Breaking All Barriers
September 26, 2012
ARHU interim dean Thornton Dill has made strides in women's studies, pushing new views. By Lauren Kirkwood
ARHU interim dean Thornton Dill has made strides in women's studies, pushing new views.
By Lauren Kirkwood, The Diamondback
While scholars devote years of study to one area of research, Bonnie Thornton Dill believes more answers can be found by looking at a fuller picture.
She has taught for years in the women’s studies department, is the founding director of the university’s Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity and has served as the interim arts and humanities dean for more than a year, making her the first black woman to hold the position. In her studies of society, Thornton Dill found ideas developed best when they centered around the interweaving and overlapping of different fields.
“People were not looking seriously at gender as something that really shapes society,” she said. “I still think that women’s issues are very important, are still in some areas overlooked, certainly distorted and problematic if you look at what’s happening today.”