The Trump Era Proves That Women’s Studies Matters
News
Posted: Feb 26, 2020 - 09:20am
A while back, I received an email from my university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) saying that my plan to research the history of U.S. Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) did not meet “the federal definition of research.” This sounded familiar to what I heard as a Women’s Studies undergraduate student 30 years ago: “What are you going to do with a major like that?” Apparently, I have misread my own academic accomplishments—a PhD, three published books, teaching awards—and GWSS’s 50-year history. I assumed they were indications that GWSS is institutionally understood. But apparently, I still have to make the
