Bowling Green State University, Women's Studies Program records

Women's studies courses were first offered at Bowling Green State University in 1972, and degree programs (bachelor and minor) were first offered in 1978. After being housed in a hotel suite in the student union during the 1980s, by 1990 the program had been relocated to Shatzel Hall. As it had since its inception, the program continued to function as both an academic unit and as a source of programming, information, and support for women on campus and throughout the region. The Women's Studies Program offered courses for Women’s Studies majors and minors as well as a large offering of WS 200 (Introduction to Women’s Studies) which fulfills a general education/BG Perspective cultural diversity requirement. In 1990, the Program began offering graduate courses and in 2000 the Graduate Certificate program was initiated.

The formation of a Women’s Center in 1998 allowed the Women’s Studies Program to focus more directly on academic issues and programs, although it continues to work closely with the Center on activities such as the annual month-long Women’s History Month programming. In 2004, the Women’s Studies Program moved to its current location in East Hall. In 2010, the Women's Studies program was joined with Ethnic Studies, Popular Culture Studies, and American Culture Studies to form the School of Cultural and Critical Studies. The program is now known as Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies.