How long have you been teaching at Hope College?
This is my 7th year teaching at Hope, my 6th year teaching within the WGS program, and my 2nd year serving as director of Women’s and Gender Studies.
Did you major/minor in WGS, and if so, how did your WGS major/minor/certificate shape you? If not, how did you come to WGS as an academic discipline?
I did not major or minor in WGS, but I wish that I had! Unfortunately, although I took many relevant classes, I did not stumble across WGS as a stand-alone discipline until pretty late in my academic career, making it difficult to complete a formal program. Nevertheless, my interest in gender studies was sparked by several classes that I took as an undergraduate (Psychology and Family Studies double major) and grew during my graduate work in Human Development and Family Science (HDFS). Through my interdisciplinary training in HDFS I was able to explore the intersections between gender studies/feminist theory and numerous aspects of psychology, sociology, and related fields. It was through this coursework that I discovered my passion for examining psychological issues (including my research on the development and maintenance of romantic relationships) through a gendered (and feminist) lens.
What advice would you give to current WGS students or students considering WGS as a major or minor?
Do it! Women’s and Gender Studies is an incredibly valuable program that is relevant to virtually any career trajectory. Interdisciplinary by nature, it is also very flexible and easy to pair with other majors and minors, providing an analytical framework and skills that can be applied to whatever job(s) and opportunities you end up pursuing. Are you passionate about listening to historically marginalized voices, exploring complex social structures, understanding/confronting injustice and oppression, and honing your ability to interact sensitively with diverse individuals and communities? If so, I encourage you to check out Women’s and Gender Studies here at Hope; send me an email (bredow@hope.edu) and I would love to talk to you more about the program!
If you could teach any WGS course, what would you title it, who is one person you would include on the syllabus, and why?
This is a tricky question, as I really love teaching Psychology of Gender, which I see as a perfect blend of my passion and expertise. But I already teach this course every year so the answer is a bit of a cop-out! If I could teach an additional course I think it would be a class called Gender, Sexuality, & Science that examines the interplay of sex/gender/sexuality and the sciences/social sciences through a feminist lens. There are many individuals who have made important contributions to this topic that I would want to include on the syllabus, including Anne Fausto-Sterling, Sarah Richardson, and Rachel Maines.
What is a WGS book you read–recently or not-so-recently–that you would call your “favorite”? Why?
I have never been good at selecting favorite books, movies, etc., but Cordelia Fine’s Delusions of Gender, bell hooks’s Teaching to Transgress, and Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider are all books that have been particularly influential to my professional and personal development. Several of the essays in The Essential Feminist Reader (edited by Estelle Freedman) also rank among my favorite because they were pivotal to my own “consciousness raising” during undergrad and graduate school.