UNH Women's Studies Program Joins Feminist Oasis as First Institutional Member

Durham, NH // Feminist Oasis announced today that UNH's Women's Studies Program has joined as the inaugural member of their new Institutional Membership program.

"We're thrilled to partner with Feminist Oasis in offering feminist self-care and bring more resilience efforts to campus," said Siobhan Senier, coordinator of the Women's Studies Program. "We are particularly excited to partner with Feminist Oasis and bring events to UNH that serve our students."

Feminist Oasis pitched a new business-level member tier as a finalist in UNH's Social Venture Innovation Challenge in October 2018. Using feedback from that process, Feminist Oasis created the Institutional Member level, with universities, businesses, organizations, schools and other teams in mind to help institutions start or continue their social justice efforts within their institutions.

While businesses or any teams of over 10 people are welcome to join, Founder Crystal Paradis says she's focusing on universities and colleges first.

Why focus on academic communities?

"Media consumption, urgent headlines and pressure to perform at increasing levels are on the rise - and in no place is this more evident than a university campus in 2019," says Paradis. "For folks committed to equitable, intersectional feminist values, these pervasive cultural messages reveal themselves to be products of systemic structures. There's a lot out there on 'self-care' but what is often missing, and which we believe is core to feminist values in practice, is a community-supported element." An example of this community-supported self-care approach is their monthly "Get Cozy + Creative" events, where attendees are encouraged to "wear your cozies" and "BYOP (bring your own project" and just hang out and get creative - often on individual projects but in a friendly and fun group setting.

This increased need for resilience-building experiences in the academic world is one reason that universities are a natural fit as Feminist Oasis members. Another is the high level of interest in the intersectional feminist movement among college and university students. "We've already been asked by multiple students how they can start a Feminist Oasis chapter on their campus." Paradis says.

Feminist Oasis will be increasing on-campus and near-campus events and providing free access for Women's Studies program students, staff and faculty to attend popular series such as Get Cozy and Creative events; Feminists, Waffles, Work workshops and coworking sessions; feminist-themed community conversations and large "Feminist Self-Care" event in the fall for the entire UNH community.

UNH's Women's Studies Program will also be a partner in piloting a student chapter model, to explore sustainable models of student life and activism.

Paradis is thrilled Women's Studies is the first Institutional Member and hopes to bring on at least five more Institutional Members in 2019.

Nearly 40 individuals and entrepreneurs have joined as Feminist Oasis members in their first year of business after launching in January 2018 with "Feminist Theory + Lemonade," a screening of Beyoncé's film Lemonade, followed by a discussion with Women's Studies Faculty member Dr. Aria Halliday of UNH and Dr. Courtney Marshall of Phillips Exeter Academy. Feminist Oasis Founder Crystal Paradis moderated the discussion, and says Feminist Oasis has since organized or co-hosted over 75 events.

Women's Studies Program in the last year has maintained their full classes, 80 majors, 00 minors and continues to lead through the classroom and out to the broader UNH community on social justice initiatives.

Feminist Oasis is a Somersworth-based business that publishes feminist resources, organizes pop-up feminist events around the Seacoast with four key areas of focus: Solidarity, Individual and Collective Resilience, Sustainable Work and Systemic Justice. Their mission is to build feminist community and explore feminist values in action. They publish bi-monthly Action Plans with resources for advancing feminist values and offer a variety of member levels and benefits, including borrowing privileges from their feminist library and tools for sustainable work.

Photo Credit: Kate and Keith Photography