Indiana Creates First Gender Studies Ph.D.

from: http://insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/10/gender

The last decade has seen the number of women’s studies Ph.D. programs grow to at least 10 — most of them relatively new. Last week, Indiana University’s board approved the creation of a program that will be both similar and different from those 10: the first doctoral program in the United States exclusively in gender studies.

Suzanna Danuta Walters, chair of the program, said that while gender studies should not be seen “as in any way in opposition” to women’s studies, the Indiana program would be different in key ways: a strong interdisciplinary emphasis, core courses that focus on gender broadly, extensive connections with biology and other hard science departments, and courses and research projects on topics — such as sexuality, masculinity and transgendered people — that might not fit as neatly in a women’s studies rubric.

The Indiana program will also feature faculty members and research projects from the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, which is also located on Indiana’s Bloomington campus.