A Look at Undergraduate Research: Victorian Feminism
This post is part of a series that profiles the faculty-undergraduate research partnerships offered through the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning. To learn more, please contact the Center at citl@bu.edu.
Parallel to the United States, twentieth century Great Britain was marked with a series of women’s rights victories. But what preceding efforts, championed by those in the nineteenth century, set the stage for success in Britain? CGS professor of rhetoric Beth Kramer is studying how the trends and concerns of Victorian feminism– including what many take for granted today such as married women’s property rights, employment rights, and educational opportunities– influenced modern feminism. This year, Kramer has had the support and partnership of undergraduate research assistant and former student Jessica Rizk (CGS 15, COM 17); the partnership was made possible by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning.
Specifically Rizk is helping analyze the writing and letters of Virginia Woolf. “With the guidance of Professor Kramer, I analyze Woolf’s letters to better understand the struggle Woolf faced in balancing her professional and domestic roles,” she explains. “I find a lot of enjoyment in the work– peeking into the life of such an admirable writer– and being able to better understand how the feminist views of her time sneak their way into her daily activities and conversations.”
This research offers a degree of flexibility and independence, and is underpinned with partnership and collaboration. Often, the duo conducts work independently and comes together to review findings and discuss what that might mean for research moving forward. “So far, we have discovered that Woolf’s letters reveal a very intense engagement with many of the same concerns as her feminist predecessors. A prominent theme is the continual struggle to recognize her professional, public goals with more personal, domestic concerns,” reports Kramer. “Along those same lines, we are looking into how her letters foreshadow twenty-first century feminist concerns around balance in women’s lives.” This continues to remain a trending topic today.
When asked why she decided to pursue an undergraduate research opportunity, Rizk shared, “A liberal arts education complemented my studies outside of CGS in many ways. Particularly, it strengthened my analytical and communication skills. I knew I wanted to pursue truly balanced education while majoring in economics and communication… this project has enriched my academic experience by teaching me how to quickly synthesize information, organize my findings, and communicate their significance. This has not only helped me study more efficiently, but is also a skill that easily translates into any research I conduct in class.” Rizk looks forward to applying such skills as she begins researching for her thesis in economics.