The Case for Women's Studies, August 3, 1971, page 2
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Baxter and Wemple -2- 8/3/71 duction of forgotten or neglected materials? whether these materials occupy the center stage, as in courses specifically designed to deal with the woman factor, or whether they are in varying amounts incor- porated in existing courses, they heighten our awareness of a whole dimension of human life. Indeed, far from limiting our vision, these courses allow a more complete estimate of the range of human experience and accomplishment. One sometimes hears the objection: why courses on women? Don't they make as little sense as courses on men? Scholars are finding that differences exist in women's experiences and that there may well be differences in their perceptions of those experiences; yet most courses center around the experiences and perceptions of males. In existing courses, moreover, attention is rarely given to the social and economic role of women and to the resulting psychological relationship between men and women, which in turn influences the nature of society and partly determines its values. The question arises whether the inclusion of couses on women might upset our balanced curriculum and weaken its professional approach. If we acknowledge that the purpose of a liberal arts curriculum is not merely to provide pre-professional preparation for our students but also to give them an appreciation of their cultural heritage, then, in an institution where women are educated, it is our duty to give them an awareness of their legacy as women. The nature of that legacy is riddled with problems of sexual definition. Since positive answers cannot be