By: Arielle Pare, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, International Studies, French, Bloomington
Edited by: Ellie Kaverman and Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistants
In the decades since the early years of the women’s liberation movement, women’s and gender studies academic programs have swept across the nation’s colleges, including Indiana University South Bend.
A professor of English at Indiana University South Bend (IUSB) from 1967-1993, Dr. Gloria Kaufman is best known as the “mother and founder” of women’s studies program at IUSB, which is one of the oldest of its kind in the nation.[1] Decades before the #MeToo movement, Dr. Kaufman caused a stir by holding lectures on sexual harassment and leading committees with the goal of leveling the playing field for women.[2]
A “gentle revolutionary,” Dr. Kaufman was featured in Feminists Who Changed America due to her role in one of the most diversified gender studies programs in the nation.[3]
Childhood and Education
Gloria Kaufman was born on April 5, 1929 in Danbury, Connecticut.[4] She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Russell Sage College in 1950 and her doctorate degree in English in 1961 from Brandeis University.[5] As a graduate, Kaufman was elected to the New York Academy of Sciences [6] and published her first poetry collection in 1962, at 33 years old.[7]
Coming to IUSB and the Creation of the Women’s Studies Program
Dr. Kaufman joined the IUSB English department in 1967, although some records state that she came as early as 1965.[8] Throughout her career, she served on a variety of committees tasked with creating opportunities for students including the Student Affairs Committee and the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee.[9] In 1974, Dr. Kaufman accepted the role of campus affirmative action officer, making her the first person to hold this position on IUSB’s campus.[10]
The Women’s Studies program at IUSB began humbly. Starting in the late 1960s, Dr. Kaufman founded and coordinated the IUSB Women’s Caucus Committee, a predecessor to the Women’s Studies Program. This committee made up of IUSB women faculty members, addressed income inequality and was concerned with protecting women’s rights in the workplace.[11]
“The mere existence of an organized group of professional women goes a long way toward establishing (or ensuring) fairness in the treatment of women, and the Women’s Caucus’ top priority is to establish such a presence,” Dr. Kaufman wrote in 1974 to her female colleagues, inviting them to join the group.[12]
In 1968, the committee organized B250: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Woman’s Role in Society, a popular lecture-based class that was integral to the formation to the women’s studies program.[13] The class addressed women’s roles in scientific, literary, and political fields, hosted guest speakers, and was open to the public.[14]
A women’s studies minor was approved in 1980. However, the women’s studies program did not become official until 1989.[15] Dr. Kaufman was a natural choice as the first program director, as she had proven to be instrumental in organizing several women’s issue groups including the Women’s Center Committee, the Women’s Caucus Committee, and the Women’s Studies Committee.[16]
In 1989 the program’s faculty grew to include 25 professors involved in research and curriculum development.[17] By the spring of 1993, 464 students had registered for women’s studies courses.[18]
The women’s studies major finally received approval in 1999, 31 years after the first women’s studies course.[19] In 2011, the program officially changed its name to women’s and gender studies.[20]
Dr. Kaufman was so integral to the program that when she announced her retirement in 1992, 15 students protested her leaving for fear that women’s studies would fall to a lower priority.[21]
“Whoever takes over from Kaufman as director will have a tough act to follow,” said a 1992 South Bend Tribune article.[22]
Professor Kaufman, Peaceful Protests, and The Preface
While the Women’s Caucus evolved into women’s and gender studies program at IUSB, Dr. Kaufman continued to impact her students in other ways. She acted as the first faculty adviser for The Preface, IUSB’s official student newspaper.[23]
One of Dr. Kaufman’s most consequential contributions was to the Women’s Resource Center, serving as its director beginning in 1988.[24] The Women’s Resource Center gathered data on the wellbeing of women[25] and also provided a place where female students, faculty, staff, and community members could congregate. Although this center has since been absorbed by other parts of the university, the creation of it was crucial for supporting women.[26]
Dr. Kaufman’s own classes greatly ranged in topics, from Chaucer to the significance of quilts.[27] Students in her classes knew her for her gentle, non-combative teaching methods,.[28] Dr. Kaufman brought a philosophy of cultivating teaching excellence to IUSB, much like her friend and colleague Dr. Eileen Bender.
