Women's Studies - History

History

Women's studies were first born as an academic rubric apart from other departments in the late 1960s, as the second wave of feminism gained political influence in the academy through student and faculty activism. As an academic discipline, it was modeled on the American studies and ethnic studies (such as Afro-American studies) and Chicano Studies programs that had arisen shortly before it.

The first accredited Women's Studies course was held in 1969 at Cornell University. The first two Women's Studies Programs in the United States were established in 1970 at San Diego State College (now San Diego State University) and SUNY-Buffalo. The SDSU program was initiated after a year of intense organizing of women's consciousness raising groups, rallies, petition circulating, and operating unofficial or experimental classes and presentations before seven committees and assemblies. Carol Rowell Council was the student co-founder along with Dr. Joyce Nower, a literature instructor. The SUNY-Buffalo program was also the result of intense debate and feminist organizing led by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, and it was eventually birthed out of the American Studies department. In 1972, Sarah Lawrence College became the first institution to grant Masters degrees in Women's History. Throughout the later 1970s many universities and colleges created departments and programs in women's studies, and professorships became available in the field which did not require the sponsorship of other departments.

By the late twentieth century, women's studies courses were available at many universities and colleges around the world. A 2007 survey conducted by the National Women's Studies Association included 576 institutions offering women's studies or gender studies at some level. As of 2012, there are 16 institutions offering a Ph.D. in the United States. Courses in the United Kingdom can be found through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

In Canada, one of the first women's studies courses was offered in Toronto at the University of Toronto, as well as at universities in Montreal and Waterloo. The evolution of these programs are well documented in "Minds of her own: Inventing Feminist Scholarship and Women's Studies in Canada and Quebec, 1966-76", edited by Wendy Robbins, Meg Luxton, Margrit Eichler and Francine Descarries, published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press (2008).

The University of Toronto through the Institute of Women's Studies and Gender Studies is poised to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its program. In 1971-72 the first course was held there. Two of the co-founders of the program are Ceta Ramkhalawansingh and Kay Armatage. In 1970 while still an undergraduate and a member of the University's Inter-disciplinary Studies Committee, Ceta worked with a team of graduate students to mobilise for the program. A group of graduate students along with a Faculty member taught the first program in the fall of 1971. The story of this program is partially documented in two essays in "Minds of her own". Kay Armatage contributed "Blood on the Chapel Floor: Adventures in Women's Studies". The title comes from the fact that the office and seminar room for the program was in an old chapel in a former mansion at 97 St. George Street on the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto. Ceta Ramkhalawansingh contributed "Women's Sight: Looking backwards into Women's Studies in Toronto".