Comparative Women's Studies

A Letter from Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Ph.D.
Fall 2007

Dear Friends:

I’d like to let you know that the Fall issue of Ms. is just about to hit the newsstands. I am quoted — along with such other women as Gloria Steinem, Margaret Cho, Alice Walker, Whoopi Goldberg, Beth Ditto, Billie Jean King, Isabel Allende, Kim Gandy, Wangari Maathai and bell hooks — in a feature called “Voices Carry.” It’s part of a celebration of the 35th anniversary of Ms .— a remarkable milestone in a world where most magazines don’t even last five years.

Each of us responded to the question of how feminism has changed our lives in the past 35 years, and where we foresee the movement going in the next 35. As part of this anniversary issue, there’s also an eye-opening “Then & Now” comparison of women’s lives and achievements in 1972 compared with today.
 
In addition, Ms. looks back to the triumphs of Title IX in both K-12 and higher education, as that gender-barrier-breaking law also celebrates its 35th birthday this year. Other articles of note in the new issue include a profile of “recovering politician” Carol Moseley Braun and her new venture into “biodynamic” foods; an excerpt from a new book about Bella Abzug; a look at how feminists have impacted mainstream news media from within and without; an expose of how sex traffickers may hide behind classified ads; and a true story from an abortion-providing physician about how she told her grandmother about her work — and the heart-wrenching secret that “Flower Grandma” revealed in return.   

Ms. helps us to be righteously angry (instead of depressed) about what’s going on in the world, and encourages us to use that energy to move forward. Look for it on newsstands or, even better, join the Ms. community at http://msmagazine.com/.
 
Sincerely,

Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Ph.D.
Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies
and Founding Director of the Women’s Research
and Resource Center

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Since its founding, the Women’s Research and Resource Center has played a major role in establishing a unique interdisciplinary comparative women’s studies major/minor which focuses on women of African descent and analyzes women’s experiences, broadly speaking, from a cross-cultural perspective.

The newest components of the major are a concentration in global women’s health and offerings which focus on film and the moving image. In 1996, a Comparative Women’s Studies program was approved, affording Spelman the distinction of having established the first undergraduate Women’s Studies major at a historically Black college/university.

The major is supervised by three core faculty attached to the Women’s Center: Professors Beverly Guy-Sheftall, M. Bahati Kuumba, and Ayoka Chenzira. A new Associate Professor, Aline Gubrium, joined the faculty this year. An interdisciplinary faculty team constitutes the Women’s Studies Steering Committee, most of whom teach Women’s Studies courses in their respective disciplines or programs.