Narrative – Laura K Kerr, PhD

Resolving Trauma Through the Study of Women’s History

Mar 13, 2024

Prior to entering college, some women choose not to pursue majors in male-dominated fields like STEM, economics, and philosophy if they anticipate gender discrimination. For those who persevere, having professors sensitive to gender issues can protect...

Diving into Hope

Feb 23, 2024

Military sonar exercises continue to imperil marine life and bottom trawling scars the ocean floor. But the calm water is a siren waking me before dawn. I rustle together my scuba gear and head to Maalaea Harbor to catch the first boat to Molokini Crater. An exuberant...

The Destructive Silence Surrounding Sexual Abuse

Jan 29, 2024

According to a 2014 World Health Organization Report, and data from one hundred thirty-three countries representing eighty-eight percent of the world’s population, nearly one in five women were sexually abused in early life. Yet only a third are thought to have...

Digging in the Dirt

May 30, 2023

When I headed off to college over forty years ago, unsure of what I wanted to do with my life, my younger sister recommended taking a course in archaeology. If it didn’t pan out, I could always use the units to meet my humanities requirement. At the time, we lived...

An Accidental Birder

Apr 1, 2023

My first bird feeder was an afterthought. The backyard was barren after years of California drought. I was eager to plant bushes and trees and build raised beds to grow vegetables. I thought a feeder might look nice between the Japanese Maple and a rosemary bush. I...

Lessons From a Young Condor

Jan 14, 2023

When I attended university thirty years ago with an interest in science, the curriculum’s focus was both the subject matter and how to view the world objectively. It was an education for worlds unknown to me — the social lives of insects, the intricacies of human...