SDSU’s Department of Women’s Studies gets a new name
In a multi-year effort to expand the scope of the department, the transformation is complete and the new name is official.
Fifty-four years after its programs burst onto campus in a historic first, San Diego State University’s former Department of Women’s Studies has a new name reflecting the tremendous expansion of its academic scope and mission, from its origins in early feminist thought to 21st century societal issues revolving around a broad spectrum of gender identities, expressions and activism.
The rebranded Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, in the College of Arts and Letters, is wrapping up its first semester. The first academic unit of women’s studies at any college or university in the U.S. now offers undergraduate and graduate students an education in disciplines touching on matters that were much farther, and in some cases completely absent from public consciousness in the 1970s.
Particularly in the past few years, the academic focus of the department has broadened to include LGBTQIA+ identity and non-binary expressions. As the department stated in a proposal to the University Senate, the new name reflects “more expansive understanding of the field, and more accurately reflects the scholarship that faculty and students currently produce within the department.”
Jess Whatcott, assistant professor and interim graduate advisor in the department, said the department actively began discussions about the name change in fall 2022, some time after similar departments at other universities already had done so.
“I became involved because I had heard from many trans, non-binary, and gender diverse people that when they first encountered the department name, they weren't sure if they would be welcomed and/or if their lives would be represented in the curriculum,” Whatcott said.
“The name change was also deeply personal to me as a person who identifies as non-binary, and is one of only a handful of trans, non-binary, and gender diverse faculty on our campus,” they added. “I deeply appreciate the openness of my colleagues to create a name that affirms my belongingness, and my classes and scholarship.”
Origins
Following a grassroots campaign the first courses in women’s studies were offered in 1970 at what was then San Diego State College, and the women’s studies program was approved in May of that year. It became a department with its own dedicated faculty lines in 1974.
Early classes included Women’s Roles in History and Literature and Human Sexuality. Reflecting the expansion and sophistication of the field since then, a spring 2025 course, Trans Feminisms (WMNST 533), explores how transgender and non-binary issues relate to feminism and the connections of trans/feminist politics to race, class and ability. Existing courses delve into Reproductive Rights and Justice (WMNST 520) and Latinas in the Americas (WMNST 512).
In its long history, faculty, staff and students have participated in marches, engaged in impactful research, and fostered community connections.
An annual colloquium series brought to campus well-known figures of the women's movement and advocates for women's issues, including activist/journalist Gloria Steinem and two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug.
Today, the department is composed of 10 tenure-track faculty, more than 10 lecturers and about 100 majors and minors. Its various courses fulfill almost every general education requirement and draw thousands of students each year.
