Women's Studies Foremothers

The effort to develop as a Women's Studies curriculum began in the early 1990s, following a gender inequities study at ETSU that identified sex biases in the university's curriculum, hiring practices, and salary scales. In 1991, a Women's Studies Steering Committee was established. The committee's primary goal was to formulate a women's studies program that would combine courses addressing women's issues in and contributions to philosophy, sociology, social work, nursing, and English. In 1993, the committee's efforts resulted in a new Women's Studies minor.

Once the minor was established, budgetary and administrative support was needed in order to attain stability and visibility for the program. The foremothers of the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies persistently strove to attain a permanent program designation and structure. They continued to argue for the creation of a directorship position for the program and sought to establish a permanent academic affiliation with the College of Arts & Sciences. The women featured in the foremothers poster (link below) worked diligently to gain university support and successfully achieved an institutional presence for Women's Studies at ETSU.

In 2000, the Steering Committee argued for an increased program budget, which was granted by President Stanton, allowing us to prosper and grow. In 2004, the Steering Committee began putting together a proposal for a new Bachelor's Degree in Women's Studies and dedicated themselves to seeing it through all university and state levels of approval. On January 25 th, 2007, the B.A. in Women's Studies became official, and students started declaring their Women's Studies majors the very next day.