Our searches have concluded from this past spring.  From our gender and sexuality search we have hired Svati Shah from Wellesley and from the feminist science studies search we have hired Sarah Richardson of Stanford. Because of obligations they are both deferring until Fall 2009.

The fall 2008 newsletter is in the works. Click on the newsletter link (above) to see past newsletters.

Our collaboration with Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC continues.   We have just learned that Bennett President Julianne Malveaux has accepted our invitation to come to campus at the end of September.  A progressive economist, Dr.  Malveaux is best described as a scholar activist and civic leader.  Her weekly columns appear in many newspapers across the country and she is well known for her appearances on radio and television national networks.  She will give a public lecture titled, "What's Trump: Race, Class, Gender and the 2008 Election" as well as have the opportunity to meet with us. Stay tuned to the events page for details.

Our thoughts are with Arlene Avakian and Martha Ayres who are mourning the loss of their daughter Leah Ryan who passed this spring. Their son Neal Ryan also died suddenly in January. Check out the full newspage to read their obituaries.

Women's Studies is a program of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at UMass Amherst. Click for site policies.

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Last update: August 26, 2008

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One of the oldest programs in the country, Women's Studies at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst has been offering courses and graduating students since 1974. Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary program for the study of women and gender. Combining the analytic tools of many disciplines, women’s studies explores how women and men are constructed both historically and in the contemporary world. We explore gender within the context of race, class, nationality/ethnicity and sexuality. Our core faculty members have expertise in: African American women's history and activism, Asian American women’s history and activism, Asian American women's work, feminist ethics, feminist science studies, post-colonial studies, social constructions of identities, women's grass roots activism in the Caribbean and Latin America. Women's Studies also draws on faculty from a wide variety of diverse disciplines across campus such as history, literature, sociology, political science, communication, anthropology, African American studies, Germanic languages, comparative literature, psychology, education, management, legal studies, philosophy, economics, and more.

Women's Studies offers a major, minor, and a graduate certificate. All Women's Studies students work closely with a faculty member to design their own course of study and professional advisors are available to help students plan their program and find internships. Majors have focused their studies on the law, women’s health, body image and eating disorders, the arts, the environment, political activism, and the media, to name a few.

What is a good way to begin studying Women's Studies?

Consider our introductory course: Women’s Studies 187 (WOMENSST 187), Introduction to Women’s Studies