Since its inception at UNK in 1989, the Women’s and Gender Studies Program (WGS) has made an important contribution to the University's Mission as “a public, residential university committed to be one of the nation’s premier undergraduate institutions” (UNK Undergraduate Catalog 2010-2011). It is one of over 650 women’s and gender studies programs at community colleges, colleges and universities in the United States which enroll over 15,000 students in major and minor degree programs. With women constituting more than 50% of college undergraduate enrollments nationwide and approaching 53% of the student body at UNK, a WGS Program contributes to the university’s competitive edge (NWSA). It creates an academic climate that:
- fosters a supportive university culture for women’s and gender issues
- hears and respects differences regarding gender, sexuality, race and class
- integrates women’s and gender issues into the academic curriculum
- provides research opportunities related to women’s and gender issues
The Women’s & Gender Studies Program is particularly important to UNK’s Vision to “achieve national distinction for a high quality, multidimensional learning environment, engagement with community and public interests, and preparation of students to lead responsible and productive lives in a democratic, multicultural society.” In support of this Vision, the WGS Program:
- challenges students to incorporate new knowledge into their lives
- creates significant changes in the way students think about people who are different than themselves
- enables students to move from voice to self-empowerment to social responsibility
- fosters participatory, experiential, diverse, and student-centered classrooms
- prepares students to translate a sense of empowerment after graduation into citizen action
In order to achieve this Vision, the WGS Program at UNK shares certain elements with WGS Programs nationwide. It offers:
- a required introductory general education class
- cross-listed electives that focus on women and gender issues
- a required feminist theory class and capstone project
- a service learning component
- feminist pedagogy with student participation and collaborative learning.
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As a viable academic unit, the WGS Program serves at least four different constituencies:
- Minor Degree Enrollees: The WGS Program provides an interdisciplinary academic curriculum for students enrolled in the minor degree program.
- General Studies Students: The WGS Program provides General Studies Social Science Distribution credit for students enrolled in its culturally diverse course, “Women’s & Gender Studies” (WSTD 220).
- Affiliated Faculty: The WGS Program provides professional development and a support network for faculty from across the disciplines who work on women’s and gender issues.
- University and Kearney Community: The WGS Program provides co-curricular programming and cultural events for the larger university and Kearney community.
In providing these services, the WGS Program collaborates with many areas of the university including:
- 26 affiliated faculty from 15 departments
- Academic departments across campus
- Department of Counseling and School Psychology Internship Program
- Honors Program
- Service-Learning Program
- Study Abroad Program
- UNL and UNO to host “No Limits,” an annual student research conference
- Women’s Center in Counseling and Health Care
The Women’s & Gender Studies Program has an advisory board and a faculty director. There have been seven directors since the Program began in 1989:
Directors of WGS Program:
Kathryn Benzel
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English
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(1989-1992)
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Elizabeth Peck
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English
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(1992-1994)
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Kay Hodge
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Business
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(1994-1997)
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Carol Lilly
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History
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(1997-2000; Interim Sp 2005; Co-director 2005-06)
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Diane Wysocki
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Sociology
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(2000-2006; sabbatical Sp2005; Co-director 2005-06)
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Trudy de Goede
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Library
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(Interim 2006-2007)
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Linda Van Ingen
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History
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(2007-present)
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For more information, please contact any of the advisory board members, former directors, or Linda Van Ingen at vaningenL1@unk.edu.