Women's studies

Last updated

Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppression; and the relationships between power and gender as they intersect with other identities and social locations such as race, sexual orientation, socio-economic class, and disability. [1]

Contents

Popular concepts that are related to the field of women's studies include feminist theory, standpoint theory, intersectionality, multiculturalism, transnational feminism, social justice, affect studies, agency, bio-politics, materialism, and embodiment. [2] Research practices and methodologies associated with women's studies include ethnography, autoethnography, focus groups, surveys, community-based research, discourse analysis, and reading practices associated with critical theory, post-structuralism, and queer theory. [3] The field researches and critiques different societal norms of gender, race, class, sexuality, and other social inequalities.

Women's studies is related to the fields of gender studies, feminist studies, and sexuality studies, and more broadly related to the fields of cultural studies, ethnic studies, and African-American studies. [4]

Women's studies courses are now offered in over seven hundred institutions in the United States, and globally in more than forty countries. [5]

History

Africa

The erasure of women and their activities in Africa was complex. When women's studies emerged in the 1980s, it focused on recovering women from the obscurity of all of African history caused by colonialism and the "patriarchal social systems" left behind in Africa after decolonization. [6] : 12  Because systems prevailed which supported boys' education over that of girls, in the era following independence there were few women who could read and write. Those who could were not encouraged to become professionals and often resorted to activism to address educational and other disadvantages women faced in the 1960s and 1970s. The first generation of scholars focused on establishing and legitimizing Africa's precolonial history. [6] : 13  They also questioned whether the Western construct of gender applied in Africa or whether the concepts of gender existed in pre-colonial Africa. [6] : 14–15 

Ifi Amadiume's work Male Daughters, Female Husbands (1987) and Oyeronke Oyewumi's The Invention of Women (1997) are some of the first works which sought to examine gender perceptions in Africa. [6] : 14  In 1977, the Association of African Women for Research and Development (AAWORD) was established to promote research on African women by African women. Scholars affiliated with the organization from its founding included: Simi Afonja (Nigeria), N'Dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba (Ivory Coast), (Bolanle Awe (Nigeria), Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt), Nina Mba (Nigeria), Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie (Nigeria), Achola Pala Okeyo (Kenya), Filomena Steady (Sierra Leone), Fatou Sow (Senegal), and Zenebework Tadesse (Ethiopia). [6] : 15  Other scholars joined Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), a network for feminist academics and activists focused on the Global South, created in 1984. [6] : 15  [7] African scholars among DAWN's founding members were Fatema Mernissi (Morocco), Pala Okeyo (Kenya), and Marie-Angélique Savané (Senegal). [8] : front fly  These scholars inspired a second group of researchers and activists, which included: Rudo Gaidzanwa (Zimbabwe), Ayesha Imam (Nigeria), Patricia McFadden (Eswatini), Amina Mama (Nigeria), Takyiwaa Manuh (Ghana), Maria Nzomo (Kenya), and Charmaine Pereira (Nigeria). [6] : 15  The University of Ghana established the Development and Women's Studies Program (DAWS) in 1989, which by 1996 offered both undergraduate and graduate level studies. [9] : 415  After the demise of Apartheid, the University of Cape Town, South Africa established the African Gender Institute in 1996 to facilitate research and gender studies in Africa. By 2003, full departments dedicated to gender and women's studies had also been established at Makerere University (Uganda), the University of Buea (Cameroon), and the University of Zambia (Zambia). [10] : 128 

Americas

The first accredited women's studies course in the U.S. was held in 1969 at Cornell University. [11] After a year of intense organizing of women's consciousness raising groups, rallies, petition circulating, and operating unofficial or experimental classes and presentations before seven committees and assemblies, the first women's studies program in the United States was established in 1970 at San Diego State College (now San Diego State University). [12] [13] In conjunction with National Women's Liberation Movement, students and community members created the ad hoc committee for women's studies. [14] The second women's studies program in the United States was established in 1971 at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. It was mostly formed through many efforts by women in the English department, administration and within the community. [15] By 1974, San Diego State University faculty members began a nationwide campaign for the integration of the department. At the time, these actions and the field were extremely political. [16] Before formalized departments and programs, many women's studies courses were advertised unofficially around campuses and taught by women faculty members – without pay – in addition to their established teaching and administrative responsibilities. [17] Then, as in many cases today, faculty who teach in women's studies often hold faculty appointments in other departments on campus. [18]

The first scholarly journal in interdisciplinary women's studies, Feminist Studies , began publishing in 1972. [19] The National Women's Studies Association (of the United States) was established in 1977. [20]

In 1977, there were 276 women's studies programs nationwide in the United States. The number of programs increased in the following decade, growing up to 530 programs in 1989, [21] which included the program at the University of Puerto Rico founded by Margarita Benítez in 1986. [22] Around the 1980s, universities in the U.S. saw the growth and development of women's studies courses and programs across the country while the field continued to grapple with backlash from both conservative groups and concerns from those within the women's movement about the white, existentialist, and heterosexual privilege of those in the academy. [23]

In Canada The first few university courses in Women's Studies were taught in the early 1970s. In 1984 the federal government established five regional endowed chairs in Women's Studies for each region of the country at:

