When the University of Alberta opened in 1908, the seven women in the first class of 45 students formed an association they named Club SIS, an acronym later revealed to mean "Seven Independent Spinsters." As they were still very young, the name was not referencing their marital status but was instead a cheeky, and - at the time - cryptic nod to their independence.
It was succeeded the following year by theWauneita Society, which continued until 1973, the same year the first course in women's history was offered.
Dallas Cullen ('63 BA), a professor in the School of Business (then named Faculty of Business), followed this initial offering with a course on women in administration in 1974. Cullen, a pioneer in the study of women's leadership, as well as gender and organizations, would eventually become the chair of the burgeoning and interdisciplinary Women's Studies Program, which was established in 1987 in response to a growing interest in the academic study of women and the popularity of such courses as Sociology of Sex Roles and Sex and Status in Comparative Perspective.
"It's worth remembering that as a field and as a program, [Women's Studies] came into existence because of the sheer determination and vision of those early feminist faculty and students," says department chair Susanne Luhmann. "Their determination created a program, a minor, major, an honors degree, and - as of 2016 - anew graduate program in Gender and Social Justice."
Earning full department status in 2013,Women's and Gender Studies celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Though Cullen passed away in 2010, she is remembered through the annual Women's and Gender Studies Dallas Cullen Memorial Lecture, which on October 12 welcomes dance artist, choreographer, academic and disabilities advocate Alice Sheppard.
The lecture,Mobilizing Movements: Architecting Dance - part of theFeminist Research Speaker Series - is co-sponsored with the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation.
In many ways, Sheppard's interpretive work - which upends conventional artistic practices (she performs in a wheelchair) and plays with racial, gender and disability stereotypes - embodies the Women's and Gender Studies ethos in its exploration of complex intersectional identities.
"I dance in pieces that explicitly question what we think we know about disability, dance and the body," says Sheppard, echoing the critical, independent thinking that has been at the core of women's and gender studies since its inception, and indeed, since the formation of Club SIS more than a hundred years ago.
Thirtieth anniversary celebrations kick off on October 12 with a mixer prior to the lecture that will see current students, faculty and alumni (WGS has graduated more than 200 students) reconnecting and reminiscing. Luhmann says the lecture, "named after a much beloved department chair," epitomizes the intersectionality of women's and gender studies scholarship, as well as its collaborative inclination (hence the partnership with Physical Education and Recreation).
"We want to hold on to that complexity," says Luhmann, reflecting on the next 30 years of the program. "We are in an ideal position to bring together scholars and students from all disciplines to support and grow intersectional feminist gender and sexualities studies. And we would like to be at the heart of a university-wide signature area in gender studies that recognizes the award-winning research and teaching that takes place in WGS and across the University of Alberta."
The Department of Women's and Gender Studies Feminist Research Speaker Series 2017-2018 presents the2017 Dallas Cullen Memorial Lecture - Mobilizing Movements: Architecting Dance, with dance artist and choreographer Alice Sheppard. Thursday, October 12, 7 - 8:30 p.m., Van Vliet Centre 2-210.
Wine reception to follow in Van Vliet Centre 2-610. Please register here.
For more information about upcoming Women's and Gender Studies Feminist Research Speaker Series lectures, click here.