UCSC Feminist Studies Department records, 1970-2014, bulk 1974-2013

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Summary

Creators:
University of California, Santa Cruz. Feminist Studies Department
Extent:
25 Linear Feet (25 boxes) and 11.6 GB (624 digital files)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

UCSC Feminist Studies Department records. UA 97. University Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection documents the administrative and curricular functions of the Feminist Studies (formerly Women's Studies) Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as well as events, initiatives, and lectures sponsored by the department. It includes curriculum planning and advertising materials, staffing reports, professional correspondence, event advertisements, lecture recordings, course syllabi, and collected files on the development of Women's Studies programs outside of UC Santa Cruz. Major topics covered in these papers include the establishment of the department, development of the undergraduate curriculum and PhD program, the Institute of Advanced Feminist Research (IAFR), the Focused Research Activity (FRA) in Women's/Feminist Studies, and the development of similiar women's studies programs around the country.

Biographical / historical:

The UC Santa Cruz Feminist Studies Department is one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind in the United States. Founded in 1974 as the Women's Studies program by student and faculty initiative, it fosters the development of interdisciplinary, transnational, and community-oriented scholarship on the UC Santa Cruz campus and beyond.

In 1972, 700 students signed a petition in support of the establishment of a Women's Studies program. The Women's Studies Bachelor of Arts degree was approved in 1974, with its first class of students graduating in 1975. The Women's Studies Collective was also established in 1974, whose members joined task forces to create policy for the program, communicate updates, and organize activities in conjunction with the academic Women's Studies major. In 2005, the department name changed from Women's Studies to Feminist Studies in order to "signal [their] commitment to new directions in feminist scholarship and [recognize their] strengths and interests in feminism and transnationalism" (The Wave, vol. VIII no. 1, 2005). In the fall of 2013, after nearly eighteen years of planning and preparation, the Feminist Studies Department's first PhD cohort began their studies.

The Feminist Studies Department has actively supported many campus initiatives, including the establishment of the Institute for Advanced Feminist Research (IAFR), the Focused Research Activity/Organized Research Activity (FRA/ORA) in Feminist Studies, and the UC Santa Cruz Women's Center. It also has a long history of engagement in social justice initiatives on local, national, and international scales. The Feminist Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz continues to serve as a model for similar programs around the country.

Department Timeline
Date Event
1971
First Women's Studies course Literature and Society: The Women's Movement offered at Merrill College
1972
700 students sign a petition endorsing the establishment of a Women's Studies program at UC Santa Cruz
1973
Academic Senate adopts proposal to establish a Coordinating Council for Women's Studies
Women's Studies Office opens at Kresge College
1974
Women's Studies Bachelor of Arts degree approved
Women's Studies Collective established
1975
First Women's Studies graduating class
1979
Restructuring of Women's Studies program by Helene Moglen, dean of humanities; funding increases and curriculum expands
1980
Bettina Aptheker appointed to teach WMST 1, Introduction to Feminism
1984
Feminist Studies Focused Research Activity (FRA) established for faculty and graduate student research collaboration
Helene Moglen becomes chair of Women's Studies program
1985
UCSC Women's Center established at Cardiff House
1986
Women's Studies awarded Committee status, i.e., approved for tenure-track faculty appointments
1992
"Parenthetical Notation" in Women's Studies approved by the Graduate Council
First Annual Women of Color Film and Video Festival, founded by History of Consciousness graduate student Margaret Daniel
1993
Five concentrations in the Women's Studies major are established: Representations; Race, Class, and Ethnicity; Nations and Cultures; Movements, Institutions, Policy, and Legal Studies; and Theory
Women's Studies Library established at Kresge College
1995
First Women's Studies graduate course, WMST 205: Feminism, Nationalism, and Sexuality in the Third World, taught by Emily Honig
1996
External review of Women's Studies program
1998
First issue of The Wave newsletter published in June
2000
25th Anniversary celebration of Women's Studies at UC Santa Cruz
2005
Name of department changes to Feminist Studies
2013
Inaugural cohort of PhD students begin in Fall
Acquisition information:
Inventory created in 2014 by Nicolette M. Czarrunchick, Academic Advisor in the Feminist Studies Department. Transferred to University Archives in 2015.
Processing information:

Processed by Alina Ivette Fernandez in the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) with assistance from Alix Norton, 2017. Most titles in this collection were derived from the original folder titles as received from the department.

The digital portion of the collection was processed by Special Collections staff Alix Norton in 2020. Digital files were transferred from carrier disks in 2017 and 2020. Duplicate files, system-generated files, and temporary files were removed using the tool TreeSize Pro, and files that were out of scope were manually removed. Files were not reformatted, and file names are original to the creator. Original disks were retained after file transfer and are included in the collection, with the exception of materials that were deemed to be out of scope and materials that were not able to be transferred.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in six series:

  • Series 1: Curriculum
  • Series 2: Initiatives
  • Series 3: Events
  • Series 4: Administrative files
  • Series 5: Subject files
  • Series 6: Digital files and media
Materials within each series are arranged chronologically unless otherwise specified.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Audiovisual media is unavailable until reformatted. Digital files are available in the UCSC Special Collections and Archives reading room. Some files may require reformatting before they can be accessed. Technical limitations may hinder the Library's ability to provide access to some digital files. Access to digital files on original carriers is prohibited; users must request to view access copies. Contact Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access to audiovisual media and digital files.

Terms of access:

Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs. Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.

Preferred citation:

UCSC Feminist Studies Department records. UA 97. University Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Location of this collection:
Special Collections and Archives, University Library
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95064, US
Contact:
(831) 459-2547
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
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