Sage Santangelo ’12 shakes hands with former Bowdoin College President Barry Mills at the commissioning ceremony following Commencement.
Christian Potholm, Bowdoin’s DeAlva Stanwood Alexander Professor of Government, is teaching a new course this semester on women warriors through the ages, from warrior queens in the 3rd century to female soldiers enlisted in the U.S. military today.
His class is particularly timely as the Pentagon announced yesterday it will open up all combat positions to women.“There will be no exceptions,” Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carterat said Thursday, the New York Times reported.
“They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers and everything else that was previously open only to men.”
Women Warriors: An Interview with Christian Potholm from Bowdoin College on Vimeo.
Potholm’s course also touches on the roles that two Bowdoin graduates played in the national debate over this issue. Sage Santangelo ’12, a Marine Corps officer, has argued, most notably in aWashington Post opinion piece last year, that women can achieve the same combat-fitness levels as men. Conversely, Captain Katie Petronio ’07 of the U.S. Marine Corps was in the headlines three years ago when, after frontline service in Afghanistan and Iraq, she came to the conclusion that women are less physically capable of enduring sustained combat operations.