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A Short History
The College of Education has offered a Master’s Degree in Gender Equity Studies (GES) since 1982.
This innovative master’s was supported by several members of the College of Education. Dr. Barbara Arnstine and Sharon Alexander, both Emeritus Faculty, were pioneers in their vision of Women Studies and Education being combined disciplines in order to create social change in the classroom and in the entire school system.
With the assistance of Dr. Karen Benson and Dr. Renee Golanty-Koel, the training continued to produce students who challenged patriarchal ideals of the model student and incorporated teaching models of the “connected classroom” into the program.
The work of Nel Noddings, Carol Gilligan, and Paulo Freire are incorporated throughout the course work within this Master’s program. The theoretical framework on the inclusion of gender equity is integrated into the program by reviewing postmodernism, feminist theory, and reconstructionist theory.
In 2002, with the growth of the College, there became the need to hire a full time faculty coordinator to develop, recruit, and educate the University and community on this unique Master Program. As a result, enrollment in the GES training has significantly increased.