Making change: CASL grad uses experience as a stepping stone for a career in social activism

Presented work at an international conference—check.

Participated in group learning with state prison inmates—yep, she did that too.

In November, Fairbanks represented UM-Dearborn and the WGST department at the annual National Women and Gender Studies Association Conference held in Puerto Rico. There, she presented independent research composed for her senior thesis: Stand-up Comedy as Social Commentary: The Intersectionality of Masculinity, Mental Illness, and Maron, as well as collaborative work with two UM-Dearborn alumni titled Transgressing Identities: Intersectional Dilemmas for African-American and Arab-American Feminists.

“Without UM-Dearborn, we would not have been able to participate in such an amazing opportunity,” she said. “The NWSA conference brings gender studies academics from universities across the United States to present their work, so needless to say, this was an incredible networking opportunity that was only given to me because of UM-Dearborn.”

Fairbanks also served as the on-campus coordinator for Women in Learning and Leadership (WILL) and coordinated “Take Back the Night,” an annual event to support and educate the campus community on domestic abuse.

After being chosen by assistant professor of sociology and anthropology Lisa Martin to be an in-class mentor for an introductory Women and Gender Studies course, Fairbanks was hired on as the student assistant for the WGST department, which she said is the most defining moment of her collegiate career.

“Every WGST professor I have had the privilege to learn from has pushed me to dig deeper into my education and course work and grow intellectually as an academic,” she said. “By working for the WGST department, it really made me come out of my shell and seek out experiences within our campus community.”

One of those experiences happened to be the Inside Out Program, an academic course that brings UM-Dearborn undergraduate (“outside”) students and incarcerated (“inside”) men and women together for a semester-long seminar class meeting inside a prison, in which they participate in group discussion, write papers, and complete a final class project. Fairbanks’ involvement with the Inside Out Program furthered her interest in social justice, and she was recently chosen to participate in the Inside Out Program’s Theory Group, which brings both “inside” and “outside” alumni from the program to further discuss issues within the prison system from a social justice standpoint.

With social activist work now at the top of her priority list, Fairbanks plans to further her research presented at the NWSA conference in graduate school, as well as continue her work with the Inside Out Theory Group.

“After I graduate I want to continue my higher education and use my leadership skills I have acquired to make a difference in our world,” she said, “and I have UM-Dearborn and my CASL experience to thank for that.”