Women's Studies Program Fact Sheet

INTEGRATING~/i:'~ THE SCHOLARSHIP ON WOMEN TAANSFO™ING THE CURRICULW PROJECT D18ECTO8S: ELAINE HEDGES, SA.AA COUL TEI\ TOWSON STATE UNl\tt8Sl1Y • TOMON, tv\AI\YLAND 21204 • (J01 ) J21 -2660 Women's Studies at Towson State University Fact Sheet The WoMen's Studies Progra• at Towson is one 0£ the oldest and most stable woaen's studies progra•s in the country--courses have been o££ered since 1970, the program becaMe o£ficial in 1973; o£fera both a aaJor and a ainor. There ere •ore than 35 wo•en's studies courses in the curriculum--a core of seven interdisciplinary ones, and 28 others o££ered through 13 traditional depart•ents. The number 0£ courses offered each semester is larger in proportion to the school's student body than the number o££ered at coeducational schools of comparable or larger size. Towson was ranked with the University of Cali£ornia at Berkeley and Ohio State University as among the top three public, coeducational institutions in the country o££ering a quality women's studies program and a supportive environment £or women. Towson was the only one 0£ the three to quali£y in all the categories on which the ranking wee based. A total 0£ 582 institutions 0£ higher education in the United States were surveyed by the Feminist Press, Everywomen's Guide to Schools and Colleges (1982). The Women's Studies program received a three-year (1983-86) grant CS251,813) £ro• FIPSE to conduct faculty workshops on integrating the new scholarship on woaen into the traditional curriculua. Eleven workshops involving over 70 Towson £aculty met £or £ive semesters to read and discuaa the new scholarship on women and to revise and test their coursea to include more 0£ this scholarship. Four conferences end over 25 consultants supplemented the workshops. Thia was the largest grant proJect 0£ its kind in the country in number 0£ £eculty and length 0£ tiMe 0£ their work in the proJect. An in-house publication, RESOURCES FOR CURRICULUM CHANGE, reviews the proJect, au•marizes the workshops, end provides saMple syllabi and bibliography. It is available £or purchase and is now in its aecond printing. In 1987, FIPSE provided an additional dissemination grant 0£ S8,000 to support extending in£ormation and resources 0£ the Towson proJect to ten comfflunity colleges in the Baltimore-Washington area. SUPPORTED OY FUND FOi\ THE ltv\Pr.OVEMENT OF POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION