Portland Mentoring Alliance Partners with Women & Gender Studies

USM's partnerships with Portland High School and the Portland Mentoring Aliiance (PMA) are rich and deep!  In addition to the placement of numerous USM students as Mentors with PMA, Service Learning Coordinator Alicia Ethridge, also a graduate student in our MSW program, collaborated with USM Professor Lorrayne Carroll and USM Coordinator of Diversity and Inclusivity Programming Gabriel Demaine to create a unique college visit for students in the PMA. Carroll and Demaine met with the PMA students to talk about their work in Women and Gender Studies and to explore the students’ interest in discussing gender and culture.  On December 5th, sixteen  PMA participants shared lunch and dialogue with USM students in the Introduction to Women Studies course on the Portland campus. Wendy Chapkis, Director of the Women and Gender Studies Program (WGS), offered welcoming remarks and an overview of the field. Professor Lorrayne Carroll invited her WST students and the PHS students into small group discussions about gender, difference and diversity.  Some of the PHS students (who are all female and share the refugee or immigrant experience) shared stories about gender expression in their countries of origin.  This opportunity to visit the campus provided the PHS students a unique opportunity to connect with USM students and faculty around issues facing our community.