The Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women celebrated its 30th anniversary and the successful end to the Pembroke Challenge capital campaign Nov. 5. The challenge, launched last year, raised $1.5 million for faculty research, surpassing its $1 million goal.
The money will go to endowment funds and eventually be used to support seed grants in the humanities and social sciences. Seed grants allow faculty members to develop new research projects with the hope that findings will be used to submit long-term proposals to other foundations.
The grants allow for a more lasting research process, as faculty members are not dependent on one source for funding, said Kay Warren, director of the Pembroke Center and professor of anthropology and international studies.
During the two-hour conference luncheon Saturday, past directors of the Pembroke Center discussed the history of the center and contemporary feminist thought.
Funding from national foundations provided "crucial support" for the Pembroke Center's founding, said Ellen Rooney, chair of the modern culture and media department and a former director of the center.
Other topics of discussion at the luncheon centered on the place of women's studies as an academic discipline. "There is no department of women's studies, because women's questions should be asked everywhere," said Karen Newman, former director of the Pembroke Center and professor of comparative literature.
Following the discussion, the panel opened up for questions from the audience, which was composed mostly of women.
There "isn't another place in the country like this," said Joan Wallach Scott, founding director of the Center.
