ACLS Program Officer Heather Hewett Publishes Inside Higher Ed Op-Ed on Gender Violence
Heather Hewett, ACLS Program Officer for Higher Education Initiatives, has published a new op-ed in Inside Higher Ed on International Women’s Day about how professors can engage their classrooms in thoughtful discussions around gender violence. Hewett draws on the film Women Talking, which is nominated for Best Picture at the 2023 Academy Awards, writing that it “reminds us of the power of coming together to reflect upon and share traumatic experiences.”
Our classrooms are filled with students who need to think about gender violence and abuse in their own lives and our culture. Teachers and professors in many disciplines have a unique opportunity to create space for reflection and learning; to listen to students who disclose; to climb up into the metaphorical hayloft and witness what’s going on. Heather Hewett
Hewett is the co-editor, with Mary K. Holland, of #MeToo and Literary Studies: Reading, Writing, and Teaching about Sexual Violence and Rape Culture (Bloomsbury 2021). Prior to joining ACLS, she served as chair and associate professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and affiliate of the English Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz. She holds a PhD and an MA in English, and a Graduate Certificate in African Studies, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.