Bethany Willig ’23 Receives Baumann Essay Prize
Bethany Willig received the Frederick Baumann Essay Prize Award that recognizes excellence in education by encouraging Grinnell College students to explore ideas and society in an interdisciplinary and historical context.
Willig, class of 2023 from Brookline, Massachusetts, graduated with a music major and an American studies concentration. Their essay titled “Critical Fabulation for Survival: Knowledge of Pre-colonial Gender in Igbo Culture to Sustain Queer Imaginings of Care,” explores anti-queer and patriarchal violence in Nigeria and how these oppressive structures impact the nation’s citizens and members of its diaspora.
Willig’s writing was informed by their Introduction to American Studies class taught by Dr. Asimina Nikolopoulou. Recent legislation regarding queer people in the United States made it an important issue to apply their scholarly knowledge and lived experience in writing their essay submitted for the Baumann Essay Prize.
“In this essay, I draw on pre-colonial Nigerian history to imagine a future Nigeria that embraces queerness and rejects patriarchal violence,” said Willig. “I highlight narratives of pre-colonial Igbo practices that show the culture’s expansive conceptions of gender and valuing community members.”
As a Grinnell student, Willig was a prominent leader and mentor in many facets of the campus community. Their musical gifts were expressed through the Latin American Ensemble; Young, Gifted, and Black Gospel Choir; and the Jazz Ensemble. Willig conducted academic research as a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research fellow and Mentored Advanced Project primary researcher; and, served as a researcher/curriculum developer for MUS205: Music in Africa and research assistant for the Liberal Arts in Prison Program MUS204: Jazz Traditions.
“I would like to thank the professors who have encouraged my academic curiosities and helped me become a better writer,” said Willig. “In particular, I would like to thank Dr. Mark Laver, Dr. Tamara Beaubeouf, Dr. Makeba Lavan, Dr. Stephanie Jones, Dr. Tony Perman, Dr. Elias Saba, and Dr. Karla Erickson for their support. Additionally, I would like to thank facilities management and dining services for maintaining the spaces I occupied during my four-years and allowing me to focus on my studies.”
Willig plans to work for several years and then pursue a Ph.D. program in African American Studies or a related field.
“Critical Fabulation for Survival: Knowledge of Pre-colonial Gender in Igbo Culture to Sustain Queer Imaginings of Care” and other Baumann Essay Prize writing can be found on Digital Grinnell, see Baumann Essay Prize Writing | Digital Grinnell.
The Baumann Essay Prize, established in 1993 and funded by David ’51 and Audrey Lowe ’52 Hammer, distinguishes the dynamic classroom contributions of Frederick Baumann, professor of history at Grinnell from 1927 to 1954. The prize is awarded each spring to the student, from any discipline and any class year, who writes the best original essay—taking an interdisciplinary and historical approach—on the general topic of “Ideas and Society.”