Melissa Bruninga (’90)

Melissa writes: I am a tenure-track Assistant Professor of History at Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee, where I teach everything but US history. One of the classes I created is History of Gender, and I find myself returning again and again to ideas I learned at Gustavus, in classes such Dr. Kate Wittenstein’s Women’s History course, and Dr. Lisa Heldke’s Feminist Philosophy course (one of the hardest classes I ever took, and one of the most valuable). The skills I learned in those classes — critical thinking, argumentation, and (especially) how to question the status quo — made it possible for me to do what I do now. And I am thrilled to be in a place that allows me to continue many of the same traditions of small classes, intense scholarship, and nurturing.