State Rep. Susan DuBose (R-Hoover) has challenged Alabama's state universities and colleges to abandon their gender studies programs.
Included among those are Auburn University, the University of Alabama, the University of South Alabama, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the University of Alabama at Birmingham — all of which have dedicated gender studies programs.
The Shelby County Republican lawmaker made the call in response to an 1819 News report on an Auburn University "Women and Gender Studies" class,
"The textbook in a 'Gender Studies' class should consist of one sentence that reads, 'Men are born men, women are born women, and one can never become the other," Dubose said.
The textbooks provided to Auburn students sought to promote nonsensical concepts of transgender, gender-fluid and cisgender.
"Offering classes like gender studies is simply an attempt by woke college professors to indoctrinate college students and the next generation of leaders with their fringe, liberal, extremist beliefs and nonsense. I consider it a waste and abuse of taxpayer funds and tuition dollars," DuBose said.
Auburn University offers both an undergraduate and graduate minor in Women and Gender Studies, describing the program:
Since its inception in 1984, the Women's and Gender Studies program has as its central role the teaching and promotion of research and scholarship about women and gender across the disciplines.
Our program offers an undergraduate minor and a graduate minor in women’s and gender studies. We host lectures, panel discussions, film screenings and more in cooperation with faculty and administrators from across campus, and we build alliances with local, regional and national programs.
Students must take Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies and Feminist Theory. Among the electives students can choose from are multiple courses related to gender, an Intro to LGBTQ Studies, and Sexuality and Identity Development.
The University of Alabama offers a Women's Studies Minor through its Department of Gender and Race Studies.
Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary program of study that facilitates the critical investigation of women’s issues and the workings of gendered society and promotes research by and about women and others whose status and roles demand feminist attention. It provides a forum for the academic study of interrelated issues concerning sex, gender, sexuality, race, class, disability, and other feminist issues within scholarship and activism. The objectives of the minor are to foster an understanding of
- The roles of women (historically and today) in society, politics, and culture
- The contributions of women and other feminists to a more nuanced view of sex/gender
- The intersecting operations of sex, gender, sexuality, race, class, ability, nation, and other axes of identity
- The knowledge that sexism, homophobia, racism, classism, heterosexism, nationalism, colonialism, and other systems of oppression demand critical responses
- The necessity for inclusive areas of study committed to interdisciplinary and coalitional critical practices and strategies of analysis
This program within the Department of Gender and Race Studies recognizes the importance of race and ethnicity to women’s studies and the importance of women’s and gender studies to race and ethnic studies. The department’s scholarly and curricular contributions, as well as its campus presence, emphasize the intersectionality of its related degree programs as well as their relative autonomy.
The University of South Alabama describes its program:
The Gender Studies program at the University of South Alabama is an interdisciplinary program within the College of Arts & Sciences that is a collective of students, teachers, and researchers who focus on the dynamics of gender, sexuality, and gender identity in our society. The minor in Gender Studies offers a wide range of courses representing a variety of different academic disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. With a dedicated faculty whose research and teaching interests are focused on issues related to gender and its construction in both historical and contemporary contexts, Gender Studies is the perfect complement to any major. Seeing the world through the prism of gender and how gender intersects with race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality allows students to gain a broader and deeper understanding of cultures and societies.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) offers a Women's and Gender Studies program:
UAB’s Women and Gender Studies Program, drawing from the College of Arts and Sciences’ accomplished faculty in the humanities and social sciences, offers an interdisciplinary minor to undergraduates. Women’s and Gender Studies provides a cross-cultural, feminist understanding of gender and sexuality from the home to the global arena, in addition to a critical investigation of the standard academic discourses.
Courses offered at UAB include: Racism, Sexism and Other Isms; Human Sexuality; LGBT History; Gender, Politics, & Policy; and Gendered Lives: Sociology of Sex and Gender.
The University of Alabama in Huntsville offers a minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
The WGS Program promotes the social awareness of women’s issues and issues important to gender/sexual minorities in the Huntsville and North Alabama communities through our extensive programming and events, including inviting guest speakers to campus, sponsoring and supporting theatre, art, music, and literary events.
Classes offered for the UAH program include: Intro to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality; Gender & Sexuality in Latin America; and Intro to Ethics and Nonverbal Communication.
University of North Alabama doesn't offer much detail about its Women's Studies Minor, stating:
Women's Studies is multi-disciplinary program that places women at the center of inquiry, encouraging students to examine and critique the experiences of women and the assumptions about women's lives. In women's studies courses, students are provided the opportunity to explore the relationship between theory and practice, and celebrate the achievements and contributions of women worldwide and in all fields of study.
"Colleges should abandon any course whose syllabus reads like the description of an MTV reality show and, instead, embrace classic courses like history, civics, western civilization, and others that actually provide useful knowledge and information," DuBose said.
"The Legislature sent a strong message when we passed Alabama's anti-DEI law, and I think administrators and professors in public colleges and universities across the state would be wise to reconsider their inclusion of gender studies in core curriculum offerings."
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