Three students presented their research on reproductive rights, feminist art and Chicana activism as part of Bridgewater College’s tenth annual ASPIRE: A Celebration of the Arts, Scholarship, Performance, Innovation and Research Excellence, held April 9-16, 2025.
Seniors Briana Carlsen, Juliann Jacobs and Perla Santana discussed the work they did for Dr. Maria Paz Esguerra’s History 423: Women and Gender in U.S. History course this semester.
“We were assigned a research paper about any topic we wanted, as long as it had to do with women and gender in the U.S,” Carlsen said. “Typically, what is learned about women’s history in the classroom is about women gaining the right to vote. However, there is so much more to learn about.”
Carlsen, a history major and political science minor from Williamsburg, Va., said that her paper on abortion access before and after Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal nationwide, stemmed from her personal interests. Her presentation included a history of Roe v. Wade, information on changes in abortion access in the United States and highlighted women who played active roles in the history of reproductive rights.
“In a time when reproductive rights are so uncertain, it was important to me to go back in time and look at what women were facing,” Carlsen said. “The most interesting thing I learned from my research was the inequality of abortion access before Roe v. Wade. White, upper-class women had easier access to both legal and illegal abortions than poor women of color. Even after the passing of Roe v. Wade, poor women and women of color were still at a disadvantage.”
Jacobs, an art major and history minor from Ashburn, Va., gave a presentation that explored feminine art and highlighted influential women in the art world.
“The feminist art movement was something I did not know a lot about. But as a female artist myself, it fascinated me how I can pursue my interests because of those before me,” Jacobs said. “The best part of projects like this is the primary sources because I can select pieces of art and focus closely on minor details, showcasing to the reader why the piece is important to my thesis.”
Santana, a history major and Spanish minor from Rockingham, Va., took inspiration for her project from her personal experience as a member of the Latino community and explored the Chicana Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.
“I wanted to focus my research on a topic that still affects today’s Latino community,” Santana said. “Many women—like my grandmother, my aunts and my mom—are expected to be submissive to their husbands.”
However, Santana said that as women have become more educated, they are better able to reject these expectations. According to Santana’s presentation, the Chicana Movement was a fight for equal rights by Mexican American women who wanted their voices heard not just in American society, but also within their own communities and families.
“One of the interesting topics that I learned about in my research was the soldaderas, the female soldiers who took part in the Mexican Revolution in 1910,” Santana said. “Chicana feminists used historical education to counter their Chicano counterparts’ attempt to subjugate Chicanas to show how Mexican women were given their place.”
Held every spring, ASPIRE celebrates the accomplishments of Bridgewater students and faculty across a variety of disciplines. Through poster sessions, presentations, discussions and performances, students like Carlsen, Jacobs and Santana can showcase their research skills and share their passion for meaningful topics, further contributing to the hands-on learning experience at BC.
– Olivia DeWan ’27
4/23/25
