Women's Studies

Goals of the Program

The WOMEN'S STUDIES Program will provide high quality, well respected interdisciplinary, student centered undergraduate education with the following desired outcomes:

to document women's achievements and contributions throughout history the ability
to foster students' ability to demonstrate critical thinking skills in written and oral presentation;
to foster students' understanding of core concepts in feminist research in the social sciences and humanities;
to learn to apply feminist pedagogical methods;

WOMEN'S STUDIES will emphasize use of information technologies in support of teaching, learning, scholarship, and service.

To ensure continuous improvement of our programs, WOMEN'S STUDIES will implement assessment plans and will modify programs on the basis of the findings.

The WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM will provide its professional expertise to the university region and the state with particular focus on expanding collaborations with local, state, and regional organizations, including K-12 institutions for mutual benefits to students, faculty, and our communities.

The WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM will provide curricular and extracurricular activities that promote students' personal and professional growth and their commitment to social responsibilities.

All WOMEN'S STUDIES programs and activities address social change.
WOMEN'S STUDIES will promote programs and activities seeking solutions to personal, social, and environmental violence.

The WOMEN'S STUDIES PROGRAM will provide accessible and effective academic advising and other support services for its students.

WOMEN'S STUDIES faculty and staff will provide an effective advising program to help all students accomplish their academic, career, civic, and personal goals. Its effectiveness will be reflected in increased student satisfaction and success in accomplishing their goals.
WOMEN'S STUDIES will work to facilitate student transfers to other institutions and will propose articulation agreements where appropriate.
WOMEN'S STUDIES will foster student organizations that provide opportunities for students to participate in the governance of the Program and to provide program-wide learning opportunities and social events.

WOMEN'S STUDIES will manage and develop its resources responsibly in alignment with college planning and priorities to improve student learning opportunities, to facilitate increased professional growth, and to provide service to our many communities.

WOMEN'S STUDIES will provide leadership for university programs that address gender issues and women's roles.

WOMEN'S STUDIES will encourage the University community to think critically and sensitively about gender, sexual orientation/identity; race, class and ethnicity; age and cultural background; and issues of size and diverse abilities.

WOMEN'S STUDIES will provide resources for colleagues and students who seek resources relating to gender and women.

WOMEN'S STUDIES will cooperate with campus groups which serve culturally diverse populations (e.g., Association of Nontraditional Students, GLBT Clubs, Women’s Initiatives Committee, Collegiate Association for Women, American Indian Cultural Association, African-American Union, OLLA, etc.) in planning and delivery of programs and services.

Mission Statement

As the Final Report of the University of Wisconsin System Task Force on Women’s Studies wrote in 1974, a major objective of Women’s Studies is "to raise the aspirations of women, expanding their sense of possible future alternatives and opportunities and their own capabilities. The concurrent purpose is to enable men to widen their spheres of development for they, too, have been limited by narrow traditional concepts of ‘women’s roles’ and ‘men’s roles.’" Since 1974, Women’s Studies has achieved some of these goals, and as part of the continuing efforts to advance equality for women, the UW Colleges Women’s Studies Program has as its mission to introduce students to the scholarship on and by women within all academic disciplines.

The UW Colleges Women’s Studies Program addresses three areas of learning: curriculum, research, and civic and community engagement. Part of our mission is to extend learning from the classroom to research, service learning, and community outreach. We strive to balance traditional approaches to academic disciplines with a gender-focused perspective and to help students develop a general understanding of patriarchy and how it has affected, and continues to affect, women’s and men’s lives.

Curriculum

An interdisciplinary program of study, Women’s Studies introduces students to the scholarship, literature, and creative works by and about women that are transforming the liberal arts and the professions. As an interdisciplinary, multicultural, and global course of study, women’s studies courses will prepare students to use both traditional and feminist perspectives to analyze gender, sex, and sexuality as biological, psychological, social, and cultural phenomena. This might include the study of social change movements, politics and government, fine arts, literature, and the social sciences, with one possible goal being the creation of an understanding that interrelated factors—e.g., race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation—inform knowledge of women’s history, culture, and social roles. Students should also gain knowledge of feminist movements for social change globally and in the US.

Through the use of feminist pedagogical methods, the UW Colleges Women’s Studies Program will develop and sustain a learning environment, curricula, and a trained faculty to provide a complex, informed, and thorough learning experience.

On a broader scope, Women’s Studies has several overall goals for students:

improve critical thinking and provide students with the intellectual means to question prevailing assumptions
promote social responsibility through revealing the connections between personal experience and political activity and validating student contributions and voices
relate learning in the classroom to lives in communities

Research

In the field of Women’s Studies, faculty and students will develop new interdisciplinary research, scholarship, creative work, and new methods for improving the study of women, in addition to critically evaluating traditional scholarship and research upon which they draw for their own work.

Civic and Community Engagement

Activism and advocacy are central components in the field of Women’s Studies. Consequently, the Women’s Studies curriculum should respond to issues of concern relevant to the lives of women on our university campus, in our local areas, across the Americas, and around the globe. Further, the empowerment of a diverse population of women, both in the academy and in society, within local, regional, and global contexts remains a significant objective of Women’s Studies as an academic discipline as well as a foundation for activism.

The Women’s Studies Program aims to increase the solidarity among women on campus and to improve the campus climate for women. The Women’s Studies Program can accomplish this goal through several initiatives:

by providing a diverse, comprehensive curriculum of courses acknowledging women’s experiences and issues.
by supporting campus activities—student organizations, lectures, panels, etc.—that promote awareness, recognition, and celebration of women’s culture
by developing campus resources (women’s support groups, sexual harassment mediation, appropriate counseling services, for example) for female students, staff, and faculty to create a space for their intellectual development, necessarily informed by emotional, psychological, and material conditions