Mission and History
Mission Statement
The UH Women's Studies Program seeks to provide practical information and theoretical frameworks through an interdisciplinary approach.
Women's Studies offers the chance to look at gender dynamics critically--to understand how they have shaped the world of the past, to recognize how they are changing today, and to open up discussion of how we want to steer them in the future.
Women's Studies tells the stories of women's contributions in all the disciplines--stories that too often get omitted from standard curricula. Without knowing women's stories as well as men's, we do not get the big human picture.
The Women's Studies Program includes coursework in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and fine arts. This kind of learning makes connections between the many aspects of experience and extends beyond the classroom to personally and socially important questions.
Diversity is also a commitment of UH Women's Studies. The aim of recognizing the variety and distinctiveness of women's cultures and experiences is reflected in course offerings, lectures, other activities, and student population. Women's Studies seek to analyze the intersection of the complex factors of gender, race, class, and sexuality. In addition to highlighting U.S. women's diversity, speakers have come from El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Israel, and Bangladesh. Our students come from many different cultural backgrounds and both men and women participate in the Program.
The Women's Studies Program also seeks to be involved beyond academia by providing opportunities and inviting dialogue for community members to participate in events, lectures, fundraising, and organizations.
Finally, the UH Women's Studies provides support for the collection and research of Houston area women's organizations and the creation and preservation of Texas women's oral histories.
History
Since the early 1970s, Women's Studies has grown rapidly in the U.S. to include almost every major college and university. The field is also well represented in Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Australia. Women's Studies at the University of Houston was established in the summer of 1991. The Friends of Women's Studies formed in 1993, and the Women's Archive and Research Center (WARC) opened in 1996.
