Persistence is Resistance: Celebrating 50 Years of Gender Women, & Sexuality Studies
Cover art by Veronica Eldredge.
Announcing a new open access book about GWSS! Persistence is Resistance: Celebrating 50 Years of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, edited by Julie Shayne with an Introduction by Beverly Guy-Sheftall.
Persistence is Resistance: Celebrating 50 Years of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies is a fully online, open access edited collection which includes contributions from a diverse group of GWSS scholars, including nine from the southeast region, representing over twenty different institutions, from undergraduate students to faculty emeritus. There are twenty short, accessible essays on the following topics: history of the first program (SDSU); Africana Women’s Studies, including at Clark Atlanta; GWSS in the Global South; the women’s studies name change (by an Emory alum); the urgency of GWSS (by a different Emory alum); an annotated bibliography on the history of GWSS; feminist pedagogy and praxis; feminist publishing; institutional battles (by Lourdes Torres); feminist administrating; getting jobs with a GWSS major (co-authored by UNC-Chapel Hill prof Michele Tracy Berger); an undergrad’s reflection on GWSS; GWSS in Ghana; feminism in Colombia; ecofeminism (Florida Atlantic University co-authors); Indigenous feminisms; GWSS and community colleges (by FAU alum); and about Chanel Miller’s Know My Name. Every author is either presently teaching in a GWSS program and/or has at least one of their degrees in GWSS. The essays are punctuated by artwork from GWSS undergraduates and alumni, and their short answers to why they chose GWSS. It is ideal for the classroom because it is FREE, the essays are short, jargon light, and meant to inspire feminist inquiry, activism, and pride. You can find the book here: https://uw.pressbooks.pub/happy50thws. Contact Julie Shayne at jshayne@uw.edu if you have any questions.
Advance praise from Dr. Stephanie Y. Evans, Professor and Director, Institute for Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, Georgia State University “This collection is the comprehensive and creative reflection that the academic discipline of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) deserves on our 50th Anniversary. This book reflects the founding tenants of creativity, activism, collaboration, and innovative praxis in a way that both affirms and restructures formal scholarly study. There has never been one approach to women’s studies. The contributors chosen for this volume reflect philosophical, methodological, racial, gender, linguistic, generational, and geographic diversity. The project known as women’s studies has necessarily evolved. With Persistence is Resistance, Julie Shayne has gifted us a comprehensive piece, but the work of WGSS is not complete. The work is not yet done, as evidenced by this moment in time when we face Covid, important Black Lives Matter activism, and voting/political repression during an election year that will determine the fate of this nation. Shayne offers a moment of important contemplation as we continue the work to define, practice, reshape, and institutionalize WGSS.”
