On Supporting Women's Studies Programs

1982 NCTE Annual Business Meeting in Washington, DC

Background At the college level, women's studies programs, designed to focus attention on the hitherto neglected contributions of women to literature and history, were being attacked in the early 1980s by citizens' groups opposed to modern, less traditional roles for women.  NCTE members voiced concern about the implications of such actions for "the time-honored ideas of university self-governance and academic freedom."  Be it therefore Resolution Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English express its support for college and university women's studies programs and for faculties that resist efforts to subvert established curriculum procedures and due process concerning these program;           that NCTE make this commitment known to legislatures, college and university governing bodies, and other governance units that must approve college and university curricula; and           that NCTE monitor and report violations of the spirit of this resolution.