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WOMAN'S BUILDING FEMINIST EDUCATION PROGRAM

The Problem and the Opportunity

Traditional modes of education have excluded the development of female perspectives in the liberal arts by teaching students that women have played a minimal role in the development of civilization- that men have been the sole architects of history, culture, art, philosophy and science. Beyond curriculum, traditional methods of formalized instruction emphasizing group technical expertise rather than the exploration of personal content have proven equally unresponsive to the needs of female students in developing individual art forms, vocations, and styles of life expressive of female consciousness and culture.

Over the past ten years three alternative formats for women's education have been created: the Women's Studies Program offered as an adjunct by colleges and universities; small groups including workshops, study groups, and consciousness raising; and independent schools, programs, and learning communities. Though in many ways effective, these programs still have not fulfilled the needs of women students. Women's Studies Programs have generally been restricted by the established tradition of sexism in academia and their effectiveness minimized by their "adjunct" status through budget cutbacks, tenure struggles, and censorship of subject matter. Small groups, while offering an environment conducive to a woman's personal growth and the learning of survival skills, have been unable to fulfill her need for more thorough education and vocational training. Independent schools with experimental formats have generally been unable to offer their students degrees or credentials.

In response to women's need for a more complete educational context, the Woman's Building was founded in 1972. The Building provides the support and self-validation of small group and individualized instruction; offers accreditation (B.A. and M.A.) and women's subject matter; and supplies vocational skill mastery in an apprenticeship/worksite format- thus integrating the effective approaches of Women's Studies Programs, small groups, and independent schools.

The opportunities for learning presented by small-group workshops are the cornerstone of Woman's Building Education. As education is fundamentally cooperative, small group or "core" process is based on the premise that women must begin with a consciousness of their own valuable cultural heritage as well as with a recognition of their own untapped skills and potentials to pursue valid forms of self education. Through workshop skills and information sharing students gain this recognition and then can articulate the best form to develop their talents and vocational goals: from individualized projects to large collaborative works to apprenticeship programs with professional in their given field. In addition, the flexible structure of the small group workshop affords women the chance to learn everything from carpentry to self defense- life and survival skills not accessible to them elsewhere.