Around the same time, women academics in Latin America began to form women's studies groups. [25] : 17  [26] [27] The first chair of women's studies in Mexico was created in the political and social sciences faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1970. Starting in 1979, the Grupo Autónomo de Mujeres Universitarias (GAMU, Autonomous Group of University Women), which included both Mexican faculty and students began meeting periodically to discuss how feminism could be introduced to various campuses across the country. In 1982, a women's studies program was created at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco. [27] Similarly in 1983, activists in the Mexican feminist movement, including Lourdes Arizpe, Flora Botton, and Elena Urrutia, founded the Programa Interdisciplinario de Estudios de la Mujer (PIEG, Interdisciplinary Women's Studies Program) at El Colegio de México in Mexico City. [28] In 1984, academics formed the Centro de Estudios de la Mujer (Center for Women's Studies) in the psychology faculty at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The field was formalized with the creation of the Programa Universitario de Estudios de Género (PUEG, University Program on Gender Studies) in 1992, at the urging of academics like Gloria Careaga, Teresita de Barbieri, Graciela Hierro  [ es ], Araceli Mingo, Lorenia Parada, and Alicia Elena Pérez Duarte. [27]

Activists and researchers in Chile began meeting in 1978 with creation of the Círculo de la Mujer (Women's Circle). In 1984, they founded the Centro de Estudios de la Mujer (CEM, Center for Women's Studies) in Santiago to facilitate multi-disciplinary studies on women and gender. [29] That same year, Virginia Vargas began teaching women's studies in Peru, [30] and the following year, she along with Virginia Guzmán Barcos and others, founded the Flora Tristán Peruvian Women's Center. [31] [32] : 288  The center provided a research facility for women scholars and provided publishing for their works. [32] : 289  From the early 1980s, women like Juanita Barreto Gama, Guiomar Dueñas Vargas, Florence Thomas, Magdalena León Gómez, María Martínez, Donny Meertens, Yolanda Puyana Villamizar  [ wikidata ], María Himelda Ramírez and Ana Rico de Alonso worked to create an interdisciplinary field of feminist study in Colombia. [25] : 17  First they met informally, then were able to gain official recognition in 1985 as the Grupo de Estudios Mujer y Sociedad (Women & Society Study Group) and finally in 1994, [26] they launched the Programa de Estudios de Género, Mujer y Desarrollo (PGMD, Gender, Women and Development Studies Program) in the Human Sciences Department at the National University of Colombia. [25] : 17 

In 1985, activists in Argentina launched the "Introduction to Women's Studies" and a post-graduate seminar, "La construcción social del género sexual" (The Social Construction of Sexual Gender) at the University of Buenos Aires. In 1987, María Fernández became the chair of UBA's degree program in women's studies. In 1992, the Area Interdisciplinaria de Estudios de la Mujer (AIEM, Interdisciplinary Area of Women's Studies), which became the Instituto Interdisciplinario de Estudios de Género (Interdisciplinary Institute of Gender Studies) in 1997, was founded at UBA linking academics from the faculties of Arts, Anthropology, Classics and Letters, Education, History, Languages, and Philosophy to encourage broader research and analysis of women in these fields. [27] Hilda Habichayn founded the Centro de Estudios Históricos sobre las Mujeres (Center for Historical Studies on Women), which began in 1993 to offer the first master's degree in women's studies in Latin America. [33] [34]

The first women's study program in Paraguay was the Centro Paraguayo de estudios de la Mujer (Paraguayan Center of Women's Studies) at the Universidad Católica "Nuestra Señora de la Asunción". It was founded in 1983 by Olga Caballero, Manuelita Escobar, Marilyn Godoy and Edy Irigoitia. [35] The Grupo de Estudios de la Mujer Paraguaya (GEMPA, Paraguayan Women's Studies Group) was founded at the Paraguayan Center for Sociological Studies in 1985 by Graziella Corvalán and Mirtha Rivarola. [36] Gender studies also began to be established in universities in Brazil in the 1980s and continued expanding throughout the 1990s. [37] In 1992, Brazilian academics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro launched Revista Estudos Feministas , one of the primary academic journals on gender in Brazil. [38] Among the contributors for the inaugural issue were Ana Arruda Callado  [ pt ], Heloísa Buarque de Hollanda, Maria Carneiro da Cunha, Mary Garcia Castro  [ pt ], Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira, Valéria Lamego, Miriam Moreira Leite, Leila Linhares, Heleieth Saffioti, Bila Sorj, and others. [39]

The political aims of the feminist movement that compelled the formation of women's studies found itself at odds with the institutionalized academic feminism of the 1990s. [40] As "woman" as a concept continued to be expanded, the exploration of social constructions of gender led to the field's expansion into both gender studies and sexuality studies. The field of women's studies continued to grow during the 1990s and into the 2000s with the expansion of universities offering majors, minors, and certificates in women's studies, gender studies, and feminist studies. The first official PhD program in Women's Studies was established at Emory University in 1990. [41] As of 2012, there were 16 institutions offering a PhD in Women's Studies in the United States. [42] [43] Since then, UC Santa Cruz (2013), [44] the University of Kentucky-Lexington (2013), [45] Stony Brook University (2014), [46] and Oregon State University (2016) [47] also introduced a PhD in the field.

