One thing can be said about the faculty and students in the Women's Studies program &emdash; they certainly put the past 25 years to good use.
The program celebrated 25 years at UMass Boston with a reception Oct. 28. To make the event even more special, faculty and administrators announced the program raised enough funds to endow the annual Founders' Award, and be eligible for additional state funds.
Program Director Jean Humez reflected on the past, present and future of the department, which first started in 1973 and began offering an undergraduate major in 1989. "We really don't have any major shifts in emphasis," Humez said. "We're just doing good undergraduate education emphasizing women and gender and doing it for all students." UMass Boston was among the first to establish a Women's Studies program in New England. It now includes 58 program-based and department-based courses with five programbased faculty members as well as other associated faculty members throughout the four colleges. Over the years, students and faculty created new programs, like the Student-to-Student Mentoring Program as well as outreach events, conferences and internship programs.
The Women's Studies department is working toward involvement in more than the single discipline, including women's legal issues, international issues, and gender and sexuality. Women's Studies has been around for 25 years, but the program has not been stagnant.
"Whatever happens with feminism and the women's movement in the outside world to some extent effects us," said Humez. "You can't have just done the women's movement once and that's it. There are always new challenges."
The department already met its most recent challenge &emdash; endowing the Founders' Award. The award, first established in 1991 through the generosity of Mary Anne Ferguson, Professor Emerita of English and Women's Studies, is bestowed on a graduating student who has proven him or herself both academically and outside of the classroom and is given at the Honors Convocation each year.