Two MSU programs are merging to form a center that will focus on gender and womens studies within a global framework.

The MSU Women and International Development (WID) Program in International Studies and Programs (ISP) will join forces with the Program in Women, Gender, and Social Justice (WGSJ) in the College of Arts and Letters to create the Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen). The new center will be a hub for research, teaching, and service related to gender and women in global perspective.

Approved by Provost Kim Wilcox on Jan. 31, the merger will be complete for the fall 2007 semester. GenCen will be headquartered in ISP and will receive substantial financial and faculty support from ISP, the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Social Science, James Madison College, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Graduate School. It will collaborate with faculty across the university.

GenCens interdisciplinary and global emphases make it unique among other womens studies programs, according to the Proposal to Create the Center for the Study of Gender and Women in Global Perspective.

Anne Ferguson, director of WID, said the merger will provide MSU students with new opportunities. This creates a new and really exciting gender program at MSU, Ferguson said. There will be a lot more resources available.

GenCen will also promote gender-focused study abroad programs, interdisciplinary work, internships, research mentoring, and outreach.

Written by Kristin V. Johnson, ISP news intern