Dr. Jillian Crocker. Credit: SUNY Old Westbury
Dr. Jillian Crocker began serving a three-year term as the director of Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) this year. She is a faculty member of SUNY Old Westbury’s sociology department who teaches courses such as Sociological Theory, Research Methods, Family and Society, Gender and Society, as well as Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality.
The WGSS program includes a major and minor and also runs the WGSS Center located in Woodlands Hall 1. WGSS offers many opportunities including internships and leadership roles that allow students to apply the curriculum outside of a classroom setting.
Crocker is a first generation college student from a working class background. She found her footing in sociology after discovering Women’s Gender and Sexual Studies. She pursued a double major in both subjects.
Before becoming a sociology major at the University of Richmond, she considered the natural sciences and a major in chemistry with hopes of becoming a doctor. However, the overlap of social science and social justice appealed to Croker, ultimately attracting her to sociology. Engaging in critical thinking about the social world changed her worldview entirely.
Dr. Crocker said that anyone can volunteer at the WGSS center, even undeclared students who are simply curious. Some WGSS students pursue research, activism, or peer education as their subject matter. Courses and an internship are available and an “impact project” is required
A lot of WGSS students focus on the Old Westbury community. Crocker explained the importance of local organizing as a means of building community and social change. Connecting, learning and engaging, cannot be limited to just the classroom in a campus community consisting mostly of commuters and residents. The WGSS center offers a space to work collaboratively, think critically, and express freely. “Let’s talk about all of the ways in which our perspectives might be different, and then let’s do our homework,” said Crocker.
Graduates of WGSS go on to do work in human resources, public policy, advocacy & activism, and non-profit organizations, according to Dr. Crocker. The faculty, staff, and students of WGSS are working diligently to uphold Old Westbury’s mission for “building a more just and sustainable world.”
The need for social justice becomes ever more crucial as the fabric of society undergoes a fundamental transformation in education, healthcare, and politics, even as some forces actively resist progress towards a more equitable future. “Gender is an organizing principle of society,” said Crocker. “Feminist issues are all of these issues.”