Australia

In 1956, Australian feminist Madge Dawson took up a lectureship in the Department of Adult Education at Sydney University and began researching and teaching on the status of women. Dawson's course, "Women in a Changing World", which focused on the socio-economic and political status of women in western Europe, becoming one of the first women's studies courses. [48]

Asia

Central Asia

In 2015 at Kabul University, the first master's degree course in gender and women's studies in Afghanistan began. [49]

Europe

Elizabeth Bird traced the development of Women's Studies in the UK out of informal education run by the women's liberation movement (WLM), the Workers' Educational Association, "CR" or "consciousness raising" groups, left-wing activist groups, and extramural departments attached to universities and colleges. [50] Bird notes that, according to feminist activists and scholars Anna Coote and Beatrix Campbell who interviewed many participants in the 1960s-70s development of women's studies, "in the summer of 1969 Juliet Mitchell taught a short course entitled 'The Role of Women in Society' in the 'Anti University', which had been organised by radical academics as part of the student protest movement". [50] [51] Maggie Humm identifies this summer course as "Britain's first women's studies course". [50] [52]

In 1975, Margarita Rendel, Oonagh Hartnett, Zoe Fairbairns, wrote a guide outlining the 17 then-existing undergraduate courses, 1 postgraduate option, four college of education offers and six polytechnics courses in Women's Studies – often called 'women in society' – in the United Kingdom. [53] They compiled the guide from surveys of UK universities and adding to research previously published by Sue Beardon and Erika Stevenson for the National Union of Students in 1974. [50]

A part time postgraduate Diploma in Women's Studies was offered by The Polytechnic of Central London from 1977, and in 1978 an MA course on the subject of 'Rights', including women's rights, was organised by Margarita Rendel at the London Institute of Education.

In 1980, the University of Kent launched the first named MA degree in Women's Studies, with Mary Evans leading the development of the course. [50] Following Kent, Bradford (1982), Sheffield City Polytechnic (1983), Warwick (1983) and York (1984) opened MA courses. [50] In 1990, part-time BAs in Women's Studies launched at the Polytechnic of North East London and at Preston Polytechnic. [50] Veronica Beechey was recruited by the Open University in 1983 to initiate a women's studies course there. [54]

Current courses in Women's Studies in the United Kingdom can be found through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. [55]

Theoretical traditions and research methods

Students of Women and Gender Studies University of Haifa Students of Women and Gender Studies University of Haifa on training in writing in Wikipedia (1).jpg
Students of Women and Gender Studies University of Haifa

Early women's studies courses and curricula were often driven by the question "Why are women not included? Where are the women?". [56] That is, as more women became more present in higher education as both students and faculty, questions arose about the male-centric nature of most courses and curricula. Women faculty in traditional departments such as history, English, and philosophy began to offer courses with a focus on women. Drawing from the women's movement's notion that "the personal is political", courses also began to develop around sexual politics, women's roles in society, and the ways in which women's personal lives reflect larger power structures. [57]

Since the 1970s, scholars of women's studies have taken post-modern approaches to understand gender and its intersections with race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, age, and (dis)ability to produce and maintain power structures within society. With this turn, there has been a focus on language, subjectivity, and social hegemony, and how the lives of subjects, however they identify, are constituted. At the core of these theories is the notion that however one identifies, gender, sex, and sexuality are not intrinsic, but are socially constructed. [58]

Major theories employed in women's studies courses include feminist theory, intersectionality, standpoint theory, transnational feminism, and social justice. Research practices associated with women's studies place women and the experiences of women at the center of inquiry through the use of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Feminist researchers acknowledge their role in the production of knowledge and make explicit the relationship between the researcher and the research subject. [3]

Feminist theory

Feminist theory refers to the body of writing that works to address gender discrimination and disparities, while acknowledging, describing, and analyzing the experiences and conditions of women's lives. [59] Theorists and writers such as bell hooks, Simone de Beauvoir, Patricia Hill Collins, and Alice Walker added to the field of feminist theory with respect to the ways in which race and gender mutually inform the experiences of women of color with works such as Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (hooks), In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens (Walker), and Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Collins). Alice Walker coined the term womanism to situate black women's experiences as they struggle for social change and liberation, while simultaneously celebrating the strength of black women, their culture, and their beauty. [60] Patricia Hill Collin's contributed the concept of the "matrix of domination" to feminist theory, which reconceptualized race, class, and gender as interlocking systems of oppression that shape experiences of privilege and oppression. [61]

Woman in Women's Studies area of the library Womens Studies (8407729802).jpg
Woman in Women's Studies area of the library

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a way of understanding and analyzing the complexity in people, human experiences, and society. [62] Associated with the third wave of feminism, Kimberlé Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality has become the key theoretical framework through which various feminist scholars discuss the relationship of between one's social and political identities such as gender, race, age, and sexual orientation, and received societal discrimination. [63] Intersectionality posits that these relationships must be considered to understand hierarchies of power and privilege, as well as the effects in which they manifest in an individual's life. [64] Though events and conditions of social and political life are often thought to be shaped by one factor, intersectionality theorizes that oppression and social inequality are a result of how powerful individuals view the combination of various factors; emphasizing that discrimination is accounted for by power, not personal identity. [62] [63]

Standpoint theory

Standpoint theory, also classified as feminist standpoint theory, [65] developed in the 1980s as a way of critically examining the production of knowledge and its resulting effects on practices of power. [66] Standpoint theory operates from the idea that knowledge is socially situated and underrepresented groups and minorities have historically been ignored or marginalized when it comes to the production of knowledge. Emerging from Marxist thought, standpoint theory argues for analysis that challenges the authority of political and social "truths". [67] Standpoint theory, assumes that power lies solely within the hands of the male gender as the process of decision making in society is constructed exclusively for, and by men. [65] An example of where standpoint theory presents itself in society is through the processes of political analysis, as this field of study is almost entirely controlled by men. [65] Furthermore, from a Marxist viewpoint, Karl Marx had expressed a notion in which believed that those in power have the inability to understand the perspectives of those whom they hold power. [65] Providing that standpoint theory acknowledges the male incapability of understanding the oppression in which women face in society.

