Junior Melanie Kraemer recently received the Young Scholars Research grant from St. Thomas, which will allow her to spend 10 weeks this summer studying eco-feminism in Victorian-era Britain.

Eco-feminism focuses on how feminism interacts and intertwines with ecology and sustainability issues. Last semester, Kraemer took a women’s literature course centered in the Victorian era with English professor Alexis Easley.

“With eco-feminism, we look at the concept of man dominating over women and look at how that same principle applies when it comes to man interacting with the earth,” Kraemer said.

Easley saw Kraemer’s final paper on the subject as groundbreaking and approached Kraemer about the Young Scholars Grant.

The Young Scholars Program awards individual grants to St. Thomas undergraduate students who are interested in spending 10 weeks working closely with a professor on a significant research project or creative activity.

During the women’s literature course, Kraemer read the works of “forgotten” female authors who wrote important pieces of literature during the Victorian era but are not celebrated or remembered today. These women were strong-willed and didn’t follow the social customs of being a homemaker, according to Kraemer.

Kraemer then attended a Feminist Friday talk called “Babes in the Woods,” hosted by psychology professor Britain Scott, where she learned about eco-feminism. Though movements of eco-feminism were officially recognized in the 1970s, Kraemer began to see recurring eco-feminist themes in 1890s literature she read for the women’s literature class.

Inspired by the idea, Kraemer began work on her proposal for the grant soon after she received it. She is currently preparing for her research this summer, during which she will be putting in about 400 hours of reading, researching and writing.

“It’s like a full time job of just reading about eco-feminism, women writers, feminist movements, stuff like that,” Kraemer said.

During this time, Kraemer will be meeting with Easley once a week to discuss how her research is going.

Kraemer is passionate about eco-feminism and hopes her research will help people learn more about the subject.

“I don’t think that eco-feminism is quite as well-known nowadays, so I am excited to conduct research on the subject,” she said.

Easley said she can’t wait to work with Kraemer.

“She has this amazing spark and a great desire to learn,” said Easley. “It will be an intensive experience but very enjoyable.”

Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.