Department of Women's Studies

Achievements of the Department

Elevation of Centre to Department Status and UGC Placing at Phase II

Centre sanctioned in 2004 elevated to Department Status by virtue of its activities and performance in 2007.

UGC had placed the Centre from Phase I in X plan to II in the XI plan.

Full Fledged Department with three faculty members, one Documentation Asst and other necessary support staff with sufficient Infrastructure .

Teaching Programmes in Women’s Studies and Gender Studies, M.A and M.Phil, certificate, Diploma and P.G Diploma Courses.

Curriculum Development and Mainstreaming Gender

Introduced “Foundation Course on Gender Studies” at UG level to all affiliated colleges of Bharathidasan University

Incorporating Gender Curriculum to HIV/AIDS curriculum offered by UNICEF Chennai

Gender Clubs in Colleges as Part IV activities.

Introduced M.A, M.Phil and Ph.D Programmes in the beginning in Women’s Studies

P.G Endowment created in the name of Grass Root Women Activist served for uplifting Dalit women South Indian Mother Teresa Annai. Veerammal, Trichy.

Elective Courses on Gender and Development and Life Skills and Counselling incorporating Gender to other Discipline Students.

Influenced the colleges through Refresher Course, Orientation Courses and Capacity Building programme Participants to have Women’s Cells introduced, gender training offered, gender clubs established etc.

Establishment of Regional Association of Women’s Studies networking and bringing together the entire Women’s Studies Scholars to have an Association.

Influenced the School Departments to have Menstrual Hygiene as a part of Life Skills and Reproductive Health Education.

University integrated Menstrual Hygiene Education in NSS Programme .

Research Initiatives and Implementation of Research Findings

Ph.D Research Programme in Women’s Studies

Research Projects from various Regional, National and International Agencies with funding support to undertake issue based Research Studies

Action Research Projects from various Regional, National and International Agencies with funding support.

Academics Activism in the development sector and sensitization on gender and other social issues

Institutionalization Initiatives

Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil Nadu,

Menstrual Hygiene Management Consortium,

Regional Association of Women’s Studies etc.,

Mobility Enhanced – Vehicle to the Department

Vehicle Sponsorship to the Department by Indian Overseas Bank recognizing the kind of committed activities to women, which enabled the department to reach remote areas and increased the mobility.

Visibility of the Department - Recognition of the Department for Teaching, Research, Extension, Training, Advocacy and Consultancy. Gender Sensitivity Initiatives Integrating to Curriculum

Gender Sensitivity through a Foundation Course on Gender Studies for all Undergraduate Students of Affiliated Colleges

Compulsory Women and Legal Rights Course as per High Court Directive of TN.

Gender Clubs and Gender Fest for College Students

Gender Sensitization, Awareness, and Motivation Training for School and College Teachers, students, grass root women, NGO staff, etc.

Funding Support by Government, Academic, Non-academic, Ministries, Banks

Within three years of existence, the Department has expanded its wings to get support from other than University Grant Commission for various Research, Action Research, Capacity Building and Training Workshops, from UNICEF, UNDEF, UNESCAP, UGC, ICSSR, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Education, US aid APAC-VHS, NABARD, etc.

Networking and Collaboration

All the activities including teaching has been done in collaboration of the various departments including National Institute of Technology, BHEL, IL&FS CDI, NABARD, Canara Bank, SIDCO, TIIC, DIC, MSME-DI, TIDTISSIA, TPC, affiliated colleges of Bharathidasan University, NGOs, other Universities, Slum Clearance Board, Total Sanitation, FINISH project Netherlands, Implicadas Spain, School Education Department, DRDA, Women Development Corporation of Tamil Nadu, Social Welfare Board, Department for the Welfare of the Differently Abled, print, electronic, and other media, etc which made the department and its activities, visible and also reach the grass root population.

Capacity Building for Women in Leadership and Decision Making

Capacity Building Programme for Women Managers in Higher Education

Capacity Building Programme for NGO partners on Hygiene and Sanitation

Regular Summer Camp for the wards of the University staff impart Gender and Scientific temper

Mainstreaming Menstrual Hygiene to Total Sanitation

Broke the Culture of Silence on Menstrual Hygiene and brought the Menstrual Hygiene to Public discussion and formed a Consortium called Menstrual Hygiene Management Consortium [MHMC], academics and activists came together to influence the policy of government to integrate Menstrual Hygiene to Total Sanitation.

