Oregon daily emerald., September 21, 1972, Section I, Page 3, Image 3

Human studies programs begin this year
Courses
offer
introduction
to
women’s
studies
By NANCY BECK
Of the Emerald
Have you wondered why nearly all your
college teachers are men and most of your
previous teachers were women? Do you
study only male authors in your literature
classes? Do you understand what
feminists mean when they talk about
women’s oppression?
Three courses offered this fall will help
you to understand these and related
•lestions on feminism: Introduction to
omen's Studies, Women and Literature
and Sociology of Women.
Introduction to Women's Studies will
provide basic information on the women's
movement and on women’s status in this
society. The 3-credit course is coordinated
by Jeanette Silveira and may be taken by
University and DCE (Division of Con
tinuing Education) students. Students can
select the course in one of the following
departments: psychology, sociology,
political science, educational psychology'
or CSPA.
The course was initiated by a number of
women at the University, including
graduate and undergraduate students and
faculty, who saw the need for an in
terdisciplinary, introductory approach to
women’s studies. Other women’s studies
classes have been taught at the University,
but several have been hampered by having
to*spend much time on the basics of
feminism, instead of concentrating on
more specific and advanced material.
Hopefully the 199 course will provide a
base for these courses as well as for a
women's studies program encompassing
many academic disciplines.
Some of the topics to be discussed will
include a history of the women’s
movement in the 19th and 20th centuries,
sex differences, women’s health, sex roles
and socialization, sexism and language,
lesbianism and women and welfare. Issues
and problems of the current feminist
movement, such as classism and racism,
will also be considered.
Community and University women will
act as resource persons for presentations
on these topics. Some of these women are:
Roberta Hanna, M.A., University of
Oregon
Jan Newton, Assistant Professor of
Economics
Judith Merkle. Assistant Professor of
Political Science
Mary Rothbart, Assistant Professor of
Psychology
Jean Leppaluoto, Assistant Professor of
Educational Psychology
Marilyn Farwell, Assistant Professor of
English
In addition to lectures, films, panel
discussions and demonstrations will be
used.
Students will have a number of options
for meeting course requirements, in
cluding discussion groups, projects,
papers, exams and social action. Grade
choice is also optional
There are still openings for qualified
discussion group leaders. Interested
persons can contact Nancy at 343-1103 or
Norine at 686-2156.
English 199, Women and Literature, will
focus on 20th Century women writers'
views of themselves and their society,
according to instructor Marilyn Farwell.
Students will read essays, poems, novels
and autobiographies of American, English
and European authors in translation.
Feminist writers, such as Doris Lessing
and Sylvia Plath, will be stressed. In
addition, Mary Wollstonecraft, an 18th
Century English feminist, will be studied.
Farwell will also discuss sexism in
language.
The course has no prerequisite.
Students taking Sociology of Women, Soe
407, should have some background in the
department and knowledge of women’s
issues Joan Acker, assistant professor of
sociology, is the instructor.
Several areas to be covered are theories
on the position of women, the family,
women and aging, working women and
housewives.
Joan Acker first taught Sociology of
Women Spring term, 1970. She offered it
again Fall term, 1971 and in every sub
sequent term. This is the first women's
studies course and the first to be listed in
the catalogue.
Approximately thirteen other courses on
women have been offered in several
departments since Fall, 1971. Some of
these include Images of Women in Con
temporary Literature, Women and
Polities and a three-term sequence in
Anthropology of Women. Since there was
no over all coordination for these courses,
most were offered only once. A women’s
studies program could provide sequences,
assure the continuation of good courses
and expand the study of women’s condition
and achievements to as many depart
ments as possible.
Introduction to Women’s Studies is a
good step in that directiop.
Certificate
available
for
majors
in
ethnic
studies
By CLAY EALS
Of the Emerald
University students will soon — after three years of
talk, proposals, arguments, committee work and
bureaucracy — enroll in courses as part of an Ethnic
Studies Program.
The University’s new Ethnic Studies Program,
costing the University $35,000, will probably begin
winter term.
It consists of awarding a certificate in ethnic studies to
students completing 30 hours of appropriate course
work.
Students choosing to complete the 30-credit certificate
program would major in one of the established depart
ments of professional schools and would meet the cer
tificate requirements, as well as degree requirements,
for their individual majors.
Obtaining a certificate in ethnic studies would be
equivalent to having ethnic studies as a “minor.”
Individual student programs will be worked out in
conference with the student’s regular departmental
adviser or with the office of the director of ethnic
studies As of press time, the ethnic studies director had
not been selected
The Ethnic Studies Program became a reality July 24
when the State Board of Higher Education voted six to
two to authorize the University to offer the program to
students beginning this fall term.
