About

Welcome to CSWS: A Vibrant Research Community

At the CSWS New Faculty Welcome, University of Oregon faculty affiliates speak about the impact CSWS has had on their careers and research over the years.

Feminist Futures

Campus Collaborations

Margaret Hallock spoke from the audience at the opening ceremony of the CSWS 40th Anniversary Celebration in November 2013 / photo by Jack Liu.

A Fruitful Collaboration

by Margaret Hallock, Director, Wayne Morse Center

The Center for the Study of Women in Society has been a big part of my career at the University of Oregon. I had the honor and pleasure of working with nearly all of the center’s directors—Joan Acker, Cheris Kramarae, Sandra Morgen, and Carol Stabile in particular. 

CSWS Origins: Jane Grant

Jane Grant and William Harris in their later years together / courtesy of the Jane Grant Photograph Collection, PH141, UO Libraries Special Collection.

For Love of a Feminist: Jane Grant, William Harris, and the “Fund for the Study of Women”

In 1975, retired financial analyst and Fortune editor William B. Harris willed most of his estate to establish the “University of Oregon Fund for the Study of Women.” By the end of 1984, the sum of his endowment amounted to just over $4 million, the largest single gift the university had ever received.1 At a time when women’s studies was struggling to gain ground in the academy, what led Harris to fund research on women? The story of the Center for the Study of Women in Society’s greatest benefactor begins and ends with his love of a feminist, Jane C. Grant.

CSWS Documentary

On location for a new documentary project in Oaxaca, Mexico, Sonia De La Cruz (right) looks over notes with collaborator Gabriela Martínez (summer 2014)

A Documentary Experience: Reflections on Weaving 40 Years of Feminist History into a 52-minute Film

The documentary Agents of Change: A Legacy of Feminist Research, Teaching and Activism at the University of Oregon (2013) recounts the struggles of women scholars, students, and leaders who fought to institute the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) on campus. This intricate story is told in the voices and from the perspective of the individuals who over the last forty years have been involved with CSWS...
A 1970s women's rights protest in the Agents of Change documentary.

Agents of Change: A Legacy of Feminist Research, Teaching, and Activism at the University of Oregon

Directed by SOJC Professor Gabriela Martinez, Agents of Change chronicles the development of the University of Oregon Center for the Study of Women in Society and the UO Department of Women’s and Gender Studies within the broader context of the women’s movement. By 1970, women faculty members across universities in the United States were beginning to teach the first women’s studies courses, while also taking on the fight for pay equity and affirmative action in hiring. Through a combination of archival footage, photographs, documents, and interviews, Agents of Change provides new insights into the efforts and challenges women faculty across the nation faced in their efforts to draw attention to women’s histories, issues, and concerns and to create a program for the study of women. 
 

Leadership panel at the CSWS Alumni Symposium.

CSWS Alumni Spotlight: Envisioning Feminist Futures

The Center for the Study of Women in Society celebrated 50th years of funding and supporting feminist scholarship in AY 2023–2024 with a year-long program of invited speakers, panel discussions, exhibits, screenings, performances, and more. We invited our alumni to give testimonials about the impact of CSWS for their lives and their careers, and to answer the question: What do Feminist Futures mean to you?

Highlights: CSWS in UO News

CSWS featured in Oregon Quarterly winter issue

From the Winter 2024 Oregon Quarterly—Coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society, the Winter issue of Oregon Quarterly celebrates women who have overcome gender stereotypes and paved roads of equity for others to travel: the Mighty Women of Mighty Oregon.

OVPRI features CSWS in Research News

The Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (OVPRI) will be featuring the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) in its upcoming Pursuit newsletter. The article, "Gender Research Opens Pathways for Feminist Futures," will help to broaden awareness of the CSWS mission, anniversary events, and DuckFunder campaign to benefit undergraduate research and skill-building in the region.

Anita Hill Sees Peril and Promise for Feminism

When Anita Hill testified in 1991 that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas had subjected her years earlier to unwanted sexual advances, she says much of America had never even heard the term sexual harassment. Today the term is commonplace and there is “an expectation of accountability,” Hill says—and not just for sexual harassment, but for attacks ranging from partner violence to stalking to cyberthreats.

Highlights: CSWS History

CSWS Alumni Testimonials | Thomas A. Beaumont

Testimonial: Remembering CSWS Founder Joan Acker

CSWS Alumni Testimonials | Barbara Pope

Testimonial: Remembering CSWS History