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For 3 decades,
the SDSU Women's Studies Department has remained aligned with activism
and the internationalization of Women's Studies across the globe.
It was the first department formed and continues as a leader in
the field into the twenty-first century.
| The
purpose of this timeline is to help the user understand
the relationship between the women's movement, women's
studies and the development of the Women's Studies Department
at San Diego State University. The
best way to use this timeline would be to look through the
entire page, then visit some of the links if you want to learn
more about feminist activism or other Women's Studies programs.
Captions
for the photographs can be found in the far left hand column. |
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| Women's
Studies |
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SDSU Women's
Studies |
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left hand column of this Timeline marks important moments in
Women's Activism and the field of Women's Studies in general. |
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The
right hand column marks important moments in the development
of WS at SDSU. |
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| 1960s |
As
a field in higher education, Women's Studies grew out of the
the Women's Liberation movement of the 1960's. |
| Women's Studies |
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SDSU Women's Studies |
Late
1960s
Around the USA, faculty and
graduate students became acutely aware of the exclusion of women
and women-oriented perspectives from traditional college courses
and curricula. Late
1960s
The women's
liberation movement was providing a platform for which
women could speak out. For more information and original documents
try the Women's
Liberation Research Network. |
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March
petitioning for a Women's Resource Center at SDSU. |
1969
Several professional associations
formed women's caucuses to exert pressure for equitable treatment
of the sexes in professional matters. 1969
California adopts a "no
fault" divorce law. |
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1969
Students from the campus
Women's Liberation group, in cooperation with faculty and community
women, formed an Ad Hoc Committee for Women's Studies, collected
signatures of over 600 students in support of establishing a
Women's Studies Program. |
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| 1970s |
Following
the activism of women in the 1960's, a grassroots effort by
faculty, students and the community led to the establishment
of the first Women's Studies Department in the nation. |
| Women's
Studies |
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SDSU
WS |
Early
1970s
The terms "female studies,"
"feminist studies," and "women's studies" were coined. |
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1970
5 upper division classes
were taught by regular faculty on a voluntary overload basis. |
1970
Women earn $.59 for every
$1 than men earn. The Equal Rights amendment is reintroduced
to Congress. |
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Fall
1970
SDSU Senate approves the
formal beginning of the department. |
Feminist
library established at the El Centro Center for Family Solutions
in the Imperial Valley by "Scallops" members. |
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1970
The first formal Women's
Studies Department was founded at San Diego State University
(then San Diego State College). Instructors included students,
faculty from several existing depart-ments, and one full-time
Women's Studies instructor hired specifically for the program.
A nineteen-person Women's Studies board, including ten students,
three staff members, and six faculty, was established by the
Ad Hoc Committee to oversee the program and proposed Women's
Center.
Arrangements were made for
the acquisition of library support resources and campus facilities. |
1970:
Cornell
University became the second university to have a Women's
Studies Department. |
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Early
1970s
University Senate approved
a proposal for a curriculum of eleven courses. The program officially
began in the fall semester 1970. |
Early
1970s
First scholarly journals
with Feminist Studies and Women's Studies as their foci are
published. Some 600 courses and 20 programs were identified
by Female Studies II, a collection of curricula and syllabi.
Early
1970's
Cheryl
Frank and Jacqueline Flenner found the first battered women's
shelter in the USA. |
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1973
A Faculty Advisory Committeeof
tenured faculty was established, which had formal responsibility
for governance of the department. This Committee worked closely
with the Women's Studies Board (and later the Women's Studies
Department faculty) and almost always ratified Board recommendations
regarding personnel. The board directed curricular activities. |
Early
1970s
Female Studies VII noted
the existence of 80 programs and more than 2000 courses.
Mid-1970s
Marital rape becomes a
crime in Nebraska. |
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1973-74
Recognizing the importance
of Women's Studies to the University, Dr. Joyce Appleby, then
Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, with the
support of the Dean, Dr. Frank Marini, developed widespread
support for continuation of the program. |
Mid-1970s
Michelle Barnes wins the
first sexual harassment suit, before the US. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia. Mid-1970s
US Military opens its military
academies to women. |
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Spring
1974
The Faculty Advisory Committee
undertook a nationwide faculty recruitment campaign for the
purpose of developing Women's Studies as a strong academic department.
Offers of positions as full-time temporary lecturers were made
to three scholars in the fields of sociology, literature, and
history. 1974-75
The Women's Studies Department
began the year with a completely new faculty of two full-time
and four part-time instructors, 12 classes, and 378 students. |
Mid-1970s
Taylor v. Louisiana makes
it illegal to exclude women from juries. |
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1975
The new faculty developed
an eighteen-unit minor, which was approved by the University
Senate on May, 1975. |
Late
1970s
100,000 march in support
of the Equal Rights Amendment in Washington, D.C.
Late
1970s
Many states allow prosecution
for marital and cohabitation rape following the Oregon v.
Rideout decision.
Late
1970s
National
Women's Studies Association was formed in January 1977
in San Francisco to promote the field's development. |
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February,
1976
"The
Way We Were" A rally in honor of a celebration honoring Susan
B. Anthony. |
1979
The first national convention
of the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) occurred
in June 1979 at the University of Kansas |
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Late
1970s
Number of tenured/tenure-track
faculty lines had remained fairly constant. |
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| 1980s |
The
department grew to a tenured faculty of three which became increasingly
autonomous. The 1989 academic review showed strength in numbers
of students, faculty, budget, curriculum and community support. |
| Women's Studies |
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SDSU Women's Studies |
1980
Signs,
a new scholarly journal begins. At this time journals in various
disciplines also began devoting special issues to the new scholarship. |
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1980
Three Women's Studies faculty
have attained tenure, rendering the Faculty Advisory Committee
unnecessary. |
1982
Women are paid $.72 for every
dollar that men make. 1984
Geraldine Ferraro becomes
the first woman to become a vice-presidential candidate of
a major political party,(Democratic
Party)
1985
TracyThurman
of Connecticut is the first woman to win a civil suit as a
battered wife. |
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Table
at the Aztec Center, SDSU by Women's Resource Center staffers. |
1988
Rev. Barbara Harris , an
African American, becomes the first female bishop of the Episcopal
Church. 1989
The
Feminist Majority is
founded. |
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1989
The academic reviewed showed
that the department was on a continuing path of expansion. Every
measure indicated strength-numbers of students, faculty lines,
budget, curriculum, community support. |
Late
1980s
The establishment of feminist
research institutes ( by 2000, over 100 exist including those
at Stanford,
UCLA and
the University
of Arizona). |
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1989
The SDSU Department of Women's
Studies was recognized at the National Women's Studies Association
meetings. |
Late
1980s
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Women's
Studies expand across the globe. |
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Late
1980s
The College of Arts and Letters
instituted a budget process that gave departments considerable
flexibility over allocation of resources. |
Late
1980s
Responding to the National
Women's History Project, the U.S. Congress declares March
to be National Women's History Month. |
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Most
of 1980s
The WS Department had one
tenured administrative faculty member and six full time (tenure-track)
faculty. The department was flush with courses, students and
faculty. |
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| 1990s |
Although
the University system underwent budget cuts, the Women's Studies
Department continued to grow, expanding with a Master's Degree
program and international collaborations with China, Sweden,
and Mexico. |
| Women's
Studies |
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SDSU Women's
Studies |
Early
1990s
The NWSA goes through a period
of turmoil and disarray.
Regional associations including
the Pacific Southwest
Women's Studies Association
pick up the duties of conference sponsorship. |
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1991
The state experienced a severe
budget crisis, mandating extreme cutbacks at the university.
Almost all non-tenure line instructional funds were eliminated.
