Department of Women's Studies

Elizabeth Kennedy and MA students at graduation 2002

The Department of Women's Studies at the University of Arizona stands at the cutting edge of interdisciplinary feminist research and curriculum. The Department was founded in 1975 and gained full departmental status in 1997. It offers BA and MA degree programs, and its renowned faculty - composed of 11 core faculty and over 60 affiliates - work in a wide range of areas including:

* Feminist poststructuralist, postcolonial, marxist and queer theory
* Critical race studies, Chicana studies and Borderlands studies
* Film and Literature
* Sexuality and the Body
* Social Movements, US Third World and Transnational Feminisms
* Feminist Science Studies
* Feminist Pedagogy and Curriculum Development

Our internationally prestigious Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW) was established in 1979. SIROW develops collaborative research-action projects of importance to women in the southwestern US and the Mexico-US border regions; links researchers, community organizations and policy makers to encourage informed policies and accessible, responsive service for diverse women's health and well-being; encourages women's contributions in knowledge and cultural production; and supports science and engineering education of, by, and for women and girls through the Women in Science and Engineering Program. The department also has a member-based community organization, the Women's Studies Advisory Council (WOSAC), that promotes and supports the students and faculty of the department and its activities. The Women's Plaza of Honor is sponsored by the Women's Studies Advisory Council and will be a means to raise $1.5 million dollars to support women's studies students in their academic achievement.

Located 70 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border and the export-processing zone across the border, and surrounded by Native American reservations, Tucson and the University of Arizona provide a particularly appropriate site for the study of global/local, cultural and economic processes. The university features vibrant programs/departments in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies, Latin American Studies, American Indian Studies, Mexican American Studies, and Middle East Studies (among many others) as well as top-ranked departments in numerous fields. It is also the home of the celebrated Center for Creative Photography.