Alison in Washington, DC

After a full day on a bus, I'm now in a hotel in Washington, DC, with 27 of my students.  We're here because CofC is on fall break, and we're going to experience the world of gender and politics.  Most of the students are first year students enrolled in a Learning Community, which means they're in my Intro to Women's and Gender Studies class and in Marguerite Archie-Hudson's American Government class.  We're also lucky enough that several older WGS majors are here, too.

Here's a picture of me with Marguerite, my famous friend.  Marguerite is famous because she was in the California legislature years ago, and while there she made lots of good things happen and also made many good connections (and learned how to continue making good connections).  So while the Women's and Gender Studies office handled the logistics of this trip--getting the funding, the bus, and the hotel rooms--Marguerite did most of the scheduling.  This means that we'll be meeting with people like Congresswoman (and big-time feminist) Eleanor Holmes Norton and Marguerite's good friend Hilda Solis (you know, Secretary of Labor).

It also means that Marguerite has been corresponding with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  She's on the US Supreme Court, which means she's occupying one of the most significant positions in American government.  She's the second woman (and arguably the first feminist) ever to be a Supreme Court justice, and Marguerite's been corresponding with her.  We're going to the Supreme Court tomorrow morning, and there's the tiniest chance that we'll get to meet Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Really, the tiniest chance means we're not going to meet her, but I've considered hanging out in the women's restroom to see if she comes in.

We brought her a t-shirt.  I'm not kidding.

More tomorrow, when I'm not completely exhausted.  As a closing point, here's a picture of students I made pose in front of a North Carolina map when we were halfway here.