Transnational feminist theory

Transnational feminism is concerned with the flow of social, political, and economic equality of women and men across borders; directly in response to globalization, neoliberalism, and imperialism. [68] Women's studies began incorporating transnational feminist theory into its curricula as a way to disrupt and challenge the ways in which knowledge regarding gender is prioritized, transmitted, and circulated in the field and academy. [69] Transnational feminist theory is continually challenging the traditional divides of society, in which are crucial to ongoing politics and cultural beliefs. [70] A key recognition advanced from the transnational feminist perspective is that gender is, has been, and will continue to be, a global effort. [71] Furthermore, a transnational feminist perspective perpetuates that a lack of attention to the cultural and economic injustices of gender, as a result of globalization, may aid in the reinforcing of global gender inequalities; though, this can only come about when one occupies globally privileged subject positions. [71]

Social justice

Since its inception and connection with the women's movement, activism has been a foundation of women's studies. Increasingly social justice has become a key component of women's studies courses, programs, and departments. Social justice theory is concerned with the fight for just communities, not on the individual level, but for the whole of society. [72] Women's studies students engage in social justice projects, although some scholars and critics are concerned about requiring students to engage in both mandated activism and/or social justice work. [73] Women's studies not only focus on concepts such as domestic violence, discrimination in the workplace, and gender differences in the division of labor at home, but gives a foundation for understanding the root cause of these concepts, which is the first step to making for a better life for women. [74]

Agency

Agency may be defined as the capability to make choices individually and freely. [75] An individual's agency may be restricted due to various social factors, such as gender, race, religion and social class. [75] From a feminist standpoint, agency may be viewed as an attempt to equalize the one-sided oppression that has characterized first wave feminism. [76] Feminists use agency in attempt to create new forms of autonomy and dependence from the reshaping of gender relations that is taking place in global society. [76] Women's studies acknowledges the lack of agency in which women historically possessed, due to hierarchical positions in society. Feminists are actively making an effort to increase gender equality, as it may result in expanding social agency for all women. [76]

Materialism

Materialist theory derives from 1960s and 1970s social work in feminism. [77] Materialism possesses significant ties to the Marxist theories of history, agency, and ideology; though, may be distinguished through the incorporation of language and culture to its philosophy. [77] Materialism poses questions to both social analytics and social relations, in which may be found in the material conditions of any given society. [77] In addition from examining from a gender standpoint, material conditions are studied in relation to realistic aspects of women's lives. [77] A key aspect in which materialist feminists have revealed these relations is from the feminist perspective, claiming that social conditions of gender are historically situated, as well as subjected to intervention and change. [77] Materialist feminism specifically focuses on social arrangements that accentuate the role of women notably the aspects of family, domesticity, and motherhood. [77] Materialism analyzes gendering discourses in which promote women's marginalization; Thus, one of the most influential aspects of materialist feminism is its attentiveness with questions of ideology and how they relate to history and agency. [77]

Pedagogies

In most institutions, women's studies courses employ feminist pedagogy in a triad model of equal parts research, theory, and praxis. The decentralization of the professor as the source of knowledge is often fundamental to women's studies classroom culture. [78] Students are encouraged to take an active role in "claiming" their education, taking responsibility for themselves and the learning process. [79] Women's studies programs and courses are designed to explore the intersectionality of gender, race, sexuality, class and other topics that are involved in identity politics and societal norms through a feminist lens. Women's studies courses focus on a variety of topics such as media literacy, sexuality, race and ethnicity, history involving women, queer theory, multiculturalism and other courses closely related. Faculty incorporate these components into classes across a variety of topics, including popular culture, women in the economy, reproductive and environmental justice, and women's health across the lifespan. [80]

Women's studies programs are involved in social justice work and often design curricula that are embedded with theory and activism outside of the classroom setting. Some women's studies programs offer internships that are community-based allowing students the opportunity to experience how institutional structures of privilege and oppression directly affects women's lives. Women's studies curricula often encourage students to participate in service-learning activities in addition to discussion and reflection upon course materials. However, Daphne Patai, from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has criticized this aspect of women's studies programs, arguing that they place politics over education, stating "the strategies of faculty members in these programs have included policing insensitive language, championing research methods deemed congenial to women (such as qualitative over quantitative methods), and conducting classes as if they were therapy sessions." [81] Since women's studies students analyze identity markers including gender, race, class, and sexuality, this often results in dissecting institutionalized structures of power. As a result of these pedagogies, women's studies students leave university with a tool set to make social change and do something about power inequalities in society. [82]

Notable women's studies scholars include Charlotte Bunch, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, Angela Davis, Cherríe Moraga, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, and Barbara Ransby.

