Confidence built in the classroom packs Lunchbox

Jules Katz ’25 and Abby Savitz ’27 took their experiences from their gender studies coursework to Skidmore’s Lunchbox Magazine — and vice versa — putting their knowledge and creativity to work through an expressive community outlet. 

Started in spring 2022, Lunchbox is a student-run magazine that features literature, art, fashion, photography, cultural critique, and more. 

Drawing on her editorial experience as a literary editor for Lunchbox, Abby — a gender studies and religious studies double major — is writing a play for her gender studies capstone that incorporates her interest in medieval religions. 

“Part of being a literary editor is that we’re expected to contribute long-form work to the mag,” Abby says. “Lunchbox has been a really validating and wonderful space to be able to submit something that is longer in length and get that feedback.” 

Likewise, Abby has incorporated gender theory into her creative writing for Lunchbox. “I get picky with what I submit to the magazine. Having knowledge of gender theory and other feminist thinkers helps me figure out the best way to word my writing.” 

For Jules, a gender studies major who graduated from Skidmore in 2025, Lunchbox served as a creative channel during all four years at the College. She joined the magazine when her pursuit of dance was interrupted by an injury, and by her fourth year she was working as its creative director and helping to design its layouts, in addition to submitting her own poetry and artwork. 

Katz’s latest endeavor is launching a magazine with fellow alumna and former Lunchbox member Anna Brooks ’25. Thanks to her experience with Lunchbox, “I know I can produce a magazine,” Jules says. “We want to put together a new artistic community to keep each other grounded.” 

Twice the creative support 

Abby and Jules, who worked together on Lunchbox, both say that the joy and community they felt at the magazine were matched by the culture of the Gender Studies Department. 

“Small departments really feel like home,” Abby says. “You build a core community where you can get to know every professor, the staff members who associate with that department, and all the other students.”  

She says Assistant Professor of American Studies and Director of Gender Studies Tammy Owens has been particularly influential. “She is just a beacon. I’m doing an independent study with her this summer and I’m so excited because she’s just such a ray of light. I took Black Feminist Thought with her last spring, and it really was just an incredible class.” 

Jules, who says her coursework in gender studies motivated her to create more and helped her feel more self-assured, was also inspired by Owens. “Once I found Professor Owens, I was like, ‘Wow, there’s another Black woman and she’s so successful. I took Black Feminist Thought and Black Girlhood Studies with her, and I was so happy taking them. I wanted to have more projects.” 

The projects Jules undertook occasionally appeared in Lunchbox, including a creative piece written for Professor Owens’ class — a reflection on Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” — which appeared in the spring 2025 issue, “Freedom.”  

At the end of each semester of creation, Jules says, “I felt so joyful. I remember my sophomore year after the launch party and it was the first warm week and we were all sitting on Case Green handing out the additional magazines. It felt like, ‘Oh my god, look at this work that all these amazing creators put together.’”  

Jules’ gender studies thesis focused on rapper and singer-songwriter Doechii and hip-hop feminism, an idea that came out of her lifelong love for dance and a previous gender studies project that focused on embodied resistance. “I remember thinking, I’m learning about my lived experiences. I’m learning about my friends’ lived experiences. And actually, I do have a lot to say.” Jules created a zine for the creative portion of her thesis. 

Abby says that even though Jules has graduated, her presence is still felt at Skidmore.  

“There are many words of praise I could give to Jules as a friend, as a scholar, and as a person,” she says. 

And Jules still feels the presence of Skidmore in her life as an alumna. 

“I’m still so thankful for my Skidmore communities,” she says. “I’m so thankful that I get to stay connected to the cool people I got to meet and for the opportunities we got to share.”