This led to massive layoffs of temporary faculty and the elimination
of visiting positions. |
1990
Planning meetings were held
at the 1999 conference in Tromso, Norway. Women's Studies is
well organized and represented at the regional, national and
international levels. 1990
8-10 programs offer Doctoral
Programs in interdisciplinary Women's Studies or feminist
perspectives within another discipline. |
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1992
The notorious threat of pink
slips for tenured and tenure-track faculty in 1992. Women's
Studies was never threatened with the loss of tenured faculty,
but the nontenure track colleagues had their lives disrupted
for a number of years. While some of them have returned to Women's
Studies, these years have left their mark on the department
and on the university as a whole. |
1990
Tri-annual International
Women's Studies conference. The formation of a global Women's
Studies organization. |
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1995
Period of renewed strength.
The department has once again entered a growth phase, exceeding
any since the 1970s. |
1990
Approximately two dozen programs,
nationwide, offer MA or MS degrees in Women's Studies. |
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1995
The Department was authorized
to recruit for an additional tenure-track position, as
well as for a joint appointment with Geography. |
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1995
One day symposium held on
the history and future of Women's Studies, to celebrate the
25th anniversary of the department. |
1994
Congress adopts the Gender
Equity in Education Act to train teachers, promote math and
science learning by girls, counsel pregnant teens and prevent
sexual harrassment. |
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1995
Initiation of a Master's
Degree Program which attracted excellent students in relatively
large numbers and stimulated the growth of new courses. |
Mid
1990s
"Take Our Daughters to Work
Day" begins, with the hope that girls may see a variety of career
opportunities. June
1999
NWSA
put on a successful conference in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. |
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SDSU
Women's Studies Department's graduation ceremony |
Late
1990s
The Supreme Court rules that
college athletic programs receiving federal funding must have
equal numbers of male and female athletes. This furthered the
mission of Title IX, passed in the mid 1970s. |
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1998
A joint appointment was made
with the Asian Studies Department. Addition of two lower-division
Women's studies courses to the "Foundations" section of the
University's core curriculum. |
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| 2000s |
The
program is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a series of
community actions. International collaborations continue to
develop in Latin America and Europe. |
| Women's
Studies |
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SDSU Women's
Studies |
2000
Women's Studies is particularly
strong in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany,
the Scandinavian countries, India, Australia, and New Zealand. |
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Quilt
project by the Hoover High Young Women's Studies' Club |
2000
More than 700 Women's Studies
programs exist in the United States, many offer a concentration,
certificate, minor or major degree. |
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2000
Ten tenured/tenure-track
faculty, with a further substantial allocation for part-time
lecturers and graduate teaching assistants. |
2000
Women's Studies is expanding
in Latin, America, China, Japan, Korea and the countries of
the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. |
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2000
The Department maintains
a strong commitment to excellence of teaching and research,
and is taking a leadership role in college and university affairs. |
2000
New Women's Studies courses
and programs continue to be developed at all levels of education
and in all types of institutions. |
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2000
The Department has a reputation
for rigorous standards in the preparation and conduct of courses,
and expects of its faculty the highest standards of academic
excellence. |
2000
Some related programs and
emphases are Lesbian Studies, African-American Women's Studies
and Latina Studies. |
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April
2000
Hosts the annual conference
of the Pacific Southwest Women's Studies Association (also in
2001). |
2000
As many as 2000 educators
from the US as well as form Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America
and Australia/New Zealand have attended these conferences.
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2000
Patricia
Ireland is guest speaker as part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations. |
| Global
list of women's organizations Global
center for women's studies and politics |
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May
2000
Patricia Ireland, President
of the National Organization for
Women (NOW) speaks to faculty, students, and Friends of
Women's Studies. |
2001
Pacific Southwest Women's
Studies Association conference to be held in April at San Diego
State University. |
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Fall
2000
WS offers admission into
its 12 unit Certificate Program through the College of Extended
Studies. The foci are 1)overview 2)health and 3)multicultural
issues. |
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| This
page was written from information collected from SDSU WS Department
faculty, A Timeline
of the Women's Rights Movement and The
Path of the Women's Right's Movement. |
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