Interview with Alex Winnik: 2025-26 Gardner Research Fellow

January 20, 2026

Each year, the library awards the Gardner Research Fellowship to a CSUN student with an upcoming writing, creative, or other project that requires intensive research using primary sources, rare books, or unique materials found in Special Collections and Archives. The 2025-26 Gardner Fellow is CSUN student Alex Winnik. We asked her questions about her interests at CSUN, research project, and experiences working with primary and historical sources in Special Collections & Archives as this year's Gardner Fellow.

Before we dive into your research project, we’d love to learn a bit about you. What are you studying at CSUN, and why did you choose to focus your time here in that/those areas? 

I am double majoring in Gender and Women’s Studies and Jewish Studies with a minor in Human Sexuality. By the time I was fourteen I knew that I was a staunch feminist and wanted to be a teacher. I loved the area of sex education after having a terrible health teacher in high school. Growing up I was always active in the Jewish community, mostly politically as I never attended religious services after my Bat Mitzvah. I never actually considered pursuing Jewish Studies until I was looking into CSUN. Jewish Studies has become a new passion of mine and I enjoy combining it with my other subjects as well. It has become a great addition to my feminist agenda, but really it was the Human Sexuality minor that really confirmed my choice of coming to CSUN.

What is the research project you are working on as the Gardner Fellow, and what class is it for?

I am currently working on research on women pedophiles for my Gender and Women’s Studies major. This past semester I was in feminist methods and this upcoming semester I will be taking the senior seminar class where I continue my research and eventually give a presentation. My research consists of using historical documents to gain a more personal perspective on pedophilia and how it was viewed in the past. Then I compare my findings with research done present day to see if there was a true influence on today’s culture around women pedophiles based on the past. I am also looking at gender roles that potentially allow for women pedophiles to not be noticed, or perceived to be, as much as men.

Coming up with research topics, questions, and arguments can be really challenging for students and faculty alike. What led you to this idea or topic?

Last year in one of my sociology classes I watched a short video on the Prevention Project Dunkelfeld in which the people in the video referred to themselves as the “pedophilic inclined”. The “pedophilic inclined” were basically talking about wanting the same rights as everyone else, which meant being able to work with children. The understanding of shame and also the yearning of being believed when they said that they would never harm a child was very clear in the video. I had never thought much about pedophilia in general, but I definitely never thought about it from a more empathetic perspective for those who have desires but never acted on them. 

I actually did not initially start with the topic of women pedophiles. I started out trying to see if I could find a connection between pedophilic attraction and the infantilization of adult women. I found that I could not find anything that already made some type of connection so I moved on. I started to look into the idea of male pedophiles and their ability to maintain successful romantic and sexual relationships with adult women when they also crave girls. While I was trying to see if there was something there, my class went to the library to learn about the archives. It was in the archives that I found my interest in women pedophiles and I have been very successful in my research.

Winners of the Gardner Fellowship must use materials in Special Collections & Archives in their research projects. What items from the collection did you draw heavily upon for your project? How did you use them to support your argument?

I used the Vern and Bonnie Bullough Collection on Sex and Gender to find materials to use. Some of the items I used are the pamphlet Women ‘Pedophiles? by David Sonenschien, which had some citations for other materials that I also found in the collection such as My Secret Garden: Women's Sexual Fantasies and Forbidden Flowers: More Women's Sexual Fantasies by Nancy Friday. I also used the books The Deviant Female by David O. Cauldwell, and Strange Loves: a Study in Sexual Abnormalities by LA Forest Potter. These resources helped to give me a better understanding of pedophilia and how it was viewed in society. It also helped me find a pattern in what was fantasized about and the physical actions of molestation.

Did you encounter any unexpected challenges in doing your research?

I knew the difficulties that were to come with this topic, but even with that understanding, it was still difficult to read both the non-fiction and fictional material. I did not realize how enthralling it is to look at archival material so I was not planning on needing to physically mark down when to take a break. I quickly learned that with heavy topics like this I need to give myself space to process and digest the material instead of just “going crazy at it” and running myself down. I ended up having to take about two weeks off just to stop having nightmares and constant exhaustion.

What do you take away from your experiences working on this project and doing research in Special Collections & Archives?

Using the archives has been one of the most fun things I have done during my time at CSUN. Being able to look back into history and how it is reflected on today’s society is really exciting. The idea of using archival material was never something that I thought of on my own, but now that I have done it, this will definitely be something I will continue to use for future projects and will recommend to anyone thinking about doing research.

Do you have any advice for students who might be interested in doing research in Special Collections & Archives, or applying for the Gardner Fellowship?

First, make sure you pick a topic that excites you. Then, be sure that you love to read and have patience because you will find yourself spending hours looking at archival materials. If you are unsure about what you want your topic to be for your research, the archives are a great resource. Once you know exactly what your topic is, it becomes a lot easier to organize your time and attention to specific documents that will help you with your research. Last, take care of yourself. Make sure you are well fed and hydrated as time will fly when you are working and make sure you take breaks when necessary.

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