In 2024, the historic UC Santa Cruz feminist studies department both celebrated its 50th anniversary and announced its disestablishment as a department.
As of the 2024-25 school year, only five feminist studies faculty members remain in the department. Current faculty voted to transition away from departmental status in the fall, citing an unsustainable workload as the number of ladder-rank faculty has dwindled over the years. The department’s Nov. 24 transition statement pointed to shifts in “research priorities” and directions as causes for former faculty leaving the department.
Feminist studies at UCSC was first established in 1974 as a program in women’s studies, making it one of the oldest and most well-regarded departments of its kind. In 2005, the department became the first in the nation to rename itself feminist studies. From 1991 to 2008, feminist political activist Angela Davis taught in the department, and she remains a distinguished professor emerita.
While faculty and students alike have expressed grief over the disestablishment of the department, the feminist studies faculty have affirmed their commitment to continuing feminist studies scholarship on campus regardless of departmental status.
“Feminist studies will always have a home at UCSC, but the current departmental formation has proven unsustainable and inadequate for providing a responsive space for intellectual exchange and connection on our campus,” wrote department faculty in their Nov. 24 statement.
The feminist studies faculty and Dean of Humanities Jasmine Alinder have proposed that the feminist studies degree program be maintained and administratively housed in another department. The department disestablishment and transfer proposals are currently in the works and will be presented to the Academic Senate for review soon, Alinder said. The disestablishment process is expected to conclude by July 1.
“I’m definitely in a bit of mourning,” wrote associate professor of feminist studies and critical race and ethnic studies (CRES) Marisol Lebrón in an email to City on a Hill Press. “Departments confer a lot of meaning within universities, so to give up departmental status is definitely a hit to the visibility of the department both within and outside of the campus.”
In 2017, the department had 12 full-time-equivalent faculty. Now, just one full-time faculty member along with four others whose appointments are split between feminist studies and CRES remain.
Lebrón spoke to the impact of dual departmental appointments on faculty members’ workload and how this overextension influenced the feminist studies department’s decision to disestablish.
“[It] can be really taxing on faculty, because even though your teaching load is evenly split, you usually end up doing 100 percent service in both departments,” Lebrón said. “That means attending twice the meetings, doing double advising, increased personnel cases, more events, and so on. When four people are split in what eventually became a five-person department, it’s simply impossible.”
While the feminist studies Ph.D. program has been suspended and did not admit any additional students for the 2024-25 school year, graduate students in other departments can still pursue a DE in feminist studies. All currently enrolled feminist studies undergraduate majors, Ph.D. and designated emphasis (DE) graduate students will still be able to complete their degrees.
This year, there are 76 undergraduate students majoring in feminist studies, eight students in the Ph.D. program and 17 graduate students seeking a DE.
On Dec. 4, the feminist studies faculty hosted a town hall via Zoom to discuss their decision to disestablish and the future of feminist studies at UCSC with students.
Josephine Kim, second-year feminist studies major, described her initial shock upon hearing the news, but came to an understanding about her professors’ decision after attending the meeting.
“The energy in the town hall was a little bit tense at the beginning,” Kim said. “But as we were having a conversation, a lot of the students who were there came to an understanding about the difficulty of department work and the amount of time and effort it takes. There is a feeling of loss from the disestablishment. The faculty were acknowledging that feeling of loss, but also trying to shift the perspective by saying that this might also bring in a more intersectional and a more interdisciplinary [structure].”
Josephine Katz, fellow second-year feminist studies and literature double major, expressed similar reverence for the program and its faculty.
“I haven’t taken a feminist studies class that I didn’t think was valuable,” Katz said. “All the professors are extraordinary, and there’s a sense that they really care for their students, and they’re really involved in what’s going on around campus … it’s absolutely unfair to not think about how the labor that the professors are performing affects them. We don’t want our professors to not be taken care of.”
As the feminist studies department prepares to give their proposals to the Academic Senate for review, Lebrón emphasized the importance of the persistence of feminist studies scholarship at UCSC.
“There are so many people across campus who are committed to the project of feminist studies,” Lebrón said. “Our hope is that the administration sees the importance of feminist studies to the campus and the broader community, especially during this political moment when gendered and sexual difference are under attack and bodily autonomy is being eroded, and commits the resources necessary for it to succeed in its next incarnation.”
