Intersectionality: My Experience in Political Science & WEST

When I started my academic career four years ago, I thought political science existed in its own little bubble. I figured I’d go to class, discuss theoretical approaches to real issues, debate political candidates, and go home. However, when I discovered the WEST program at UCCS, my outlook on both my field and the academic world as a whole changed drastically. By taking WEST 1010: Introduction to Social Justice with Dr. Julie Torres, I learned that privilege and intersectionality were two major factors that political scientists often forgot to address in government and beyond. I learned that politics, while often theoretical, have real implications on how marginalized communities are treated and represented. Most importantly, I learned that political science and activism do not have to be mutually exclusive and can actually benefit each other quite nicely.

As I personally discovered this new thread between activism and political science, I entered my upper division courses with a new approach to my research. I began to explore issues like voting rights with a WEST lens by addressing the ways in which politics can be used as a tool of oppression. This understanding was further strengthened by Dr. Tre Wentling’s classes because they allowed me to understand the role that gender plays in our world. Although political scientists know that our world cannot be defined in binary terms, we only discuss politics and statistics in terms of male and female. Dr. Tre helped me understand why these binary terms in general are not only a disservice to our field, but can also be harmful to anyone outside of them.

While I am not a WEST major, the lessons I have learned in this program will stay with me for the rest of my life. As a political scientist, the way I approach every issue has been altered by this program and I believe that if more political scientists took WEST classes than the world could truly be a better place.