Pitt's Women's Studies Program Marks 30th Anniversary One of the Nation's First, Program a Model for Others

October 15, 2002

PITTSBURGH The Women's Studies Program at the University of Pittsburgh will commemorate its 30th anniversary with a lecture and reception at 3 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Pitt Club, 4010 O'Hara Street, Oakland.

Guest speaker Rickie Solinger, historian and author of Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion and Welfare in the United States, will deliver a talk titled "Nine Ways of Looking at a Poor Woman." (Solinger is just one of a number of participants in the Women's Studies Fall 2002 Speaker Series, which runs through Nov. 21. The complete schedule is available at www.pitt.edu/~wstudies.)

Three faculty members founded Pitt's Women's Studies Program in 1972, when it offered five courses. Today, there are 60 affiliated faculty from diverse disciplines and 100 courses, as well as certificates at the Master of Arts and the Ph.D. degree levels, for those interested in the study of issues regarding women and gender. Currently, 125 students are enrolled in the certificate program. "The graduate certificate is a valuable credential for those seeking teaching and research positions in higher education, and those seeking careers working with women or girls, in which gender issues are important," says Carol Stabile, director of the program. "This could include public policy, media, community organizing, or agencies that serve women dealing with substance abuse, family violence, or other problems."

Women's Studies also awards two teaching fellowships each academic year and hosts a variety of lectures and seminars. Stabile says the program's courses "add a unique intellectual dimension to students' course of study, as well as a different atmosphere for intellectual work."

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