Initiatives beyond the Campus for Non-formal Sector

Mainstream the non-formal sector women to enter formal sector by formalising their experience in skill training through Ministry of Rural Development support to Below Poverty Line Rural Youth.

A unique, Pioneer initiative for grass root women in micro enterprises -Mobile Marketing of Self Help Products and a permanent retail outlet for their products in the University and College Campuses on a regular basis to support in their livelihood

Other Gender Mainstreaming Initiatives

Gender Fest – A cultural Fest imparting Gender Sensitivity among the youth through Cultural competitions including skit, mime, painting, elocution, essay, poetry etc.

Recognition to Women Achievers including Grass Root women on International Working Women’s Day on March 8 every year

In campus Driving Classes for the Women Students and Staff to enable their mobility

Counselling Programme for fresher in Engineering Colleges on coping up the new environment and avoid discontinuing studies.

Adolescent counselling to Schools to understand physiological changes, recognise the hormonal changes and handle their adolescence proper.

Gender Orientation programmes for School, College Teachers, Grass Root working population to take gender sensitivity to different sections of population.

Gender Orientation ToT to Women Students, NGO co-ordinator & other Centres to create a pool among the grass root intervention agencies to mainstream Gender

Skill training and Earn while Learn programmes to students to cater to the economically backward students

Street Theatre, Street Play, Photography, Videography to promote alternative thinking with gender perspectives

Screening of Documentary films and films by Women Directors to motivate to identify strategies to address gender and social inequalities

Screening Documentary films, Cookies by Women’s Studies & Gender Study Circle Students

Disseminating the Scientific Lab Experiments of Science Faculty to the Community

Model Herbal farm for SHG Women in the University Campus.

An Apparel Training Centre for BPL Rural youth and Placement

Incubator Sanitary Napkin Production Unit, Soap, Cleaning powder production and training for extremely vulnerable women including HIV positive women.

Placement of qualified women at part time and temporary work at the University

University Canteen to the SHG Women

Policy Influences within & outside University

Refresher Course:

Dr. N.Manimekalai, submitted to Academic Staff College a request to have a Refresher Course in Women’s Studies and conducted two Refresher Courses in Women’s Studies.

Others: o Women Vendors to BHEL for the first time introducing women in Engineering and Fabrication. o Application of findings of the Research Studies by the Department, establishment of WEAT, MHMC, Marketing support for women entrepreneurs etc.

Entrepreneurship Development

Incubator Project with APAC-VHS support on Sanitary Napkin Training for Women, SHG women to produce low cost cotton based sanitary napkin production and introduced the concept of Vending Machine vending napkins in Schools. Motivate the rural women to produced and also use low cost sanitary napkin thereby address the issues of cervical cancer and other reproductive health issued faced by women caused due to poor menstrual hygiene. Support to women to get the non-traditional and technical based training who are not formally qualified on the field to start engineering and fabrication units.

An Exclusive Industrial Estate for Women as a Cluster Engineering and Fabrication unit at Kumbakudi and Siruganur for 100 women with 50 units as partnership concerns.

Produced 100 women entrepreneurs to become entrepreneurs in a separate Industrial Estate as Clusters.

Created direct and indirect employment opportunities on home based activities to 1000 of women.

Regular free consultancy services to women in need on entrepreneurship

Out reach

To more than 50 colleges, nearly 10000 women directly and lakhs of women through various Media.

Meet the Women at the Grass roots through various programmes organized by Colleges, NGOs, Government Departments, Students of Social Work, Government line departments like Women Development, Rural Development, Health and Family Welfare, Social Welfare, School Education, Panchyat Raj institutions, Other Women’s Studies Centres, etc and address them on the need for Economic Empowerment.

Department and its activities created a model informing others that it is possible for an Academic Department to teach, undertake research, organize extension programmes, implement the research findings of the studies, advocate for the rights of the people and lobby against the social inequalities and work for social justice. All this could happen only with networking, collaborating, clustering and gradual motivation of the individuals. Any development initiative has to undergo such process and thereby every academic department can directly serve the society.