Graduate Consortium of Women's Studies
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About
Mission and History
Mission Statement
The Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality housed at MIT brings together feminist scholars and teachers from nine Boston area institutions for the purpose of advancing interdisciplinary, intersectional feminist scholarship and teaching in the areas of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. The consortium is committed to the following:
- Exploring the intersections of power and identity, including but not limited to gender, race, ethnicity, class, physical ability, nationality, religion, and language
- Cultivating collaborative intellectual communities across fields and disciplines
- Supporting innovative pedagogical practices
- Contributing to the professional development of students and faculty
- Providing a sustainable model of institutional collaboration
In line with the history of women’s studies, GCWS relies on shared expertise, wisdom, and vision to work toward a more just and equitable future for all people.
History
The GCWS (until 2016 named the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies) was founded in 1992 by feminist faculty from six Boston-area doctoral-degree-granting institutions, with the cooperation of President Linda Wilson at Radcliffe College. Current participating institutions are Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Simmons College, Tufts University, and UMass Boston. These institutions have endorsed the consortial operation and have agreed in principle for their faculty and students to participate, including mechanisms for credit transfer at most institutions.
The GCWS offered its first seminar in spring 1993. Since then, it has offered many different seminars to over 400 graduate students from all the participating institutions. In 1996 (the third year of operation), a team of prominent women's studies faculty evaluated the Consortium program, deeming it "an outstanding enterprise and a truly unique inter-institutional experiment." Participating institutions signed a 5-year Memoranda of Agreement in 1993, 1998, 2003, 2005, and 2010. The first Memorandum was initiated in 1993, in effect until 1998. The GCWS expanded its membership in 2004 to include Simmons College and the University of Massachusetts Boston. In 2005 the Consortium moved to its current institutional home, MIT, and Boston University became the ninth member institution in 2006.
In 2016 the GCWS changed its name from The Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies to the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality, retaining its previous abbreviated name: the GCWS.
Next Steps
- Overview
- History & Mission
- Member Institutions and Programs
- Publications
- Board of Directors
- Founding Members
- Staff
- 2016 Letter of Solidarity
- Mission and Policies Archive
Course List
- Workshop for Dissertation Writers in Women's and Gender Studies
Fall & Spring, Thursdays, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
September 6, 2018 – May 2, 2019 - Understanding Pornography
Fall 2018, Mondays, 3:30 PM – 6:30 PM
September 10, 2018 – December 10, 2018 - Feminist Inquiry
Fall 2018, Tuesdays, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
September 11, 2018 – December 11, 2018 - Gender and Food
Spring 2019
Tuesdays, 4:00-7:00 PM - Gendering U.S. Immigration Policy: Sociopolitical, Theological, and Feminist Perspectives
Spring 2019
Thursdays 9:00AM-12:00PM
Contact Us
Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 14N-211
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: 617-324-2085