Internal academic criticism

In the book Professing Feminism: Education and Indoctrination in Women's Studies, thirty Women's Studies academics came together to criticise the "unhealthy conditions and self-destructive tendencies that appear to be intrinsic to many Women's Studies programs". Professors spoke of being unable to "discuss their concerns about this belligerent anti-intellectualism with other faculty members in Women's Studies", with claims of a "constant emphasis on political purity.... from both students and professors". [83]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Shaw, Susan M.; Lee, Janet (23 April 2014). Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings (Sixth ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN   978-0078027000. OCLC   862041473.
  2. ↑ Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory. Oxford University Press. 2018. ISBN   978-0190872823. OCLC   1002116432.
  3. 1 2 Hesse-Biber, Sharlene Nagy (18 July 2013). Feminist research practice: a primer (Second ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. ISBN   9781412994972. OCLC   838201827.
  4. ↑ Wiegman, Robyn (2002). Women's studies on its own: a next wave reader in institutional change . Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN   9780822329862. OCLC   49421587.
  5. ↑ Berger, Michele Tracy; Radeloff, Cheryl (2015). Transforming Scholarship: Why Women's and Gender Studies Students Are Changing Themselves and the World. New York: Routledge. p. 7. ISBN   978-0-415-83653-1.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Yacob-Haliso, Olajumoke; Falola, Toyin (2021). "Introduction: Decolonizing African Women's Studies". In Yacob-Haliso, Olajumoke; Falola, Toyin (eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of African Women's Studies. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 3–43. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-28099-4. ISBN   978-3-030-28099-4.
  7. ↑ Atrobus, Peggy; Wendy Harcourt (2015). "DAWN, the Third World Feminist Network: Upturning Hierarchies". In Rawwida Baksh-Soodeen (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements. Oxford University Press. pp. 159–187. ISBN   978-0-19-994349-4.
  8. ↑ Sen, Gita; Grown, Caren (1987). Development, Crises, and Alternative Visions: Third World Women's Perspectives (PDF). New York, New York: Monthly Review Press. ISBN   978-0-85345-718-3.
  9. ↑ Prah, Mansah (Spring–Summer 1996). "Women's Studies in Ghana". Women's Studies Quarterly . 24 (1–2). New York, New York: Feminist Press: 412–422. ISSN   0732-1562. JSTOR   40004542. OCLC   5547276845 . Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Manuh, Takyiwaa (2007). "7. Doing Gender Work in Ghana". In Cole, Catherine M.; Manuh, Takyiwaa; Miescher, Stephan (eds.). Africa after Gender?. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 125–149. ISBN   978-0-253-21877-3.
  11. ↑ Kahn, Ada P. (2006). The Encyclopedia of Stress and Stress-related Diseases (2nd ed.). Facts on File. p. 388. ISBN   978-0816059379 . Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  12. ↑ Salper, Roberta (November 2011). "San Diego State 1970: The Initial Year of the Nation's First Women's Studies Program". Feminist Studies . 37 (3): 658–682. doi:10.1353/fem.2011.0055. S2CID   147077577.
  13. ↑ "SDSU Women's Studies Department". Archived from the original on 18 September 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "History:: Department of Women's Studies at San Diego State University". womensstudies.sdsu.edu. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  15. ↑ Chinyere Okafor citing from The Center for Women's Studies' papers at WSU
  16. ↑ Boxer, Marilyn J. (Fall 2002). "Women's studies as women's history". Women's Studies Quarterly. 30 (3–4): 42–51. JSTOR   40003241.
  17. ↑ Ginsberg, Alice E. (2008). "Triumphs, Controversies, and Change: 1970s to the Twenty-First Century". The Evolution of American Women's Studies: Reflections on Triumphs, Controversies, and Change. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p.  11. ISBN   978-0-230-60579-4.
  18. ↑ Berger, Michele Tracy; Radeloff, Cheryl (2015). Transforming Scholarship: Why Women's and Gender Studies Students Are Changing Themselves and the World. New York: Routledge. p. 49. ISBN   978-0-415-83653-1.
  19. ↑ "History". Feminist Studies. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  20. ↑ "NWSA". nwsa.org. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  21. ↑ "A National Census of Women's Studies Programs" (PDF). NORC Project: 25. December 2007.
  22. ↑ Rodríguez, Jorge (3 September 1990). "El feminism llevado a la práctica" [Feminism Put into Practice]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. p. 32. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  23. ↑ Ginsberg, Alice E., ed. (2008). The evolution of American women's studies: reflections on triumphs, controversies, and change (1st ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p.  16. ISBN   9780230605794. OCLC   224444238.
  24. ↑ Eichler, Margrit. "Women's Studies". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18 November 2002.
  25. 1 2 3 Arango Gaviria, Luz Gabriela (2018). "Un proyecto académico feminista en mutación: la Escuela de Estudios de Género de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia [A Feminist Academic Project in Mutation: The School of Gender Studies of the National University of Colombia]". In Gil Hernández, Franklin; Pérez-Bustos, Tania (eds.). Feminismos y estudios de género en Colombia: un campo académico y político en movimiento [Feminisms and Gender Studies in Colombia: An Academic Field and Political Movement](PDF) (in Spanish) (Primeraición ed.). Bogotá, Colombia: National University of Colombia Press. pp. 17–38. ISBN   978-958-783-334-8.
