Gail Livings

Professor

“There’s a definite respect for teaching at SMC that you just don’t find at the large research universities.”

Reaching. Pushing the limits. Sharing the responsibility. Team work. These are concepts you’ll quickly learn if you study sociology or social gender studies with Gail Livings. Or if you drop into the Women’s Center of which she’s the director. You will discover new strength and non-traditional ways of solving problems. And you will be challenged, just as Gail is each time she heads out to tackle a new vertical wall in the unforgiving sport known as rock climbing.

“‘Climbing the rock’ is a metaphor I always use in my classes,” says Gail. “Nobody climbs the rock the same way: you tailor your route to your own talents, strengths and weaknesses. And there’s strong element of team work,” she continues, “because your partner is helping you out. And just when you think you can’t go on, they’ll say, ‘Oh look! There’s a great big “Thank God!” handhold just two feet up!’ And somehow you find the strength to keep going.”

The spirit to keep going—even in times of tight budgets—is what suffuses Gail’s work at the Women’s Center. “If I had my druthers here, I’d start support groups for incest and rape survivors and for battered women because these are students I see in class every day,” she says. “But we’re funded by very specific grants and there’s only so much we can do.”

But climbing the rock, counseling or teaching, she is always looking for a new angle. “I’m a big basketball supporter around here,” says Gail. “I’ve applied for a grant to help female athletes make their career choices.” And that’s Gail Livings: always a new approach. Always up and on.

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