Thirty years ago, courses in women’s literature and history generally were relegated to “special topics” status. The word “women’s” was a qualifier suggesting marginal or inferior status, not worthy of study with the greats in the canon – the vast majority of whom were white, male, and Western European.

Since then, women’s voices from throughout the world and across all disciplines and cultures have broken the silence, infusing and enriching scholarship and teaching at universities across the United States. And right here at the University of Minnesota is where it all began, with one of the first Women's Studies programs in the nation.

Thanks to the vision of the founders and the steady commitment of successive generations of feminist scholars, Women’s Studies has taken its legitimate place in the classrooms, laboratories, textbooks, and journals of the academy. And since its beginnings, Women's Studies at the University has remained on the leading edge of feminist scholarship to become one of the most highly-regarded departments in the world.

I hope that you will visit our campus to meet some of our spectacular faculty and take a closer look at our program. I believe you will be convinced that the University of Minnesota is the place for you to pursue your graduate education in Feminist Studies.

Steven Rosenstone
Dean, College of Liberal Arts