Women's Studies Premieres, Culls Sixteen Concentrators

As Women's Studies nears the completion of its third full week, the newly established concentration can claim 16 undergraduate concentrators or joint-concentrators, and a relatively hassle-free debut on campus.

Although the department originally set a limit of 15 concentrators, Head Tutor Sonya Michel said that undergraduate response was greater than expected this year. Of the 16 current concentrators and joint-concentrators, all are women, although Michel said one male student was selected and opted for Social Studies instead.

"It's an intellectually challenging, exciting,and ground-changing field," said Nina H. Markow, asenior at Mather House who is jointconcentratingin Women's Studies and French.

According to Markow, "All of the excitingscholarship that is being done now is being donein Women's Studies. There are a lot of things thatmale historians have ignored." Markow said thather senior thesis on Motherhood in France from1880 to 1914 is actually a bracketed course in the1987-'88 course catalogue.

"Since it's a small concentration, you findthat the Head of the Department and the Head Tutorare always accessible," said Jody R. Dushay '89, ajoint Women's Studies and Biological Anthropologyconcentrator.

The Committee on Women's Studies wasestablished in 1978. In the spring of 1986, 2104students signed a petition requesting that theUniversity make Women's Studies a full-fledgedconcentration, and the Faculty of Arts andSciences (FAS) voted to establish theundergraduate degree-granting program November 18of that year.

Despite recent enthusiasm, though, students andfaculty said that Women's Studies has faced someproblems typical of old and new concentrations.

Some students complained that course books werenot available at the Coop, but Michel said thatsuch troubles were endemic to all courses. Michelsaid that the department placed its book orders tothe Coop on time.

Other students said that reserve readings forWomen's Studies 10a--which is taught by Professorof European History and of Women's Studies OlwenHufton, the department chairman and ProfessorPauline E. Peters--could only be found in LamontLibrary. Michel said that a sourcebook for theintroductory course would be coming out next week.

Michel said she apologized to concentrators forother administrative problems, such as theoriginal lack of classrooms in Harvard Yard(sections were eventually held in Quincy andKirkland Houses) and the department's "somewhatchaotic" move to 51 Brattle Street during thefirst week of the school year