National Women's Studies Association
 | |
| Formation | 1977 |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c) |
| Purpose | Academic support |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Location |
|
Region served | North America |
Membership | 2,350[1] |
Executive Director | Allison Kimmich |
Key people | Patti Provance, Deputy Director |
Staff | 4 |
| Website |
www |
The National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) is an organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of Women’s Studies. It was founded in 1977.[2] Women of color protested racism within the organization during its early years. Poet Audre Lorde gave the keynote address at NWSA's 1981 conference in Storrs, Connecticut, admonishing conference-goers that if "women in the academy truly want a dialogue about racism, it will require recognizing the needs and living contexts of other women."[3] As former NWSA president Beverly Guy-Sheftall noted, "I wanted NWSA to be an inclusive, multiracial, multicultural organization where women of color and their feminisms would not be marginalized."[4] Led by feminists like Guy-Sheftall, NWSA has worked to center intersectionality in its institutional practices and leadership structure with the support of a Ford Foundation grant.[5]
The association includes scholars from the humanities and social sciences working in academic departments and women’s resource centers across a range of institutions in the United States and beyond: colleges, research institutions, government agencies, museums, corporations, and non-profits. NWSA publishes Feminist Formations.
In 2015, the NWSA membership voted to "back the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel.[6][7]
References
- ↑ "About". National Women's Studies Association. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ↑ The Evolution of American Women's Studies: Reflections on Triumphs, Controversies, and Change (2008 ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2012-07-24. ISBN 9781137270306.
- ↑ "(1981) Audre Lorde, "The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism," The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
- ↑ Ofori-Atta, Akoto. "Author Beverly Guy-Sheftall Talks About Black Feminism". The Root. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
- ↑ Kimmich, Allison; Lin, Yi Chun Tricia (Fall 2012). "Older and Wiser: The Transformation of NWSA" (PDF). Ms. Magazine.
- ↑ Redden, Elizabeth. "Another Association Backs Israel Boycott". News. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
- ↑ Freedman, Janet L. "For the Women's Studies Association, the BDS Vote Was Over Before It Began". The Sisterhood. Forward. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
