Most Students Welcome Plan To Aid Women's Studies

A majority of women interviewed yesterday expressed approved for a new plan designed to bolster the College's women's studies curriculum by creating a faculty of professors issued in both Women's Studies and other departments.

Several students, however, criticized the plan because, they said, as an academic area, Woman's Studies is too specialized to warrant its own faculty.

Under the current Women's Studies program, a College committee encourages facutly members to include the study of women in courses already being offered and to arrange for guest lecturers, in Women's Studies.

The committee does not, however, provide a program of study specifically on women or an undergraduate concentration.

The Women's Studies committee decided last week to urge the Faculty Council to appoint tenured professors who would teach half in the Women's Studies program and half in one of the departments.

"Whomever we would appoint would assume a permanent responsibility for supervising the Women's Studies Program," said David Herlihy. Henry Charles Professor of Medieval History and a committee member.

Herlihy said that appointing such jointly-tenured professors would help promote more departmental courses focusing on women.

Many of the 20 students interviewed yesterday said they were interested In Women's Studies but acknowledged that appropriate courses are hard to come by.

"It is a good idea to designate professors specifically as Women Studies professors specifically as Women Studies Professors." Maribeth C. Arena '85 said. "Right now, there Just isn't enough opportunity for students to take courses in that area."

Other students said they thought the program has not yet been adequately defined by College officials. "Right now it's sort of a nebulous thing," said Ilana Hardesty '83.

A few students who said they disagreed with the committee's plans explained that Women's Studies simply is not a valid area of study. "In my opinion, women are no different than men... So Women's Studies seems to be an artificial division," said Tracy E. Fern '85.

Women's Studies only promotes the division between men and women," a sophomore student said.

Howard M. Erickson '84 said that he thought that Women's Studies is too particular a field to warrant its own faculty. "After all, with [the Equal Rights Amendment] and all that, Women's Studies is not something that will be endlessly relevant. One day the division between men and women will no longer be necessary," he predicted.