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Through a particular lens:
Nathalie Lebon, assistant professor of women's studies

Both literally and figuratively, Nathalie Lebon speaks many languages.    

The College's first fulltime tenure-track women's studies professor grew up in a village of 120 people in rural northeastern France, then studied at the University of Cologne and earned a bachelor's in German at the University of Strasburg.

She received a master's in applied foreign languages from the University of Nancy II in France, then honed her English while gaining a second master's, in political science with an international affairs concentration, at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her doctorate in anthropology is from the University of Florida. But her language skills don't stop there. Lebon has published research and done fieldwork in Portuguese on economic development, social movements, and nongovernmental organizations in Brazil. Her interest in Latin America has also led her to acquire some Spanish. And, she recently extended her field experience to Southwest Cameroon in Africa.

Lebon's ability to transcend national and disciplinary borders is reflected in her courses, including Feminism in Global Perspective, Gender and Change in Africa and Afro-Latin America, and Women and Development. During her two years at Gettysburg (preceded by six years at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia), Lebon has also taught Introduction to Women's Studies as well as Feminist Theories.

Mediating among different "languages" is a big part of Lebon's teaching. "I came to women's studies through anthropology," she said, and she is adept at switching back and forth between that discipline's twin "dialects": cultural description, or "what people say about their realities," and the scientific use of statistics to reveal social patterns. Accordingly, Lebon helps students approach complex issues from multiple viewpoints. For example, to examine clitoridectomy, she assigns some students to read texts that describe the traditional African practice as genital mutilation, while others read about rites of passage and group membership. Discussion focuses on how to eradicate the practice without recapitulating the colonial encounter, in which Western oppressors demonize other peoples as savages. "One student told me she never had such a hard time writing a paper," Lebon said. "She found herself reflecting on every statement and asking how people with a different perspective would think of it."

In fostering such critical thinking skills and in its broad reach, Lebon said, women's studies exemplifies the liberal arts. "For me, feminism is fundamentally a matter of social justice, of deepening democracy. In women's studies, we don't only focus on traditional ¿women's issues' like reproductive health. Racial issues are women's issues. Class issues are women's issues. Environmental justice is a women's issue. We're looking at the entire human condition through a particular lens."

Class of 2010
The College worked with "a robust pool to assemble a diverse and gifted class," reported Gail Sweezey, director of admissions. "And the students' academic quality mirrors the strength of last year's entering class."
Full details of the class were not available as we went to press, but a few highlights include:
Applications totaled 5,309 - up 4 percent

• 41 percent of applicant pool admitted, versus 43 percent last year
• Class includes 60 students of color and 13 international students
• Class comes from 30 states and 11 foreign countries.

For updated information on the Class of 2010, click on Admissions on the College's website, then Class Profile.

"To sprawl or not to sprawl"
Students who conducted research on the social and ecological impact of "sprawling" development in Adams County, Pa., presented their findings at an international conference this past June.

At the largest gathering of social scientists and managers in resource management worldwide, six students and environmental studies Prof. Randall Wilson presented "To Sprawl or Not to Sprawl: The social and ecological impacts of sub-division development in Adams County" at the annual International Symposium on Society and Resource Management conference in Vancouver, Canada. Their research also earned them the Gettysburg and Adams County Chamber of Commerce Environmental Stewardship Award for 2005 and an article in the Hanover Evening Sun.

Students assessed the impact of a development near Gettysburg, where a 2,500-unit subdivision was proposed. Using geographic information systems technology, the students examined local impact such as water run off, water quality, carbon sequestration, and the abatement of various air pollutants. The students also suggested an alternative plan following environmental planning principles that would significantly reduce those impacts.