Women's Studies

Women's studies in the United States emerged as an interdisciplinary field of scholarly study in the 1960s and 1970s. As the field developed, courses and programs helped recover the suppressed or ignored contributions of women in all disciplines, foster and support new scholarly and creative works by and about women, expand understanding of women's diverse experiences across time and location, examine sexed and gendered socialization and systems of oppression, promote attention to the intersectionality of identities, and inform social justice activism. Although women were initially the primary focus, over time women's studies scholars and students have applied feminist theories to a wide range of topics, and engaged in the study of all sexes, genders, sexual orientations, and gender identities and performances. Women's studies faculty support ...