Georgia State University Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies records
Scope and Contents of the Records
The records, 1984-2011 [bulk 1992-2005], of the Georgia State University Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies include material such as manuscripts, invitations and programs, correspondence, flyers, audio recordings, and artifacts that documenting the history and activities of the institute.
Dates
- 1984-2011
- Majority of material found within 1992 - 2005
Creator
Restrictions on Access
Access to certain files, as indicated on the inventory, is restricted to 75 years from the date of creation.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Georgia State University is the owner of the physical collection and makes reproductions available for research, subject to the copyright law of the United States and item condition. Georgia State University may or may not own the rights to materials in the collection. It is the researcher's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and obtain permission from the copyright holder before publication, reproduction, or display of the materials beyond what is reasonable under copyright law. Researchers may quote selections from the collection under the fair use provision of copyright law.
Historical Note about the Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Founded in 1994 as the Women's Studies Institute, the Institute for Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) at Georgia State University has played integral roles in creating knowledge about the workings of gender in social, political, and economic spheres locally and globally, contributing to the intellectual development of feminists in Atlanta and the world. As WGSS has grown to include five core faculty and over forty affiliate faculty across the University, it has developed a depth of expertise in the interrelated areas of sexuality studies, social change, and globalization. They have also developed wide-ranging expertise in an array of fields, from British literature to criminal justice, media studies to social work, and religious studies to educational studies.
The Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies was realized after 20 years of dedicated struggle by a group of faculty committed to the project of establishing WGSS at Georgia State University. Among this group were its first two Directors. The founding Director, Diane L. Fowlkes, led the development of the Master's of Arts in 1995. Since that time, WGSS master's graduates have continued on to prestigious doctoral programs, law school, non-profit work, and careers in government and private industry.
Though students had developed undergraduate concentrations in WGSS since 1984, the Institute's second Director, Linda A. Bell, led the establishment of the Bachelor of Arts in 2003, enabling WGSS to offer an undergraduate major and minor. With demand for the knowledge and critical thinking women's, gender, and sexuality studies offers, the program has created significant relationships not only with local feminist organizations, academics, and activists but also with feminists in universities, non-governmental organizations, arts and cultural alliances, and communities around the world. The Institute for Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies is recognized as a site for cutting-edge theoretical analyses and applications of feminist and womanist knowledges.
Around the period of WGSS's inception in 1995, Georgia State University also became the home for the Georgia Women's Movement Project. GSU publicly announced that the initial goal of the project was to preserve the history of the second U.S. women's movement in Georgia (1964-1982) through the development of the Donna Novak Coles Women's Movement Archives and the Lucy Hargrett Draper U.S. Equal Rights Amendment Collection (1923-1982), while continuing to study and pursue equality and progress through the Women's Movement Program in the Women's Studies Institute. This collaboration between the Unviersity Library and the Women's Studies Institute flourished to include of 40 collections in the ever-expanding Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives and more than 50 oral histories in the Georgia Women's Movement Oral History Project.
Extent
5.63 Linear Feet (in 11 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract:
Founded in 1994, the Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) was realized after 20 years of dedicated struggle by a group of faculty committed to the project of establishing WGSS at Georgia State University. The founding director, Diane L. Fowlkes led the development of the Master of Arts program in 1995. The Institute's second director, Linda A. Bell, led the establishment of the Bachelor of Arts in 2003, enabling WGSS to offer an undergraduate major and minor. Today, the Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is recognized as a site for cutting-edge theoretical analyses and applications of feminist and womanist knowledges. The collection includes materials such as manuscript materials, invitations and programs, correspondence, flyers, audio recordings, and artifacts that document the history and activities of the Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Georgia State University.
Arrangement
Arranged in two series: I. Women's Studies Institute, II. Georgia Women's Movement Project.
Acquisition Information
Transferred to Special Collections via Andy Reisinger, July 2013.
Separated Materials
Separated to Women's Printed Collection: Spec Books, see online catalog for access
- Aghdasifar, Tahereh, Neoliberalization of Space: Negotiating Female Homosociality in Tehran, Masters Thesis, 2011
Processing Information
Processed by Alex McGee at the file level, October 2014.
Creator
- Title
- Georgia State University Institute for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
- Subtitle
- A Guide to Its Records at Georgia State University Library
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- October 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
100 Decatur St., S.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404-413-2880
404-413-2881 (Fax)
archives@gsu.edu