Chair
This has been a milestone year for us. Our proposal to establish a Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies went through the final approval steps and we started Fall 2022 formally as a department. Our proposal garnered overwhelming support at every stage of the shared governance process, from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Faculty, to the College and University Curriculum Committees and Councils, to the Faculty Senate, and College and University leadership. Campus-wide collaborations and coalitions were essential to this significant achievement. A key feature of our establishment of the department was to continue the Center with its distinct mission of promoting cross-disciplinary collaborations in research, education, and public engagement about gender, sexuality, and women. Moving forward, the Center will continue this important cross-disciplinary work and the Department will advance academic degrees, curriculum, and research in the discipline of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.
Another important milestone this year is the approval of revisions to our major. These revisions were the result of careful assessment and reimagination by our faculty, incorporating student needs and interests and advancements in the field. The major now comprises three core areas of race, sexuality, and transnational. In addition, students now have the option to pursue concentrations in the areas of health and race, as well as in the previously available concentration options (general, international, and sexuality). We are particularly grateful to our students, whose input and interests over the years informed these revisions and reimaginations of the major.
I look forward to all of us sharing the labor and joy of continuing to build and nurture community.
– Dr. Bonnie Moradi, Chair
On the heels of these important achievements, we are in the midst of searches for three tenure-track faculty positions. These new hires will shape the future of the Department and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies teaching and research. It has been heartening to see students, faculty affiliates, and friends participate in candidate visits and connect with each other as part of the process. Hearing the sounds of conversation and laughter from these gatherings is a joy and a reminder that these searches are an essential opportunity to nurture community.
I look forward to punctuating these achievements with celebrations to welcome new colleagues and new students to Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. I look forward to all of us sharing the labor and joy of continuing to build and nurture community.
This story appears in the Fall 2022 issue of the Gender, Sexualities, & Women’s Studies Newsletter. Read more from the issue.