Before the board's action, the Ethnic Studies Program
was considered by University-wide committees for
more than two years. The committees met often,
sometimes weekly, to develop such a program, and the
meetings were marked by many disagreements among
committee members and interested participants
The board, in its July 24 meeting, disagreed among
itself as to the central idea of such a program.
The two board members who voted against the
program were Loran Stewart and Elizabeth Johnson.
Stewart said the program represents “a form of
discrimination” and that consideration of such a
program “points up something where we should all be
working together . . . (not) pointing out minority
groups." He added that the program is “basically
wrong.”
Johnson said she was in favor of “molding and
merging existing programs” rather than creating a new
program. She said she was concerned with “the
possibility of building not bridges but walls” with the
program.
“There are connotations attached to the program
which, in my mind, 1 don’t want to convey,” she said
“I know that in the Black community there is not
unanimity on this kind of thing.”
Johnson also said she was “concerned that there
didn’t seem to be a bigger student demand for this.”
ASUO President Bill Wyatt countered Johnson’s
statement on student demand by saying there is “an
absolutely tremendous demand” for the new program at
the University.
“This sort of program is long overdue,” he said. “It is
not funded as well as a program like that should be. It’s
difficult to put together an adequate ethnic studies
program with $35,000.”
But, he added, “the demand for this sort of program
has never been greater than it is right now.” Wyatt
added that he would "hesitate to say” what would
happen at the University if the board denied approval of
the program.
Board member Robert Holmes, who supported the
program, said, “maybe here is a chance to put it all
together.” Holmes said his only objection to the
program is that “it may be a little late.”
Philip Joss, board member, said he was “very im
pressed” with the objectives of the program.
“It’s important for persons of minority extraction . . .
to have the opportunity to learn and appreciate their
culture, their traditions and it’s also important for
persons who aren’t of minority extraction.”
The Ethnic Studies Program itself is an enrichment
program only during its first year and a lower-division
ethnic studies sequence (ES 101, ES 102, ES 103) will
fulfill that purpose.
The introductory sequence will introduce students to
the general social problems and history of ethnic groups
in the United States.
The sequence would also divide students into group
discussion sections, “each taught for students of the
various ethnic backgrounds and individually tailored to
produce an understanding on the student’s part of all the
segments of a minority community, their interaction
among themselves and their interaction with the larger
society (including other minority groups),” according to
a description of the program
The initial enrichment period involving the first
sequence will be nine of the 30 credits required in the
certificate program Required are 21 upper division
credits, including six hours of field work.
The specific upper division courses needed to acquire
the certificate will be worked out between the student’s
major advisor and-or with the office of the director of
ethnic studies.
There is a wide range of already existing courses
(except for the new introductory sequence) in the
following catagories. general and introductory, culture,
history, sociopolitical, human biology and education.
There is also a mixed group of courses under the
heading “Other courses of relevance.”
Additional courses in the ethnic studies area will be
developed within established departments.
The general definition of the program says its pur
poses: “must not be viewed as a vehicle of assimilation.
The aim is not to subordinate the minority cultures or
absorb them into the national culture, but to aid the
minority communities in participating in their own way
in the national culture and to understand the various
aspects of that national culture.”
The $35,000 budget for the program is for a half-time
director, a half-time faculty member, teaching
assistants, and a clerical staff. The money will also be
used to buy materials and equipment for the program
and to pay for other contingencies such as consultants,
guest speakers, travel and recruiting.
A search committee has already met to select a
candidate for ethnic studies director this summer for the
approval of University President Robert Clark
The requirements set up by the committee for the
director, according to the committee’s chairer Marshall
Wattles, are:
—“A terminal degree (in hand or near).
—“An excellent teacher.
—“A capable scholar in an acknowledged academic
field.
—“One who is capable of negotiating with faculty
members.
—1"Priority will be given to candidates of ethnic
minorities.”
The director will be expected to establish and to teach
in the ethnic studies basic course, Wattles says.
“While salary will depend upon education and ex
perience, we contemplate its being in the vicinity of
515,000 an academic year.” The position is .5 FTE (full
time equivalent) for 12 months as a director and ad
ministrator, and .5 FTE for nine months as a teacher
In this section
University students come into contact with
many educational experiences here—most
of them are traditionally structured and
administered. However, there are in
novative and unusual courses and
programs at the University, and this
section of the Emerald’s fall term
orientation issue is an attempt to identify
and explain some of them.