This Place We Know
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M o u n t H o l y o k e ’s A rch i t e c t u re Reveals the Changing R o l e s o f Wo m e n B y E r i ca C. W i n t er ’ 9 2
Jennifer E. Gieseking ’99 is studying how MHC’s architecture reflects changing social norms, and what the buildings reveal about perceptions of women and their power.
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Jennifer E. Gieseking ’99, who is pursuing her PhD in environmental psychology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, spent last summer in MHC’s Facilities Management building doing something no one had ever done before. With a fellowship from the Alumnae Association, Gieseking went through every architectural plan available for MHC buildings, and cataloged all 35,000 records for the college archives. That project was the launch pad for Gieseking’s academic exploration of the meanings of architecture on the Mount Holyoke campus. She looked at how the architecture of campus buildings reflects the social norms of their time, and what the buildings reveal about perceptions of women and their power.
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Paul Schnaittacher
he Mount Holyoke community has always been transfixed by its own campus. Many decide to attend, then visit again and again over the decades, just to be here, in this place. But the buildings provide more than shelter; they’re also clues to the changing views of women’s roles in society.