Gender Studies has had an uneven and complicated history at The New School. Courses on gender were first taught at Eugene Lang College when that division was established in 1986. “Gender and Knowledge” was one of twelve concentrations available to undergraduate students. By the early 1990s, these twelve concentrations were reduced to six due to the college’s small faculty.

“Gender and Knowledge” did not survive the consolidation. Instead a “Cultural Studies” concentration included tracks in media, race and gender. Over time these tracks merged and the gender track became narrower. “Feminist Inquiry,” the founding undergraduate course in gender studies, disappeared from the curriculum. According to Associate Professor Ann Snitow in an oral history interview (transcript page 27), the development of media studies was at the expense of gender studies.

Despite the decline and disappearance of gender studies at the undergraduate level, a master’s program was developed at The New School in response to student demand. The MA in Gender Studies and Feminist Theory was first taught in 1993. Rayna Rapp, an anthropology professor at the New School for Social Research (at that time known as the Graduate Faculty), served as director. The MA program was short lived--the New School's admnistration closed the program in Spring 1997. According to Snitow (transcript page 30), the administration used the "Mobilization for Real Diversity, Democracy, and Economic Justice" as a justification for closing the MA program prematurely. The Mobilization followed the denial of tenure to Jacqui Alexander – a gender studies professor of color at Eugene Lang College. It culminated in a hunger strike, which lasted nineteen days and involved students taking the Provost and Vice President hostage for five hours. The protesters were made up of students from many ethnic backgrounds as well as the LGBTQI community. In 2003, informal discussions began between engaged faculty to develop a gender studies minor at the undergraduate level. According to Snitow (transcript page 48), it was a deliberate decision by those involved to develop a minor rather than a major because gender studies is, by its nature interdisciplinary. It was considered important to train students in a traditional field (like anthropology, sociology or philosophy) but give them intellectual access to gender-related topics. By 2006, the proposal went through the committee process at The New School and passed state accreditation in 2009. The minor in gender studies was launched in 2010 at a two-day conference, No Longer in Exile: The Legacy and Future of Gender Studies at the New School held at the university's Theresa Lang Center.

The first director of the gender studies minor was Ann Snitow from 2009 through Fall 2012. There was no director in Spring 2013. Miriam Ticktin was director during the 2013-2014 academic year, the last year comprehensively documented in these records (there is a single folder from an event held in 2016).

As of February 2017, it remains a thriving program and the model for interdisciplinary minors at Eugene Lang College. Its current director is Margot Bouman. In addition to Bouman, full-time faculty members are Ann Snitow, Miriam Ticktin and Terri Gordon.

References

__ Audio interview with Ann Snitow by Julia Foulkes and Wendy Scheir. 15 Oct 2014. The New School Oral History Program. NS.07.01.01. New School Archives and Special Collections Digital Archive. Web. 03 Jan 2017.