Please join us for the Gender & Women's Studies annual Genderations Lecture, where we showcase local feminist scholarship and community engagement.

Abstract:

Small Is All: Fractal Patterns: of Feminisms and Rhetorics

Picture a fern: The tiny curled end unfurling from the larger pattern of its fronds is a fractal—a pattern that is the same at every scale. How do we make big change in the world when we often feel small and vulnerable? Through fractals, Dr. Jessi Thomsen
(English) opens a conversation about the small ways we use language and feminisms to contribute to patterns of surviving and thriving. Our collective engagement in feminist rhetorical action scales up to big changes, reaching far beyond us. Small is all.

Jessi Thomsen, PhD, is a teacher-scholar-mentor and an assistant professor of professional writing at WKU. She is curious about the entanglements of
rhetoric and writing with our more-than-human world. Her pups—Janeway and Tendi—supervise her work.