Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) Program alumni Xan Daggett ’19, M.S. ’24, and Courtney Ebersole ’20, M.S. ’23, received the 2024 James L. Fisher Outstanding Thesis Award on April 8 at Hancock Stadium. The recipients were recognized for their master’s theses, completed in conjunction with the WGSS graduate certificate.

Daggett’s committee members consisted of Dr. Gavin Weiser, a core faculty member in WGSS, and Dr. Derek Sparby as chair, an affiliated faculty member in WGSS. Courtney’s thesis chair was Dr. Jason Whitesel, a joint-appointed faculty member in WGSS, in addition to Dr. Ela Przybylo and Dr. Sue Sprecher, core and affiliated faculty members in WGSS, respectively. Daggett’s research with nonbinary communities on TikTok and Ebersole’s interviews with OnlyFans sex workers were inspired by the classes they took in the WGSS Program.

“WGSS classes provided me with a foundation of language, theory, and evidence-based research skills to describe and combat not only LGBTQIA2+ issues, but systemic, interconnected inequalities and oppression around the world,” said Daggett. “The WGSS Program offered an opportunity to dive even further into issues within public education and therefore seemed like a perfect choice for my academic career.”

Likewise, Ebersole said, “The courses I took for the graduate certificate formed my research interests, shaped my identity as a feminist sociological researcher, and supplied me with the necessary resources and connections to produce my master’s thesis.”

When asked about advice for current and prospective WGSS students, Daggett replied: “I genuinely believe WGSS fits naturally with, and enhances, any major. It is incredibly beneficial to be informed about the existing inequalities and issues in one’s field so that you can best collaborate with coworkers and serve the populations your institution works to support.”

Both Ebersole and Daggett received a graduate research assistantship with the WGSS Program, contributing to their academic trajectories. Currently, Ebersole is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and Daggett works as the assistant director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Illinois Wesleyan University. “I get to collaborate with students on a daily basis, as well as lead trainings and help develop concrete policies that make campus more welcoming for students who don’t always see themselves represented,” Daggett said.

Daggett and Ebersole plan to continue their influential work and activism within their careers. “I am interested in the exploitative relationship between women and the capitalist structure of platform-based sex work, and ultimately the goal of this project was to move towards strategies that would combat this exploitation,” Ebersole said.

“It is important now more than ever,” Daggett said, “that queer and trans people build coalitions to help each other not only get through but also thrive while doing it.”

Learn more about applying to the WGSS graduate certificate program.