  26. 1 2 "Florence Thomas". Cienciágora (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: Universia. 7 March 2008. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Lozano Rubello, Gabriela (October 2019). "Los estudios de género en la UBA y la UNAM: una conquista del feminismo académico" [Gender Studies at the UBA and UNAM: A Conquest of Academic Feminism]. Universidades (in Spanish). 70 (81). Mexico City, Mexico: Unión de Universidades de América Latina: 45–54. doi: 10.36888/udual.universidades.2019.81.36 . hdl: 11336/135221 . ISSN   0041-8935. OCLC   8405154533. S2CID   213247078. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  28. ↑ Poy Solano, Laura (11 March 2021). "Reconoce el Colmex a tres pioneras de los estudios de género" [Colmex Recognizes Three Pioneers of Gender Studies]. La Jornada (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  29. ↑ "Fuimos pioneras en investigación de género en Chile" [We Were the Pioneers of Gender Research in Chile]. Centro de Estudios de la Mujer (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile. 18 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  30. ↑ Henríquez, Narda (Spring–Summer 1996). "Gender Studies in Peru". Women's Studies Quarterly . XXIV (1–2). New York, New York: City University of New York: 371. ISSN   0732-1562. OCLC   5547267445 . Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  31. ↑ Arenas, Catalina (16 December 2019). "Virginia Guzmán del CEM: "Una Constitución con mujeres va a entender de otra manera la igualdad»" [Virginia Guzmán from CEM: 'A Constitution with Women Will Understand Equality in a Different Way']. Observatorio de Género y Equidad (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  32. 1 2 Trevizan, Liliana (2001). "Virginia Vargas". In Tompkins, Cynthia; Foster, David William (eds.). Notable Twentieth-Century Latin American Women: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 287–291. ISBN   978-0-313-31112-3.
  33. ↑ "Murió Hilda Habichayn, reconocida docente de la UNR y activista por la igualdad de género" [Hilda Habichayn, Renowned UNR Teacher and Gender Equality Activist, Died]. La Capital (in Spanish). Rosario, Argentina. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  34. ↑ Arrabal, Victoria (9 March 2019). "Académicas con la lupa en el género" [Academics with a Magnifying Glass on Gender]. Página 12 (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
  35. ↑ González de Bosio, Beatriz (March 2020). "Dia de la mujer paraguaya 24 de ferbrero" [Paraguayan Women's Day 24 February](PDF). Corredor de las Ideas (in Spanish). San Leopoldo, Brazil: Corridor of Ideas of the Southern Cone-X International Colloquium of Political Philosophy. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  36. ↑ Santa Cruz Cosp, María Clara (2013). Estudios de Género y Ciencias Sociales en Paraguay [Gender Studies and Social Sciences in Paraguay](PDF) (in Spanish). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Biblioteca Clacso. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2022.
  37. ↑ Peluffo, Pelufo; Josiowicz, Alejandra (May–August 2020). "Simpósio: cinco questões sobre os estudos de gênero na América Latina" [Symposium: Five Questions about Gender Studies in Latin America]. Estudos Históricos (in Portuguese). 33 (70). Rio de Janeiro: Centro de Pesquisa e Documentação da História Contemporânea do Brasil: 227–253. doi: 10.1590/S2178-14942020000200002 . ISSN   0103-2186. OCLC   8605481991. S2CID   225891059 . Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  38. ↑ "Revista Estudos Feministas". SciELO . São Paulo, Brazil: São Paulo Research Foundation. 31 January 2022. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  39. ↑
    • Lavinas, Lena; Lamego, Valéria, eds. (1992). "Colaboradores" [Collaborators]. Revista Estudos Feministas (in Portuguese). 1 (1). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Interdisciplinar de Estudos Contemporâneos da Escola de Comunicação da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro: 242–243. ISSN   0104-026X. JSTOR   43903491. OCLC   6864701369 . Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  40. ↑ Wiegman, Robyn (2008). "Feminism, Institutionalism, and the Idiom of Failure". In Scott, Joan Wallach (ed.). Women's Studies on the Edge. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 41. ISBN   978-0-8223-4274-8.
  41. ↑ "Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies" . Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  42. ↑ "NWSA". nwsa.org. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  43. ↑ "Artemis Guide to Women's Studies in the U.S" . Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  44. ↑ "UC Santa Cruz – Feminist Studies". feministstudies.ucsc.edu. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  45. ↑ "PHD Program | Gender & Women's Studies". gws.as.uky.edu. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  46. ↑ "Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies". stonybrook.edu. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  47. ↑ "PhD in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies! | College of Liberal Arts | Oregon State University". liberalarts.oregonstate.edu. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  48. ↑ "Ardent warrior for women's rights". 31 July 2003.
  49. ↑ FaithWorld (26 October 2015). "Kabul University unlikely host for first Afghan women's studies programme". Reuters.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
  50. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bird, Elizabeth (1 June 2003). "Women's studies and the women's movement in Britain: origins and evolution, 1970–2000". Women's History Review. 12 (2): 263–288. doi: 10.1080/09612020300200351 . ISSN   0961-2025. S2CID   144545954.
