Women’s studies to mark quarter-century

Four courses emphasizing the relationship of women to society inaugurated the Women’s Studies Program 25 years ago.

Women’s Studies alumni are invited to send their reminiscences or planning ideas to Virginia Sapiro, sapiro@polisci.wisc.edu.

This semester, the program offers students more than 25 choices, ranging from a basic class on women’s bodies in health and disease to women in sports to black women’s writings to upper-level independent graduate courses.

Jane Piliavin, professor of sociology who chaired the program when it began in 1975-76, says the UW–Madison program has more than lived up to its original promise.

“Women’s studies courses continue to be very popular,” she says. “My sense is, ours is one of the best programs in the country.”

The program serves about 1,000 students every semester, according to Nancy Kaiser, professor of German and women’s studies, and current program chair.

“The first 25 years of the Women’s Studies Program on the Madison campus saw the establishment of a certificate, Ph.D. minor and undergraduate major,” says Kaiser. We are now in the development stage of a graduate program in Women’s Studies with a focus on women and gender in global multicultural context. The international emphasis and an understanding of interactive cultures in the 21st century, as well as in historical perspective, address the direction contemporary feminist scholarship is taking.”

Outreach to policy makers, activists, professionals and other constituents always has been important, providing vital links and helping to keep the program vibrant, Kaiser says. “One new aspect of our undergraduate major is an internship or service-learning component, which enrolls about 15 seniors during the spring semester in an experience combining scholarly understanding and practical community activity,” she says. “We feel it is essential that a university education bridge the gap between the institution and the social worlds beyond the campus. ”

Virginia Sapiro, professor of political science and women’s studies, heads the committee organizing the events that will surround the program’s 25th anniversary year, which officially begins in September.

So far, she says, plans are taking shape for events focused in a number of areas such as women’s health, the arts and women in international perspectives. A UW System conference, “History in the Making: Celebrating 25 Years of Women’s Studies Scholarship and Activism,” will be held this October in Madison. Other events will be announced later.