Women's Studies for the Future: Foundations, Interrogations, Politics - Softcover

Beins, Agatha Meryl

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813536197 ISBN 13: 9780813536194

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2005

Synopsis

Established as an academic field in the 1970s, women’s studies is a relatively young but rapidly growing area of study. Not only has the number of scholars working in this subject expanded exponentially, but women’s studies has become institutionalized, offering graduate degrees and taking on departmental status in many colleges and universities. At the same time, this field—formed in the wake of the feminist movement—is finding itself in a precarious position in what is now often called a “post-feminist” society. This raises challenging issues for faculty, students, and administrators. How must the field adjust its goals and methods to continue to affect change in the future?

Bringing together essays by newcomers as well as veterans to the field, this essential volume addresses timely questions including:

• Without a unitary understanding of the subject, woman, what is the focus of women’s studies?
• How can women’s studies fulfill the promise of interdisciplinarity?
•  What is the continuing place of activism in women’s studies?
•  What are the best ways to think about, teach, and act upon the intersections of race, class, gender, disability, nation, and sexuality?

Offering innovative models for research and teaching and compelling new directions for action, Women’s Studies for the Future ensures the continued relevance and influence of this developing field.

About this title

About the Author:

Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy is a professor in the women's studies department at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Agatha Beins has an M.A. in women's studies and is pursuing MFA at Eastern Washington University.

Review:

"This valuable collection contributes an important discussion of contemporary epistemological and political debates within women's studies. It provides insight on the institutional 'next steps' that will advance the field and answers many of the academy's questions regarding the role and scope of our mandate." - Susan Van Dyne, professor and chair of the Women's Studies Program, Smith College"

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0813536197
• ISBN 13: 9780813536194
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368
• Editor: Kennedy Elizabeth Lapovsky