In Defense of WGS

It's easy to become wholly desensitized to the adage "times are tough" when you're only being affected by proximity.  However, when something dear to your heart comes under attack, it's difficult to know even where to start.

The Wisconsin demonstrations have been nothing short of inspiring, and their plight is indeed the plight of us all.  Additionally, as I read every new development in tsunami-ravaged Japan, I am reminded of how good things are here despite times being so tough.

Still, this is personal: something's up with UNCG's Women's and Gender Studies department, a program of which I am proud to be an alumnus.  I received an email last month informing me that the university is conducting a review of the department.  They wanted to hear from alums, how we're using our degrees, what we've been up to since graduation, etc.  Basically, they want to know that WGS is worth keeping afloat.

I had a feeling this would happen when Charlie's department held a meeting of TAs and lecturers.  It wasn't bad... after all, while they can make severe cuts and put a freeze on hiring, the department of English as an entity isn't going anywhere.  Still, if things are bad enough that the English department is making cuts, I knew WGS and AFS might not be long for this world.

The powers that be want to know how WGS has enabled me to be a productive member of society.  Put simply, I wouldn't be where I was today if it weren't for WGS.  While I would have remained a feminist and a reproductive rights activist, I would not have the broad perspective on what those labels mean if it weren't for the education I received in WGS.  This is not to say it's impossible to be fully aware of gender issues without being enmeshed in academia, but for me, the academy was the institution that led me to action.  I certainly wouldn't be a doula, and by that logic I would not be pursuing the IBCLC.  In essence, WGS put me on the path to help give future generations the best possible start.  You can't put a price tag on that.

Of course, WGS and AFS graduates a small number of students annually.  This might be what the university looks at, but it in and of itself is short-sighted.  WGS and AFS have cross-listed courses in a range of departments and schools.  They offer perspectives that are commonly left out of traditional education, and those perspectives are vital to ensuring a rounded education for the university's student population at large.

A student enrolled in an American history survey course may learn about the 19th Amendment, they may even read a thing or two about Roe v. Wade, but they are not going to gain a full perspective on the lives of women throughout the nation's history without the WGS cross-listed courses.  A student enrolled in an American literature course will likely read Melville, Hawthorne, Hemingway, and maybe a couple of Black authors, but a full perspective on African American literature (to be sure a rich and important facet of American lit) is not likely to be offered in these basic courses, if only due to time constraints.  Religious studies classes on the history of Islam, a highly valuable subject for American students, are already scarce, and will become more so if ethnic studies departments are defunded and erased from course listings.  LGBTQ health issues, a focus all its own, would disappear from UNCG's highly regarded public health department.  Difference would be glossed over, all to save a few bucks.  And in the meantime, UNCG is raising student fees to make athletics more visible and to bulldoze the Glenwood neighborhood.

All this defense, however, really undercuts the point.  WGS and AFS both deserve to continue to exist, and exist with presence, for their own sake.  They are programs based in the humanities, and while we cannot quantify their worth through dollars and cents the way we may be able to do with the Bryan School of Business, money should never be the primary concern of a university's course offerings.  The point of the academy is to exist for its own right, to educate its students, to uplift public discourse around pressing issues, and to offer perspectives that students may never hear in secondary education.

Both WGS and AFS have provided this, not to mention countless events that are free and open to the public to educate our surrounding communities regardless of whether or not they are enrolled students.  WGS and AFS do more than just educate... they shape people's lives.  They host events that raise money and support for food banks, women's shelters, youth programs, and more.  These departments act as public citizens, which is more than we can say for the university's Glenwood bulldozer brigade.

Please consider writing the UNC system to advocate for AFS and WGS.  Small departments that focus on difference are not just vital for those who want to major.  They are vital for the university's diverse populations, for the average student who wants to expand her/his horizons beyond traditional subject matter, and for the communities in which they thrive.