QUESTIONS FOR A NEW CENTURY:WOMEN’S STUDIES AND INTEGRATIVE LEARNING

Amy K. Levin, Director of Women’s Studies at Northern Illinois University was awarded the inaugural National Women's Studies Association Distinguished Fellowship, and Questions for a New Century: Women’s Studies and Integrative Learning is the first report to come out of this new program.

Executive Summary
Amy K. Levin

Past efforts to assess the field of Women’s Studies include Ford Foundation sponsored reports by Catharine Stimpson (1986) and Beverly Guy-Sheftall (1995). A FIPSE-funded study was led by Caryn McTighe Musil and yielded three 1992 publications. Recent assessments are lacking, and there is a contradiction between the field’s assertion that it is at the forefront of educational change and the reality that program goals, student outcomes, and assessment methods have changed little in a dozen years. Women’s Studies must engage in renewed assessment efforts in order to maintain its leadership position, and this document offers a snapshot of the status of the field....

See the full report and download options.

DEFINING WOMEN'S SCHOLARSHIP:

A Statement of the National Women's Studies Association
Task Force on Faculty Roles and Rewards (PDF Download)

WHAT PROGRAMS NEED:

Essential Resources for Women's Studies Programs (PDF Download)

THE PA&D HANDBOOK

Designed to assist Women's Studies program administrators and department chairs in their work by providing overviews of typical WS programs, sample practices and strategies for dealing with common concerns, and a selection of useful resources.

click here for table of contents (PDF)
click here to download the full edition. (PDF)

Introducing Women's and Gender Studies: A Teaching and Resource Collection

Compiled by Elizabeth Curtis
(click to download)
Contributions were included when they focused on the wider overview provided in most introductory courses. In the “Introductory Courses on Special Topics,” however, some courses constructed around specific themes were included to show how courses that are structured in this way provide an alternative method to traditional survey method for introducing students to the discipline.

The range of student populations that these teaching materials have been crafted for range from middle school to the graduate level. To help locate the reader who is navigating this wide range of resources, demographic information about courses and their instructor preface each item. Although attempts were made to recruit resources from K – 12 practitioners, only one submission in this area was received. While educators working with these groups may be disappointed, I am hopeful that a future collection focusing on K – 12 could be developed. - EC

Feminist Theory Syllabi collection

(click to download)
This selection of syllabi represents an impressively wide range of approaches to courses in feminist theory, including a variety of pedagogical strategies, texts, and assignments. 

The syllabi are arranged in two separate sections: stand-alone courses in Feminist Theory & courses that include a strong feminist theory component in their approaches to other disciplines or topics (for example, religion, film, activism, etc.). There appear to be three general approaches to feminist theory courses at this point in time: Historical/chronological; Types of feminism (i.e., liberal, psychoanalytic, transnational); Topics/issues (i.e., sexuality, identities)

Teaching Resources on Racism, White Privileges & Anti-White Supremacy

(click to download)
This collection is long overdue. This project came out of the participants’ consensus for 2005 Stop Dreaming, Keep Working Workshop. Participants at the workshop felt that there should be a resource book for teachers, administrators and activists who are interested in issues of racism, white supremacy, and white privileges. For those of us who teach courses in these areas often find it difficult to keep up with the literature. Confined to our own disciplines, we often struggle to find materials that are interdisciplinary in nature. We also wonder what assignments and pedagogical tools others have used to convey materials to students. These concerns all draw attention to the immense need for a resource book with a collection of syllabi.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Developing and proposing a Major in Women’s Studies
Statement describing educational objectives, relationship of the objectives to the mission of the institution, and any special features or conditions that make the institution a desirable or unique place to initiate such a program.
Download a PDF containing all of the following:

Request and Rationale for a Major in Women’s Studies (Hope College)
Courses and Personnel Needed for Women's Studies Major 2006-2007 and Beyond (Hope College)
Curricular Change Cover Sheet and Tracking Form: New Major in Women’s Studies
and Changes to the Existing Minor in Women’s Studies (Hope College)
Proposal for Women's and Gender Studies Major (The College of New Jersey Women's and Gender Studies Program)
New Major in Women’s Studies and Changes to the Existing Minor in Women’s Studies (Meredith College, Raleigh, NC)
Developing a Sucessful BA program (University of Dayton)
Major in Women’s Studies (West Virginia University)

Change of Status, from Women's Studies Program to Department of Women's Studies

Proposal Summary (pdf) (University of Nevada)

Proposals for a Graduate Certificate

Download a PDF containing all of the following:

Proposal for a Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies Women's Studies Program, (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies Proposal (Western Kentucky University)

COURSE DEVELOPMENT

Guidelines for Faculty Proposing Courses in Women's Studies (University of Nevada)
propcoursesunlv.pdf

CROSS LISTING COURSES GUIDELINES

Policy for Cross-listing Courses with the Department of Women's Studies (University of South Florida)
crosslisting.pdf

Request to Cross-List Course in Women's Studies Cover Sheet (University of Nevada)
crosslistcoversheet.pdf