San Jose State has had its fair share of activism.
Women were finally able to display their voice in academia with the establishment of one of the nation’s first women’s studies programs in 1972.
During the civil rights movements of the ’60s and ’70s, the second wave of feminism emerged, and women all over college campuses were demanding changes in the way history was taught.
Academic Vice President Hobert Burns officially established the Women’s Studies Program. However, many of the courses were taught by unpaid graduate students who believed in the fledgling program.
“They volunteered themselves without pay to teach classes like women in literature, women in history, or psychology of women – things like that,” said Dr. Tanya Bakhru, associate professor and advisor in the current Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program (WGS).
Following the success of the African-American Studies Program, SJSU students and faculty were able to, once again, spearhead academic change. This came just two years after the first Women’s Studies Program at San Diego State University.
However, despite its inception in the fall, spring 1972 did not have women’s studies listed as an available course list. According to an article published in the Spartan Daily on Jan. 8, 1973, this was later rectified the following spring when eight new courses were added.
The program comprised social science general education courses centered around women. As such, the available classes were not individually labeled as women’s studies courses until the fall 1985 semester.
The actual course list for women’s studies would remain a collection of separate courses until fall 1988, when it became a more recognized specialization. The classes afterward would be labeled as WOMS, the same label as today.
The courses were in a department under the name Interdisciplinary Social Science, which had an Asian-American Studies Program and a Social Science Teacher Preparation Program. In 2012, the Interdisciplinary Social Science Department merged with sociology.
During the merger in 2012, the program changed its name from Women’s Studies to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
“This was a decision to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ studies . . . However, we still wanted to keep women in the title to honor the history of the program and honor its link to the women’s movement,” Bakhru said on the name change.
Bakhru said there are 35 students majoring in sociology with a concentration in WGS and 25 who are minoring in the program.
“A lot of the women in engineering classes had to find a home in women’s studies as a minor because it’s a refreshing space from a male dominated space,” said Bakhru.
Po-ying Chiang is a male senior sociology major with a concentration in WGS.
“I was unsure what to do with sociology, but after I took a class with Dr. Bakhru I was inspired to get into WGS,” Chiang said. “I was criticized as a man for taking WGS courses but I am doing what I enjoy, so I don’t let it affect me.”
Some WGS courses are included as GE area requirements. Animation/Illustration senior Amy Albus said she liked that because it gave her an opportunity to learn something that would not have been covered in her major courses.
“It helps learn about more broad women’s problems that I otherwise would not have known about,” Albus said.
Dr. Susana Gallardo, an SJSU religious studies professor, also enjoys teaching women’s studies because she feels she is always learning along with her students. She did a lot of work in women’s studies in graduate school in literature and cultural studies.
Her personal goal is to see at least one women’s studies course and one ethnic studies course required for graduation from the CSU system.
“I always tell my students that while I will teach theory and history, they are ultimately the experts on gender in the 21st century,” Gallardo added, “They live it, learn it, and unlearn it every day.”
