Next fall, Tasha Hawthorne, Instructor in English and Flavia Vidal, Instructor in English, will become the Co-Directors of the Brace Center for Gender Studies for the next six years.
Linda Griffith, Dean of the Community and Multicultural Development Office, said in an Andover press release, “Both are scholars of gender and related studies… and are equally committed to supporting our students as they develop gender awareness during their time at [Andover,] as well as equipping them with deep and broad scholarship in all areas related to gender.”
Vidal has previously served on the advisory board for the Brace Center. Through her position at the Center, she has found feminism to be an important theme in her life.
“I have thrown caution to the wind in terms of putting gender, race and class out there on the table for discussion. I no longer care about being subtle,” said Vidal in the Andover press release.
Hawthorne hopes to use her new position to “advocate for social justice,” according to the press release.
Hawthorne and Vidal will be taking over the role of directors of the Brace Center from Tracy Ainsworth, Instructor in History, who is stepping down next fall to take a yearlong sabbatical.
“We have moved the needle a little bit in terms of the critical mass attending to gender, race and class together, and I am excited about how much farther still [Hawthorne] and [Vidal] can move the campus community in this direction,” said Ainsworth in the Andover press release.
