Jane Pinkowski, a Spanish and sociology major at Wartburg College, will present her research at the Richard Macksey National Undergraduate Humanities Research Symposium at Johns Hopkins University in April.

“I researched the rebellious language that Chicana women used in their writings during the mid-1900s Chicano Movement in the U.S. Because Chicanas faced a significant amount of exclusion and sexism within this movement, their writings from that time indicate that they used a number of linguistic strategies to forge a space for themselves and their activism within the Chicano Movement. To analyze these linguistic strategies, I looked specifically at Chicana poetry,” said Pinkowski, a junior who also runs cross country and track for the college.

According to Oxford Languages, the term “Chicana” refers to an American woman or girl of Mexican origin or descent. The Chicano Movement specifically fought for social and political rights for those of Mexican descent.

The Macksey symposium, now in its third year, will be held live but virtually April 8-10 this year. The symposium offers undergraduate students studying humanities the opportunity to share their work in a professional setting. Attendees also participate in professionalization and recruitment events during the three-day symposium, including panels on graduate admissions, careers in publishing and networking.

“My presentation at the symposium will involve reading a shortened version of my paper. For the symposium I actually have to translate my paper back into English, as it was originally written and presented in Spanish,” said Pinkowski. “Through every Spanish class I have had at Wartburg, I have developed my language skills while also learning culture and having valuable, compelling class discussions about things that matter. When I was given the freedom to choose a topic I was passionate about to research for my capstone class, I knew that I wanted to do a project on linguistics, social justice and poetry – all themes that I have been exposed to in my Spanish classes at Wartburg.”

As she prepares for her upcoming presentation, Pinkowski recognizes the guidance she has received from her professors along the way, including Zak Montgomery, Wartburg’s Harry and Polly Slife Professor in Humanities, who teaches the capstone course where she originally completed this research.

“Jane is one of the most outstanding students I’ve taught in almost 20 years in higher education. Her attention to detail and passion for social advocacy shines in this research, which began as her Spanish capstone project in fall 2021,” he said. “Jane’s research is of the highest quality, and I am excited to see her present on a national stage at Macksey and look forward to what the future brings for her.”