Women’s Studies has only been a major at CSUDH for one year, but its first four graduates are already earning their degrees this spring. As Associate Professor and Coordinator of Women’s Studies Jenn Brandt says, “We’re so excited. To have all of these wonderful students, in a pandemic, not only surviving but thriving, has exceeded my expectations! I know they’re going to go on and make the university very proud.” The four women who make up Women’s Studies’ first graduating cohort have each taken their own unique path to their degree. “This group is so representative of the diversity that we have in the major,” says Brandt. “They’re all coming from different backgrounds and going off to ... Read More
Women's Studies
Cristina Rose (Smith) Named 2021 Catherine H. Jacobs Outstanding Faculty Lecturer
When Cristina Rose (Smith) is teaching, she doesn’t just lecture while students jot down notes. Rather, Rose acts as an active and engaging facilitator of conversation – letting students take the lead in their own discoveries. Rose, who has taught in the CSUDH Women’s Studies program since 2014, describes herself as relational and feminist in her teaching approach. Her pedagogy is “less about having the answers, and more about asking the questions that will bring us into fuller lives,” she says. “I share my life and who I am with students. It feels like I am actively part of this community. I think from here, I am from here, and this is my home.” That passion for connection has ... Read More
Exhibition Explores ‘100 Years of the Women’s Vote’
The passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 ended a nearly century-long battle for the right for women to vote. In recognition of those early activists and reformers, and those carrying the torch today, CSUDH students have honored their lives and legacy with the online exhibition “100 Years of the Women’s Vote.” Presented by the Donald R. & Beverly J. Gerth Archives and Special Collections and the Women's Studies Program at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) - with funding from a $5,000 California Humanities grant - the exhibit has been physically on display since early spring 2020, but has been unavailable for public viewing due to the COVID-19 ... Read More
CSUDH Students Can Now Major in Women’s Studies
After several years of hard work and advocacy, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) will begin offering women's studies as a major in fall 2020, after many years of the discipline being a minor course of study. “Women’s studies courses have been offered at CSUDH since the 1990s,” says Jenn Brandt, associate professor and program coordinator of women's studies. “When Mitch Avila came in as dean (of the College of Arts and Humanities), raising the program to a major was one of his priorities. There’s so much growth going on at Dominguez Hills, this was the right time institutionally for us to support this new major.” Avila's enthusiasm for the project was a big factor ... Read More