  51. ↑ Coote, Anna; Campbell, Beatrix (1982). Sweet Freedom: the struggle for women's liberation. London: Pan Macmillan.
  52. ↑ Humm, Maggie. Feminisms: a reader. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf. pp. xvi.
  53. ↑ Hartnett, Oonagh; Rendel, Margarita; Fairbairns, Zoe (1975). Women's Studies Courses in the United Kingdom. London: Margarita Rendel.
  54. ↑ Taylor, Barbara (31 January 2021). "Veronica Beechey obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  55. ↑ "Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, United Kingdom". UCAS. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  56. ↑ Rothenberg, Paula (2008). "Women's Studies – The Early Years: When Sisterhood Was Powerful". In Ginsberg, Alice E. (ed.). The Evolution of American Women's Studies. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. p.  68. ISBN   978-0-230-60579-4.
  57. ↑ Ginsberg, Alice E., ed. (2008). The evolution of American women's studies: reflections on triumphs, controversies, and change (1st ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p.  69. ISBN   9780230605794. OCLC   224444238.
  58. ↑ Levin, Amy K. (2007). "Questions for A New Century: Women's Studies and Integrative Learning" (PDF). nwsa.org. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  59. ↑ Kolmar, Wendy K.; Bartkowski, Frances (2013). Feminist theory: a reader (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. p. 2. ISBN   9780073512358. OCLC   800352585.
  60. ↑ Phillips, Layli (2006). The Womanist reader. New York: Routledge. ISBN   9780415954112. OCLC   64585764.
  61. ↑ Collins, Patricia Hill (2009). Black feminist thought: knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). New York. ISBN   9780415964722. OCLC   245597448.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  62. 1 2 Hill Collins, P.; Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. ISBN   978-0-7456-8448-2.
  63. 1 2 Cooper, Brittney (2016). "Intersectionality". In Disch, Lisa; Hawkesworth, Mary (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory. Oxford University Press. pp. 385–406. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328581.013.20. ISBN   978-0-19-932858-1.
  64. ↑ Carastathis, Anna (2014). "The Concept of Intersectionality in Feminist Theory". Philosophy Compass. 9 (5): 304–314. doi:10.1111/phc3.12129 – via ResearchGate.
  65. 1 2 3 4 Potter, M (2014). "Loyalism, Women and Standpoint Theory". Irish Political Studies. 29 (2): 258–274. doi:10.1080/07907184.2012.727399. S2CID   145719308.
  66. ↑ Harding, Sandra G. (2004). The feminist standpoint theory reader: intellectual and political controversies. New York: Routledge. p. 2. ISBN   978-0415945004. OCLC   51668081.
  67. ↑ Hekman, Susan (1997). "Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited". Signs. 22 (2): 341–365. doi:10.1086/495159. JSTOR   3175275. S2CID   13884397.
  68. ↑ Moghadam, Valentine M. (2011). "Transnational Feminisms". In Lee, Janet; Shaw, Susan M. (eds.). Women worldwide: transnational feminist perspectives on women. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p. 15. ISBN   9780073512297. OCLC   436028205.
  69. ↑ Parisi, Laura (2012). "Transnational". In Orr, Catherine Margaret; Braithwaite, Ann; Lichtenstein, Diane Marilyn (eds.). Rethinking women's and gender studies. New York: Routledge. p. 326. ISBN   9780415808316. OCLC   738351967.
  70. ↑ Minoo (1999). Between Woman and Nation: Nationalisms, Transnational Feminisms, and the State. Duke University Press. ISBN   978-0-8223-2322-8.
  71. 1 2 Shome, R. (2006). "Transnational Feminism and Communication Studies: The Communication Review, 9(4), 255–267". doi:10.1080/10714420600957266. S2CID   145239698.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  72. ↑ Capeheart, Loretta; Milovanovic, Dragan (2007). Social Justice: Theories, Issues, and Movements . Piscataway: Rutgers University Press. p.  2. ISBN   9780813541686. OCLC   437192947.
  73. ↑ Johnson, Jennifer L.; Luhmann, Susanne (2016). "Social Justice for (University) Credit? The Women's and Gender Studies Practicum in the Neoliberal University. (Report)". Resources for Feminist Research. 34 (3–4): 40.
  74. ↑ "Women's and Gender Studies". Texas Tech University.
  75. 1 2 Barker, C. (2005). Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. London: Sage. ISBN   0-7619-4156-8.
  76. 1 2 3 Mcnay, L (2003). "Agency, Anticipation and Indeterminacy in Feminist Theory. Feminist Theory, 4(2), 139–148". doi:10.1177/14647001030042003. S2CID   143574634.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  77. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hennessy, R.; Ingraham, C. (1999). "Materialist Feminism: A Reader in Class, Difference, and Women's Lives: Canadian Journal of Communication".
  78. ↑ Shrewsbury, Carolyn M. (Fall 1987). "What is feminist pedagogy?". Women's Studies Quarterly. 15 (3–4): 6–14. JSTOR   40003432.
    • See also: Shrewsbury, Carolyn M. (Fall 1993). "What is feminist pedagogy?". Women's Studies Quarterly. 21 (3–4): 8–16. JSTOR   40022001.
  79. ↑ Rich, Adrienne (2005). "Claiming an Education". In Anderson, Chris; Runciman, Lex (eds.). Open Questions. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. pp. 608–611.
  80. ↑ Berger, Michele Tracy (2015). Transforming Scholarship (Second ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 35–40.
  81. ↑ Patai, Daphne (23 January 1998). "Why Not A Feminist Overhaul of Higher Education?". Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
  82. ↑ Bubriski, Anne; Semaan, Ingrid (2009). "Activist Learning vs. Service Learning in a Women's Studies Classroom". Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge. 7 (3): 91–98.
  83. ↑ Patai, DAPHNE; Koertge, Noretta (2003). Professing feminism: education and indoctrination in women's studies. United States: HarperCollins. pp. 13, 18. ISBN   9780739104552.

