Professor Janice Radway discusses the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program and its influence

In 1975 Northwestern founded the Women’s Studies Program. This program was in response to questions pertaining to the tenure of female professors, comparison of salaries between male and female professors, and how to best support graduate students who still wanted to pursue academic careers but also had children.

Since its inception in 1975 the program and conversation about gender and sexuality continued to change and evolve. Ultimately this created the Gender Studies program in 2000 and the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program in 2012 – the latter still exists.

Dr. Jancie Radway, director of the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program and the Walter Dill Scott Professor of Communication, shares how this program has broadened its sphere of influence and how other Northwestern departments have followed.

“Women’s studies programs transformed just about every discipline in the United States,” says professor Radway.

“Feminism became more than activism. It gave scholars and students a framework for analyzing society.”

The questions and discussions which start in women’s studies classes spread across Northwestern. Professors are encouraged to consider course material from a gender-conscious perspective.

Today, there are more than 400 students enrolled in Gender & Sexuality courses each quarter. Each year about 60 students declare either a major or minor in the department. From classes exploring gender roles in language to health and activism, there is a persistent curiosity about how gender and sexuality have shape – and continue to shape – society and culture.

Related: Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Beyond – Weinberg Magazine