies! I will be teaching many courses that I have taught before: Intro to WGSS; Queer Theory, Queer Lives; The Queer and Trans Child, and Representations of Transgender Identities. I will also be teaching a new course in the Spring, Feminist Theories.

A few weeks ago, I packed up my PA apartment, put everything in storage, and moved in with my parents for the summer. I will move everything to Indiana in August. Depauw hasn’t made an official decision about the Fall yet, but I am planning on teaching most of my classes online because of covid-19. I don’t like teaching online, and miss the energy that comes from teaching face to face, but I do not see how it will be possible to safely or effectively teach in person, given all of the social distancing measures we would have to make.

This summer will look also look different than usual for me because of covid-19; I will not be working at Camp Aranu’tiq or Brave Trails, as they have moved to virtual programming. Although I was invited to participate, I decided to take a break from summer camp this year, and focus on writing, and prepping my Fall courses. Given how intense this Spring was, I am also in need of some R & R by the river to recuperate, and have been spending some time every day swimming and/or paddle-boarding.

Last year when I left Amherst, I created a list of things I would miss about MA, and things I was looking forward to in PA. I decided to end this blog update with a list of things I will miss from Dickinson, and what I am looking forward to with Depauw. You may recognize some of the Dickinson items from my original list last spring.

Things I will Miss about Dickinson College/PA:

1. My students. As I predicted based on my interview experiences, my students were highly engaged, intellectually curious, and community-minded. They frequently visited my office hours to chat about class and research, and things they were excited about learning, and I attended many lectures on campus that ended in long chats with students I saw there. I am going to miss them so much!
2. My colleagues. I loved working with the other WGSS faculty, and everyone at Dickinson was friendly and welcoming. I enjoyed many conversations with colleagues over lunch and coffee, as well as many quick check-ins and hellos in the hallways of Denny where I taught and had an office.
3. My Feminist Methods class. I was nervous about this class because it was new to me, and it is such an important course within the curriculum as it prepares the WGSS students for their senior seminar. But it was my favorite course in the Fall! It was a small course, only 7 students, and I loved watching their research projects grow over the course of the semester, and to see how they bonded as a class with each other. Edited to add: My Trans Representations course, this Spring, was also fantastic. And it has spawned a book club this summer, which includes students from both my Trans Rep course at Dickinson, and my Amherst Trans Rep course, as well as some friends of my students.
4. The department trip in September, an annual bonding and learning experience for faculty and students. In Fall 2019 we went to Philly and it was so much fun! We did an lgbtq walking tour, and learned about different murals around the city, as well as key lgbtq locations like the first lgbtq bar, the lgbtq bookstore, and the history of the medical school. We also had a chance to work with some docents in the print room at the Museum of Art and got a tour of significant pieces in the museum.
5. Clarke Forum Lecture Series. The Fall theme was Masculinities, and the Clarke Forum hosted a fantastic series of lectures. Overall, I was very impressed with the level of programming on campus and loved attending events and connecting with the Dickinson community.
6. My neighborhood. I had trouble adjusting to Carlisle at first, and missed the quiet of my Amherst apartment and the barn and fields. (I still miss them!) but I liked my quirky little two bedroom apartment and the huge gingko tree at the end of the garden. And I had some very nice neighbors. The train took some getting used to, as it was very loud and passed nearby but I came to love the sound of it passing through twice a day.
7. Being closer to loved ones and family–it has been so lovely to be closer to my partner who lives in DC, friends who live in Lewisburg, Harrisburg, Baltimore, and DC, and my parents and sister who live on the Eastern Shore of MD. I also had way more visitors this year since I was closer and friends and family could come for the weekend.
8. Exploring the mountains around Carlisle and the Susquehanna watershed with Pippin. I am sad that covid-19 interrupted our spring hiking adventures, but before the shut-down we enjoyed hiking around Laurel and Fuller Lake, up Pole Steeple trail, and around Opossum Lake.
9. The Grazery and Issei Noodles: I ate at these two places at least once a week for lunch and/or dinner. I hope that they are able to survive because they both have amazing food, and fantastic staff.
10. Whistlestop Bookshop. I didn’t end up visiting Midtown Scholar bookstore in Harrisburg as planned, but I loved the Carlisle bookstore and was a frequent visitor.

Things I am Looking Forward to at Depauw University/In Indiana

1. Teaching some of my favorite classes again, like The Queer Child and Trans Representations, and teaching a new class too, Feminist Theories. After this year, I will have taught every single class within a WGSS curriculum except for a senior seminar or capstone.
2. Learning from and collaborating with my colleagues in WGSS. I loved how interdisciplinary the search committee was, and the department meetings I have participated in thus far have been fantastic.
3. Renting an entire house with a huge backyard in Greencastle, Indiana. Pippin is going to love the garden, and I can’t wait to have visitors once it is safe for people to travel again.
4. Exploring a new area of the country! I have not spent much time in the Midwest, and I look forward to learning more about it.
5. Hiking in the Nature Preserve near campus, and in the mountains of Indiana and Tennessee.
6. Visiting friends who live in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky!
7. Getting involved with racial justice work in Indiana. Since I left MD/DC I have not been directly involved with any racial justice organizations, but I am determined to connect with organizations doing this work in Indiana once I get there.
8. RESEARCH. OH, the joy of not having to apply to jobs this Fall. I am looking forward to delving more into my research and writing!
9. Exploring online teaching. To be honest, I am not looking forward to teaching online, but I am trying to search for the silver lining here. I hope to learn some valuable skills this year that will improve my teaching in years to come.
10. Having a place to live and job stability for at least two years! The constant moving has been tiring the last few years.