Aligning diversity goals, curriculum

With the COVID-19 pandemic shaking up higher education as budgets remain tightened and programs shifted online, women’s studies scholars across the country are finding ways to celebrate Women’s History and emphasize the importance of their scholarship to today’s most critical national conversations. Juanita Johnson-Bailey, director of the Institute for Women’s Studies, is quoted in a timely feature in Diverse Issues in Higher Education:

The Institute for Women’s Studies has been around for 44 years and financial support for the institute seems relatively secure; however, when it comes to women’s studies in general, “we’ve always had to sing for our supper,” says Johnson-Bailey. “So many people question the legitimacy of programs like ours, and this is something that has been ongoing, that we always have to justify our existence.”

“Although we have been faced with budget cuts, we’ve always been able to stand our ground and defend our existence because of how much we have done and how much we contribute to the university community,” she added.

Dr. Allison Pugh, a sociology professor and chair of the women, gender and sexuality department at the University of Virginia, says women’s studies programs are giving campus communities the tools they need to understand what’s going on “outside my window right now.”

“We drag the university into the 21st century,” she says. “Administrations point to us when they want to highlight their commitments to equity or justice or inclusion. But it’s not just as a symbol. We provide the intellectual decoder rings for the enormous cohorts of students who are driven to understand current events.”

For example, applying a women’s studies lens to looking at the pandemic uncovers a host of issues, like the burden on working mothers and queer youth who might be trapped in non-affirming environments at home.

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A true resource for our students and a touchstone of the UGA campus, the Institute for Women's Studies educates, leads, and enlightens at a time when it's most needed. Transformative classroom experiences to that cut across majors and disciplines are essential in a comprehensive, well-rounded learning environment. They allow our students to continue their intellectual growth long after graduation.

Image: Gilbert Hall, North campus, UGA