In conjunction with its expansion, the Women’s Studies Program is introducing a publicly viewable, interactive blog for information and discussion.

Recent Kent State graduate Charlie Loudin is assisting Women’s Studies director Suzanne Holt with expanding the program in the social media realm. Holt said she tried to get Loudin an assistant’s job through the university but could not, so for now, Holt is paying Loudin out of her own pocket.

“We’re at a point now where there is a lot of work being done to expand the program, to make people more aware of it and for the program to start to offer more,” Loudin said.

Holt expressed her hopes that by extending into blogging, more people will become aware of the program.

“I think cool projects like this are the kind of things that will pump some lifeblood into our program from other sources,” Holt said.

The blog will be open to Kent State students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community.

Holt said that the Women’s Studies program wants to “provide a meeting space where students from different areas can discuss the ways we believe, think and feel about where we are today relative to where we’ve been and where we’re going when it comes to women’s rights and relations between men and women.”

Loudin said they hope to create a resource for people to learn more and a space where valuable conversations can take place.

Holt intends to use the blog site for assignments in her classes as well. Along with her students and a small group of frequent contributors posting on the site, she and Loudin plan to have guest bloggers who could be anyone from professors to students or someone who recently made the news.  

Along with Holt and Loudin, people from the Women’s Center on campus have agreed to donate time to work on the blog. Holt said this is the first working alliance Women’s Studies has had with the Women’s Center.

Communication studies major Assunta Del Calzo said she would be likely to read the blog and possibly create her own content on the site.

“Awareness should be brought to these topics,” Del Calzo said. “Encouragement and participation in this kind of discussion will bring students closer together.”

Women’s Studies already has a Facebook page and plans to create a Tumblr page, too. Loudin will be the administrator of the blog and the Tumblr page and said he hopes all three will be interrelated.

“I feel between a Facebook, Tumblr and blog, there is a good chance of reaching different people with different approaches to subjects,” Loudin said.

“Go put it out there,” Holt said. “That way you can hear what other students have to think about your thoughts instead of quietly keeping it to yourself.”

The new blog will be up and running by the first week of April.

Contact Julia Sprowls at [email protected].