Ginna Allen, News Editor
This year’s Anita S. Goodstein lectures honored the late Dr. Julie Berebitsky, a professor at Sewanee for almost 25 years and the founder of the Women’s and Gender Studies curriculum. These lectures came at a relevant time, with April recognizing Sexual Assault Awareness month, as well as Sewanee’s Take Back the Night march, an international movement and an annual event to end sexual violence, happening alongside the lectures. Throughout the two evenings of discussion held at Convocation Hall, the speakers offered a balance between deep intellectual analysis of gender and anecdotal memories of Berebitsky’s unique and inspiring teaching style.
On the first night of lectures, Dr. Katherine Parkin and Dr. Katherine Turk spoke on Berebitsky’s unwavering advocacy in her academic text “Sex and the Office: A History of Gender, Power, and Desire”, which was republished in 2025 by the University of North Carolina Press. Focusing on men’s and women’s changing attitudes toward sex and gender in the US workplace between 1870 and 1970, the book still holds relevance today. The republished edition features work on “sex, gender, and power in the workplace illuminated by pressing issues of our time, including #MeToo, COVID-19, and the Trump presidencies,” as described by the University of North Carolina Press.
Turk, who wrote the new foreword in the second edition, noted the book’s undeniable relevance: “Beyond reshaping scholarship about gender and power in the American workplace – itself a major feat – Sex and the Office equips us to decode recent controversies over sex, work, and power in American life,” Turk wrote.
Associate Professor of German Liesl Allingham agreed with the relevance of Berebitsky’s efforts, pointing out the importance of carrying on the Women’s and Gender studies program within the ever-changing social landscapes of our world: “I don’t want to speak for Julie, obviously. But I can say, with some confidence, that she would be really disappointed in us if we thought we should just preserve something the way she had designed it. She herself demonstrated that. The program went from a certificate to a minor only. It didn’t become a major until 2015. It used to be Women’s studies, and then it became Women’s and Gender studies…So to me, if she were here, she would say, what speaks to the here and now? And also, how can we be constantly interrogating our curriculum, our program, the voices that are being heard, and the ways we’re approaching things?”
Partnered with the modernized additions to the book’s research, Dr. Woody Register, Berebitsky’s husband, added a deeply moving acknowledgement in the second edition and was the one who sponsored the republishing efforts. Parkin wrote the new afterword that details the impressive pathways led by Berebitsky throughout her academic career, as well as personal stories detailing their close friendship. Through tender enlivenings of their many adventures together, Parkin offered a thoughtful reflection on Berebitsky’s life. “Feminism and sisterhood defined Julie Berebitsky’s life and drove her work,” Parkin wrote. “She was whip smart, incredibly hardworking, and a beautiful writer. She was also an incredible friend.”
Parkin’s afterword pointed out how Berebitsky’s efforts to push Sewanee into more conversations about gender, sexuality and women’s rights did not always come easily. One story described how Berebitsky’s hiring had caused a fuss among some alumni who encouraged fellow graduates to give Sewanee donations in her name, “made out of the amount of zero dollars and zero cents to let the administration know what they thought about [her].”
Modern European History Professor Andrea Mansker also spoke to the initial pushback against the Women’s and Gender Studies program: “The work was thankless and fraught with difficulties for many years. Only a handful of professors taught cross-listed courses, and students who dared to minor in WGS were branded ‘feminazis’ by their peers for joining the program. Senior male professors would regularly stand up in faculty meetings and rail against WGS, arguing that it was not a legitimate or recognized field of study.”
In spite of the criticisms she received, Berebitsky did not falter in her work. “She was not afraid to express unpopular opinions or to take action. Julie was a feminist role model for many of us, and her activism continues to impact Sewanee’s culture,” Mansker said.
On the second night of lectures, Jane Johnson (C ‘08), an alum from the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, reflected on how Berebitsky’s teaching impacted her. “She could have read the phone book,” she said, “and I would have been interested, and that’s a certainty in my mind.” . Others chimed in with chuckles and similar stories, affirming Dr. Berebitsky’s magnetic presence as a professor. A few of the panelists even noted how it was strange to call her “Julie” instead of “Dr. Berebitsky,” emphasizing their enduring respect forBerebitsky as a role model in their lives.
Another alum, Claire Forbes (C ‘08), said the classes were addictingly challenging and interesting. “One of the reasons I wanted to take [her U.S. Women in History course] was that I found the description fascinating. Her reputation on campus at the time, this was in 2011, was that I had to meet her. I have to learn from her. It was like a drug. I tried to take every single class that she offered because she challenged me in ways that were spectacular and unique. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Panelists also spoke to Berebitsky’s impacts outside the classroom, citing her infectious enthusiasm for student activism as a point of inspiration. Michelle Howell (C ’15) was an active voice on campus as co-director of the Bairnwick Women’s Center and worked closely alongside Berebitsky when organizing events. “Julie was our advisor for the Women’s Center at that time, and she was really pushing us to take events out of the physical building that was the Wick and take it out to the street and take it out to the sidewalk,” Howell said. “So we were dreaming of different ways in which we could do that.”
Phoebe-Agnès Mills (C ’22) painted the striking portrait of Berebitsky that now hangs in the Alumni House. When asked about the portrait’s significance to her as a female alum of the University, she echoed the admiration expressed by other alumni on the panel: “While my portfolio was chosen anonymously for this portrait, it was a surprise to everyone that the chosen artist had been a student at the University. It was [ Berebitsky] who insisted the commission move forward with me because of her fierce, career-long commitment to supporting and uplifting students. I was so moved by her trust and investment in me, and I feel that gift strongly every time I visit campus.”
Traveling beyond the streets and sidewalks of the Mountain, Berebitsky’s teaching has permeated into the lives and careers of those she taught with such care and intention. “That is what a good liberal arts education does,” said Allingham. “That is what a good curriculum does. That is what a good program does. And in particular, here, seeing how WGS is relevant. I think all of those panelists were really clear about that and how it’s relevant to them, many years after having taken those courses.”