Related Research Articles

Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern societies are patriarchal—they prioritize the male point of view—and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women.

Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field now overlaps with queer studies and men's studies. Its rise to prominence, especially in Western universities after 1990, coincided with the rise of deconstruction.

Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, media studies, psychoanalysis, political theory, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy.

Sandra G. Harding is an American philosopher of feminist and postcolonial theory, epistemology, research methodology, and philosophy of science. She directed the UCLA Center for the Study of Women from 1996 to 2000, and co-edited Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society from 2000 to 2005. She is currently a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education and Gender Studies at UCLA and a Distinguished Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at Michigan State University. In 2013 she was awarded the John Desmond Bernal Prize by the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S).

Disability studies is an academic discipline that examines the meaning, nature, and consequences of disability. Initially, the field focused on the division between "impairment" and "disability", where impairment was an impairment of an individual's mind or body, while disability was considered a social construct. This premise gave rise to two distinct models of disability: the social and medical models of disability. In 1999 the social model was universally accepted as the model preferred by the field.

Postmodern feminism is a mix of postmodernism and French feminism that rejects a universal female subject. The goal of postmodern feminism is to destabilize the patriarchal norms entrenched in society that have led to gender inequality. Postmodern feminists seek to accomplish this goal through opposing essentialism, philosophy, and universal truths in favor of embracing the differences that exist amongst women in order to demonstrate that not all women are the same. These ideologies are rejected by postmodern feminists because they believe if a universal truth is applied to all women of society, it minimizes individual experience, hence they warn women to be aware of ideas displayed as the norm in society since it may stem from masculine notions of how women should be portrayed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminist sociology</span> Subdiscipline of sociology

Feminist sociology is an interdisciplinary exploration of gender and power throughout society. Here, it uses conflict theory and theoretical perspectives to observe gender in its relation to power, both at the level of face-to-face interaction and reflexivity within social structures at large. Focuses include sexual orientation, race, economic status, and nationality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intersectionality</span> Theory of discrimination

Intersectionality is a sociological analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these factors include gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, disability, height, physical appearance, age, and weight. These intersecting and overlapping social identities may be both empowering and oppressing.

Standpoint theory, also known as standpoint epistemology, is a foundational framework in feminist social theory that examines how individuals' unique perspectives, shaped by their social and political experiences, influence their understanding of the world. Standpoint theory proposes that authority is rooted in individuals' personal knowledge and perspectives and the power that such authority exerts.

Transnational feminism refers to both a contemporary feminist paradigm and the corresponding activist movement. Both the theories and activist practices are concerned with how globalization and capitalism affect people across nations, races, genders, classes, and sexualities. This movement asks to critique the ideologies of traditional white, classist, western models of feminist practices from an intersectional approach and how these connect with labor, theoretical applications, and analytical practice on a geopolitical scale.

Standpoint feminism is a theory that feminist social science should be practiced from the standpoint of women or particular groups of women, as some scholars say that they are better equipped to understand some aspects of the world. A feminist or women's standpoint epistemology proposes to make women's experiences the point of departure, in addition to, and sometimes instead of men's.

Feminist epistemology is an examination of epistemology from a feminist standpoint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnard Center for Research on Women</span>

The Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW) is a nexus of feminist thought, activism, and collaboration for scholars and activists. The BCRW regularly hosts public events and creates publications and multimedia projects focusing on social transformation while supporting the work of scholars and activists. Since its founding in 1971, BCRW has promoted women's and social justice issues to its local communities at Barnard College and within New York City and beyond. It is a member organization of The National Council for Research on Women.

Feminist empiricism is a perspective within feminist research that combines the objectives and observations of feminism with the research methods and empiricism. Feminist empiricism is typically connected to mainstream notions of positivism. Feminist empiricism critiques what it perceives to be inadequacies and biases within mainstream research methods, including positivism.

Chela Sandoval, associate professor of Chicana Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara, is a noted theorist of postcolonial feminism and third world feminism. Beginning with her 1991 pioneering essay 'U.S. Third World Feminism: The Theory and Method of Oppositional Consciousness in the Postmodern World', Sandoval emerged as a significant voice for women of color and decolonial feminism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochy Curiel</span> Dominican feminist and writer

Rosa Inés Curiel Pichardo, better known as Ochy Curiel, is an Afro-Dominican feminist academic, singer and social anthropologist. She is known for helping to establish the Afro-Caribbean women's movement and maintaining that lesbianism is neither an identity, orientation nor sexual preference, but rather a political position. She is one of the most prominent feminist scholars in Latin America and the Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feminist rhetoric</span> Practice of rhetoric

Feminist rhetoric emphasizes the narratives of all demographics, including women and other marginalized groups, into the consideration or practice of rhetoric. Feminist rhetoric does not focus exclusively on the rhetoric of women or feminists but instead prioritizes the feminist principles of inclusivity, community, and equality over the classic, patriarchal model of persuasion that ultimately separates people from their own experience. Seen as the act of producing or the study of feminist discourses, feminist rhetoric emphasizes and supports the lived experiences and histories of all human beings in all manner of experiences. It also redefines traditional delivery sites to include non-traditional locations such as demonstrations, letter writing, and digital processes, and alternative practices such as rhetorical listening and productive silence. In her book, Rhetorical Feminism and This Thing Called Hope (2018), Cheryl Glenn describes rhetorical feminism as, "a set of tactics that multiplies rhetorical opportunities in terms of who counts as a rhetor, who can inhabit an audience, and what those audiences can do." Rhetorical feminism is a strategy that counters traditional forms of rhetoric, favoring dialogue over monologue and seeking to redefine the way audiences view rhetorical appeals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alicia Puleo</span> Argentine-born feminist philosopher

Alicia Helda Puleo García is an Argentine-born feminist philosopher based in Spain. She is known for the development of ecofeminist thinking. Among her main publications is Ecofeminismo para otro mundo posible.

The Círculo de Estudios de la Mujer, or the Women’s Study Circle, was a Chilean feminist organization that existed from 1979 to 1983. It was formed during the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile as a response to the regime’s oppressive actions against citizens and women. For the Círculo women, the struggle for democracy and for women’s rights went hand-in-hand, and they also aimed to reframe feminism by prioritizing women as individuals, rather than their maternal identities. The Círculo de Estudios de la Mujer was part of a larger women’s movement which worked towards the end of the dictatorship, but they disbanded and formed two splinter groups in 1983.

Virginia Guzmán Barcos is a Chilean psychologist and sociologist, who was a co-founder of the Flora Tristán Peruvian Women's Center. After completing studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and École pratique des hautes études at the Sorbonne, she went into exile in Peru because of the military dictatorship in Chile. Continuing her studies, she earned a master's degree in Peru and a PhD in Spain. From 1978, she became interested in women's studies and began researching in the area of women and public policy. After twenty years working at the Flora Tristán Peruvian Women's Center, she returned to Chile. Since 2002, she has been the deputy director of the Centro de Estudios de la Mujer in Santiago.

References

Further reading

Wikiversity logo 2017.svg Learning materials related to Women's Studies at Wikiversity

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.