Skip to main content

Women's Studies Program records

 Record Group
Identifier: UA-16.176

Scope and Content

This collection contains information about the development of the Women’s Studies Program at Michigan State University. MSU, as part of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), utilized research and input from the other member institutions (primarily Big-Ten) in the establishment of the Women’s Study Program. The records include administrative files about the program’s establishment, its development, and expansion, program and course descriptions, budget and funding information, annual reports, student surveys; governance records with information from the Women’s Studies Coordinating Committee, the Women’s Studies Advisory Council, and the College of Arts and Letters. Event files which include information about colloquium development, seminars development and promotions, campus presentations (including audio/visual materials); publications such as newsletters, conference papers, and Re-visions, the journal of the Women’s Studies Program; press coverage and clippings of the program’s issues and events. Of particular interest are the files about issues at the Michigan State University campus, including pornography and discrimination.

Dates

  • Creation: 1970 - 2006

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Some folders are restricted.

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish material from this collection must be obtained from University Archives & Historical Collections, Michigan State University.

Historical Note

The Women’s Studies thematic was first listed in the Michigan State University Academic Program Catalog in the 1976-1977 year. A thematic is a concentration of courses from many disciplines which are taken to supplement a major course of study. Documentation indicates that a collection of interdisciplinary courses focusing on women were taken as an informal thematic at MSU as early as 1972-1973. In 1993-1994, the thematic was replaced by a cross-disciplinary major leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree. This major emphasized the position of women in culture and society and the intersections with other social identities, including race, class, religion, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability and nationality. By 2000, a graduate certificate could also be earned. After a reorganization of the program in 2001, the focus of the program expanded to include issues of social justice and international relations. Although the College of Arts & Letters is the program’s primary administrative group, the program is also aligned with the College of Social Science and International Studies & Programs. Joyce Ladenson and Jayne Schuiteman were the primary directors of the program for the time frame these records represent.

The MSU Women's Studies Program was very active from the 1980s through 2000 in sponsoring events with nationally-acclaimed feminists and scholars.

Extent

4 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Legal Status

Copyright: Michigan State University unless otherwise noted. Property Rights: Michigan State University.

Title
Women's Studies Program Records
Status
4 Published And Cataloged
Author
W. Miller
Date
July 2013
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the University Archives and Historical Collections Repository

Contact:
Conrad Hall
943 Conrad Road, Room 101
East Lansing MI 48824 US
517-355-2330