{"id":18621,"date":"2020-10-02T08:41:52","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T08:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=18621"},"modified":"2023-06-08T18:26:20","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T18:26:20","slug":"gender-women-sexuality-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/10\/02\/gender-women-sexuality-studies","title":{"rendered":"A major milestone for GWSS major"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Julie Shayne. University of Washington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Elisabeth Schnebele
The discipline now known as Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies is celebrating its 50th anniversary worldwide this year. At the University of Washington Bothell, Oct. 26, 2020, will mark the four-year anniversary of the Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies major and minor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie Shayne, a teaching professor in UW Bothell\u2019s School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences<\/a> and faculty coordinator of GWSS, had a goal to develop the major on campus since she started at the University in 2007. In 2014, she became one of the committee members charged with creating the degree program. It officially launched in 2016. Since then, 18 students have graduated with the major, and 73 students have graduated with the minor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the reasons GWSS is so awesome, especially at UW Bothell, is that it\u2019s so interdisciplinary that you can find your niche in it and pursue what you are passionate about,\u201d Shayne said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GWSS faculty have different backgrounds of knowledge and areas of expertise, she noted, creating many different avenues for students to explore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critical awareness <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Julie Shayne. Illustration by Nicole Carter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nicole Carter, who graduated in 2020, was pursuing a Community Psychology major when she took her first class with Shayne. \u201cFor what felt like the first time, I was reading about the histories and lives of badass womxn, people of color and queer folks,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery teacher I have met in the GWSS program has had a significant impact on my trajectory, and they clearly care about their students\u2019 present and future success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carter decided to double major in Community Psychology and GWSS only a few weeks into that first class with Shayne. \u201cDouble majoring became an obvious and frankly inevitable choice. GWSS should be mandatory learning beginning in preschool, but until that happens, I\u2019ll spend my free time cramming feminist research down my loved ones\u2019 throats,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estephanie Guzman, a 2020 alumna, majored in GWSS because she wants to bring awareness to the social norms that are dominated by patriarchy. \u201cI want to be part of a movement that changes the social construct that influences society and my family,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guzman is already turning her knowledge into activism. She was a peer navigator at the Student Diversity Center on campus and was a contributor to and co-creator of \u201cBadass Womxn in the Pacific Northwest,\u201d a zine made by students in Professor Shayne\u2019s class \u201cRad Womxn in the Global South.\u201d Guzman\u2019s future plans include going to graduate school and becoming a GWSS professor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding horizons <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"GWSS
Illustration by Julio Salgado, commissioned by the #Health4All campaign<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shayne\u2019s book, \u201cPersistence is Resistance: Celebrating 50 Years of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies,\u201d provides an in-depth analysis of the creation and further development of this academic discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Diego State University was the first to implement a U.S. Women\u2019s Studies program. The founders included 20 students and faculty who experienced sexism in their lives and in academia. They launched the Center for Women\u2019s Studies and Services to provide a more formal space to address sexism on campus. The group also rallied the support of more than 600 students who signed a petition to establish a formal academic program. In 1970, San Diego State began offering classes in Women\u2019s Studies for credit, becoming the first university in the nation to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are now more than 900 GWSS programs in the United States, with enrollment greater than that of any other interdisciplinary field. Additionally, the field has grown beyond this country, extending to more than 50 countries in nearly every region of the world. \u201cThe fact that a bunch of faculty and students were able to ask \u2018Why is there nothing about us in any of these books and create what now exists is amazing to me. I think it\u2019s fantastic. I am super proud of the field,\u201d Shayne said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUntil patriarchy and misogyny are gone, GWSS will always be necessary,\u201d Shayne said. \u201cWe need people trained in this scholarship to understand what misogyny is, to articulate it and to challenge it in every profession that they choose, whether it is as clearly related to feminism as teaching it or stuff people wouldn\u2019t even think of like working in HR,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving a degree in GWSS means that you are trained to see misogyny everywhere and ideally equipped to challenge it everywhere.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A major shift <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPersistence is Resistance\u201d highlights the profound changes that have developed over the past 50 years as a result of feminist activism, teaching and research stimulated by Women\u2019s Studies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributor Beverly Guy-Sheftall of Spelman College, considered to be a founding grandmother of GWSS, wrote, \u201cThere is a heightened consciousness and advocacy around rape, incest, battering, sexual harassment, sex trafficking, the feminization of poverty, and health disparities related to race, gender and class. In addition, there is more intense dialogue about government-subsidized child care, health care reform, gender equity in education and spousal leave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has stimulated the development of other academic fields as well: queer studies, cultural studies, gender studies, men\u2019s and masculinity studies, disability studies, peace studies and more,\u201d Guy-Sheftall wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking to the next 50 years, Shayne would like to see more women of color faculty in the program and to offer more Ph.D. programs for students pursuing GWSS. \u201cI would like to think that there will be a point where I wouldn\u2019t have to explain what the major is or have to defend it,\u201d she said. \u201cI want GWSS to be as legible to the outside world as biology is.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GWSS honors RBG <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The analysis of sexism and of women\u2019s places in the world is critical to the work of GWSS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a program that champions the history and accomplishment of women and marginalized communities across the globe, the students and faculty of GWSS mourn the loss of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and celebrate her legacy. \u201cShe was one of the first female professors and pushed back against a lot of the barriers for women in academia,\u201d Carter said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guzman also pointed to the importance of Justice Ginsberg and her legacy. \u201cShe has done so much to fight for women\u2019s rights, so it\u2019s up to us to continue the fight,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have a great opportunity to do this with the November elections. Vote. Encourage people to do phone banking. Have your voice heard.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The discipline now known as Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies is celebrating its 50th anniversary worldwide this year. At the University of Washington Bothell, Oct. 26, 2020, will mark the four-year anniversary of the Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies major and minor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[202,229,252],"tags":[260],"school":[419],"class_list":["post-18621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news","category-faculty","category-population-health","tag-women","school-school-of-ias"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":null,"link_2":null,"link_3":null,"link_4":null,"link_5":null},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":null,"button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nA major milestone for GWSS major - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2020\/10\/02\/gender-women-sexuality-studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A major milestone for GWSS major - News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The discipline now known as Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies is celebrating its 50th anniversary worldwide this year. 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