In 1979, The Women’s Studies program was proposed as a minor at Wells College under the administration of Sissy Farenthold, the first female president at Wells College. It was officially offered in 1980, becoming a major in 1993. The goals of this program (as defined by the College’s website) is to provide students with insightful perspectives on gender roles, to get students to understand the complicated and intertwined systems of oppression that exists in different forms around the world, all with a particular focus on how this is experienced by women. A program like this opens the platform for discussions of inequalities and provides insights into the lives of minority groups, including women. It doesn’t just include topics that pertain women but all people through focusing on issues like sexual assault, racism, sexism, disability, dives into the complexities of Feminism(s), while also bringing in other disciplines like Indigenous studies, Psychology, and more. As the program reaches its 39th year this past January, its future has been put into question as there is a lack of action in filling positions to teach classes this upcoming Fall semester.
In recent weeks, the college has denied the request for a full-time position for WGS. There are currently only three professors teaching classes for the WGS department with one of three retiring at the end of the semester. Many students, alumnae, faculty, and staff, are upset to hear this news, including me. Women’s and Gender Studies is one of my majors, and it truly hurts to see this happening. There is little attention being given to the liberal art program as there is no hiring in the WGS and English departments, and the availability of language courses that have been decreased drastically in the last two years, it is not hard to see that there has been lack of support for the arts here at Wells college.
Women’s and Gender Studies provides scholars with the necessary framework and material for getting us to think about reshaping the political agenda and reflecting on how we think about gender. So many women have been erased and left out of history and WGS is essential because history’s narrative has always been white and male. Learning and engaging with Women’s studies is a way of celebrating Women’s History Month because in essence that is what the month of March is about. This field of study goes far beyond those words and intersects with race, class, location, visibility, representation, sexuality, other social identities, and the many systems of oppression at play. There are so many intersecting issues and other areas of discipline that are touched upon in gender studies which makes it so fantastic.
Wells College began as an all women’s college and went co-ed in 2005. Many people have had strong opinions about this decision from both sides of the argument. In the past few years, the prioritization of sports, specific departments like Business and the Health Sciences have gotten a lot of attention and have become strong programs. The issue isn’t that these are areas of interest, but that there is little to no interest in other departments even when there are already students enrolled in these departments. The college also continues to bring in prospective students that are interested in these programs although there is no intention of expanding them. It has been debated many times whether it is a responsible decision for the College to fund it and concerns whether the program would attract students. Many people come to Wells because of its history, and its ties to sisterhood and tradition, so to not support or fund liberal art programs like WGS is quite unfair and seems to go against what Wells is. It is, in fact, a liberal arts college.
Initially the program was named Women’s studies then eventually included Gender to the name. I think it’s important to note that many colleges and universities offer gender studies, but at Wells, the program still kept women in the name because there was and still is a need to focus on the experiences of women. Women’s History Month is a month to celebrate women because the experiences, successes, different forms of knowledge, and contributions of women that have been overlooked, and this is the one time of the year where we can make sure they are not. WGS offers reassurance to that. There has been an ongoing battle for support since the birth of the program at Wells. It is extremely disheartening to see the program not be supported on the administrative level because I know that it has great potential. I have gained so much through this program; it even has guided me through my Psychology major, has brought me close to so many amazing people, and has enlightened me in so many different aspects of my life. It has helped me ground myself in all of my intersecting identities; It has changed my perspective on the world for the better. I hope to see this program grow and not wither in the next years. Women’s Studies as a discipline/field of study and Women’s History Month do many things, and one is to celebrate and remember women on the true side of history.