1994 – 1996 | Tilde Sankovitch
Tilde Sankovitch (French and Italian)
I was Director of Women's Studies from 1994 to 1996, but was involved in the Program from its inception, as a member of various committees and as a teacher.
One of the great awards of being a part of the Program and of the Directorship was the opportunity of getting to know Faculty members of departments other than my own (French and Italian). I met so many generous, enthusiastic, knowledgeable colleagues, eager to contribute to the Program their visions for its implementation and expansion, their classroom experiences well as their scholarly research, willing to develop new courses for its growing curriculum. It was also exciting and rewarding to meet so many interesting students, whose lively minds were more than willing to discover and explore new areas of study, to share their ideas and reactions with their professors and classmates, and to apply their new knowledge to other academic fields in original and valuable ways. I always looked forward to whatever was going on: talks by invited scholars or by members of our own Faculty, presentations and performances by our many talented students, or just informal conversations with colleagues and students, ranging over many subjects, always important to me, as they brought me to a closer understanding of the very diverse aspects of the female experience at Northwestern.
I cannot end these few lines without remembering Arlene Daniels "the Mother of us all" ! An unforgettably strong presence on campus she made women--Faculty, staff, students-- truly visible at Northwestern. She did not hesitate to go to bat for them and their initiatives, and was always ready to inspire and to encourage.
In 1996 the Program sponsored at Northwestern a well-attended colloquium on " Women's Studies and Feminist Thought: the Next Millennium." It was a way of launching the Program into the future where, I am certain, it continues (under its new name) to make splendid advances both in fostering new scholarship and in sharpening the awareness of women's important role in academe and in the larger context of today's complex world. My warmest wishes go with it.