"So You Want to Change the World?"

In the fall 2012 edition of Ms. Magazine, there was an article very pertinent to Women, Community, Technology because it discussed the rise of Women Studies classes in universities! The article asked various people with Women Studies degrees, including a civil rights lawyer, a bio fuel entrepreneur, sexual-assault-victims advocate, and even a male basketball player. The article tried to focus on how this career path had shaped them as a student and their current living style and choices.

The overall consensus was that going for a degree in Women Studies, even a minor, had a great effect on their life. Many mentioned that it prepared them for community organizing and gave them meaningful ways to combat inequality. Something that was striking was that even men are benefiting from Women Studies programs, like D.J. Gay of San Diego University Toreros. He claimed that such courses provide a new way to look at the world and that their is a sense of ownership in their education. For men, Women Studies can have various benefits and there are a few reasons that men will go into a course that is seemingly exclusive to women. Some will go into Women Studies if they grew up in a household who had a self proclaimed feminist  so they can find their role in feminism. Another reason men seem to go into Women Studies is if they are homosexual because they find it a comfortable place to be.

Photo via Ms. Magazine

It is now in 2012 that is is 40 years since the first Women Studies class was created at San Diego University. From there the subject blossomed into various classes in different universities all over. Women Studies is now almost as accessible as teaching or nursing in any college, even here at Southern Connecticut State University.

For more information on a Women Studies degree at Southern Connecticut State University, feel free to click here!

The Ms. article discussed is entitled "So You Want to Change the World?"