History of Gender & Women's Studies

History of Women’s Studies

When the Women’s Studies program director asked me to research the history of women’s studies at WKU, I expected to be searching through archives that were at least twenty-five years old. I pictured myself blowing dust off yellowed documents and studying pictures of bell-bottomed feminists from the 1960s. I was shocked to learn that the Women’s Studies Program is actually younger than I am!

After I complete my MA and leave the hill, when I think of Western I’ll remember the football games and my 11:45 yoga classes. Five years from now, I might be sitting in front of a computer screen, but in my heart I’ll be hiking up the hill, hearing Cherry’s bells chime. Memories last. What I will think of first, however, are the people I have met through the Women’s Studies Program and the “ah-ha” moments we’ve shared. I know now, that these moments are possible only because a few dedicated people had an idea and refused to take no for an answer.

- Heather Bridges

(2004-2006 Graduate Assistant for the Women’s Studies Program)