On the 17th April,  Ms. Finigan 2.0 (aka one of the teachers in the best American Studies pairing) gave a talk about her dissertation which focuses on the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). Ms. Finigan spoke about how she and her sisters (OG Finigan included) were born into the NCNW and that many of her family members have been a part of the organization for years.

Ms. Finigan shared that initially, she didn’t actually want to write her dissertation on the NCNW. However, a suggestion from her professor lead her to decide to write about it, a decision she most certainly doesn’t regret. Ms. Finigan spoke about influential women of the NCNW such as Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and Dr. Dorothy Height.

There were thoughtful and insightful questions asked at the end, one of which asked about the dissertation writing process. Ms. Finigan described it as “hell” yet interesting. Ms. Finigan told us that now, the NCNW isn’t exclusively for women of color— men can join too. The group asked questions about the process of getting a Ph.D., which Ms. Finigan described as challenging yet interesting and rewarding.

We would like to thank Ms. Finigan for sharing her dissertation with us —it was a fun and engaging conversation!