“Our best teaching generally emerges when we are most ourselves, and whatever the talk in pedagogical circles, at the university we should continue to support the rich variety of teaching approaches that we have been nourishing at IUSB,” Dr. Kaufman said.[29]
Dr. Kaufman did not separate her own political beliefs and ideals from her role as a professor and adviser. She often expressed her anti-war sentiments during her time as faculty adviser for The Preface and she related these ideas to gender relations and power structures in the pursuit of peaceful solutions.[30]
“Feminism will persist in struggling for human dignity, for social justice, for ecological sanity, and for truly humane government,” she wrote in a Preface 1993 opinion piece on Anita Hill’s testimony accusing Supreme Court Justice nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.[31]
She was also ready to verbally confront sexist practices in her own community. When a male editor degraded women writers and attempted to restrict “Letters to the Editor” to prevent the women from expressing their opinions, Dr. Kaufman defended them in The Preface.[32]
As a lecturer, Dr. Kaufman addressed sexism in the classic works of authors such as Shakespeare and Socrates, commenting on their implications for female students in the classroom, while also acknowledging the importance of studying such classic writers. [33]
Pulling Our Own Strings
Upon receiving a grant from the Indiana Humanities Council in 1990, Dr. Kaufman continued the B250 tradition of bringing high-profile women speakers to campus for the enhancement of the student experience.[34] Speakers included renowned novelist Margaret Atwood and Z Budapest, an author and activist known for her activity in the Wiccan community.[35]
“Gloria was a leader in bringing many well recognized speakers onto campus–exposing us to new ways to view the world–sometimes strange– but always challenging,” said Dr. Barbara L. Williams, a colleague of Dr. Kaufman.[36]
Aside from organizing lectures, Dr. Kaufman edited anthologies of feminist humor. The phrase, she explained, was not an oxymoron.[37] One of her most famous works with Mary Kay Blakely, Pulling Our Own Strings: Feminist Humor and Satire, was finished in 1980.[38] Additionally, she produced over 14 video documentaries on anthropological topics over the span of her career.[39]
Recognition and Impact
Dr. Kaufman earned numerous awards for her contributions to IUSB and to the greater South Bend community. In 1982 she was named one of the community’s Outstanding Women at the South Bend YWCA’s annual Tribute to Women.[40] In 1992, in recognition of her service to the campus, Dr. Kaufman received the most prestigious award to be given to IUSB faculty: the Eldon F. Lundquist Fellowship.[41]
Dr. Kaufman retired in 1993, stepping down as the director of women’s studies.[42] She passed away on June 3, 2004.[43] Following her death, the Gloria Kaufman Memorial Fund was set up to continue Dr. Kaufman’s tradition of bringing women speakers to campus annually.[44]
In March 2020, the IU Bicentennial honored Kaufman with a historical marker at IUSB.
The IU South Bend Archives Digital Collections hosts an online exhibit about Dr. Kaufman, which includes digital copies of correspondence with Whoopi Goldberg, unpublished humorous essays, and lectures produced by Dr. Kaufman.
In her last letter to her friends, the pioneer of women’s studies wrote:
“The world appears to be in worse messes than those we have all our lives lamented. Most are calamities beyond our reach. In the face of these catastrophes, join me in arrogantly pushing acts of goodness, of kindness, of creativity into the world. Look for, and create chances, to laugh rather than lament. Life has no value unless we go for JOY, and joy is contagious. I wish you more & greater joy. Now more than ever is the time to embrace what is positive. BE ARROGANTLY JOYOUS!”[45]
Bibliography
- Activism Materials, 1994: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- B250 (Spring), 1980: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- B250 1991: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Bowman, Chris. “IUSB Students Worried about Women’s Studies.” South Bend Tribune, December 9, 1992, pp. B1 and B2.
- Boxer, Marilyn J. “Women’s Studies as Women’s History.” Women’s Studies Quarterly 30, no. 3/4 (2002): 42-51. http://www.jstor.org.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/stable/40003241.
- Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- General Correspondence, 1980s, 1990s: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Guide to the Gloria Kaufman Collection: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Guide to the IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Indiana University South Bend Gloria Kaufman Memorial Lecture, 2012: Marge Piercy, Speaker: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- “The 1990 Annual Report.” Indiana University South Bend, http://institutionalmemory.iu.edu/aim/bitstream/handle/10333/5277/IUSB_Annual_Report_1990.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
- “IUSB’s Gloria Kaufman Gets Lundquist Award.” South Bend Tribune, May 17, 1992, p.35.
- Letter from Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1993: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 24 September 1965-25 September 1965
- Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 24 August 1993.
- Perspective Article, 1991: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Preface Newspaper Articles, 1970-1971: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Resume 1983: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Reynolds, Michael et al. “A National Census of Women’s and Gender Studies Programs in U.S. Institutions of Higher Education.” NORC at the University of Chicago, December 26, 2017. https://www.nwsa.org/Files/Resources/NWSA_CensusonWSProgs.pdf.
- Sexism in The Preface, 1981, 1982: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Diane. “IUSB Women’s Program Meets Need.” South Bend Tribune, February 23, 1992, p.24.
- Sulok, Nancy J. “Paying Tribute to an IUSB Pioneer in Women’s Studies.” South Bend Tribune, September 27, 2004.
- The Indiana University Foundation’s Gift Agreement for the Gloria Kaufman Memorial Fund: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Wachs, Abigail. “The Home That Dr. Kaufman Built: An Analysis Of The Development Of The Women’s And Gender Studies Program At Indiana University South Bend.” Spring 2018. IU South Bend Undergraduate Research Journal of History, Spring 2018 Volume VIII.
- “War Questions Stir Campus.” The IU South South Bend Preface, April 7, 2007, https://iusbpreface.wordpress.com/2007/04/07/war-questions-stir-campus/.
- Women’s Caucus Report to IUSB Administration, 1971: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
- Women’s Caucus 1973-1974: Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015.
- Women’s Caucus 1975-1976: Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015.
- IU South Bend Women’s Center Committee 1979-80: Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015.
- Women’s Studies Course Materials, Circa 1970s-1980s: Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015.
- Women’s Studies Program 1972-1976: Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015.
- Women’s Studies Program 1989-1992: Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015.
- Women’s Studies Program 1988-1989: Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970 – 2015.
- Women’s Studies Program Poster, n.d.: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
Notes
[1] Dr. Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992; “The 1990 Annual Report.”
[2] Dr. Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992
[3] The Indiana University Foundation’s Gift Agreement for the Gloria Kaufman Memorial Fund; Dr. Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992
[4] Gloria Kaufman went by her husband’s last name, Shapiro, from her marriage in 1968 to 1972, according to IUSB Archives and Special Collection’s Guide to the Gloria Kaufman Collection; U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014. Found on Ancestry.com.
[5] Sage Colleges Archives and Special Collections; Brandeis University Special Collections and Archives.
[6] Dr. Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992
[7] Ibid.
[8] Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 24 September 1965-25 September 1965.
[9] Resume 1983
[10] Ibid.
[11] Women’s Caucus 1973-1974
[12] Ibid.
[13] Wachs, Abigail.
[14] B250 (Spring), 1980
[15] Guide to IU South Bend Women’s Studies Program: 1970–2015
[16] Resume 1983: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
[17] Women’s Studies Program 1989-1992
[18] Bowman, Chris
[19] Information from Christina Gerken, the current director of IUSB Women’s And Gender Studies.
[20] Information from Christina Gerken, the current director of IUSB Women’s And Gender Studies.
[21] Bowman, Chris
[22] Ibid.
[23] Guide to the Gloria Kaufman Collection
[24] “IUSB’s Gloria Kaufman Gets Lundquist Award.”
[25] Women’s Studies Program 1988-1989
[26] “IUSB’s Gloria Kaufman Gets Lundquist Award.”
[27] B250 1991.
[28] The Indiana University Foundation’s Gift Agreement for the Gloria Kaufman Memorial Fund
[29] Women’s Studies Program Materials, 1979-1991
[30] “War Questions Stir Campus.”
[31] Perspective Article, 1991
[32] Sexism in The Preface, 1981, 1982
[33] Preface Newspaper Articles, 1970-1971
[34] “The 1990 Annual Report.”
[35] Stephen, Diane.
[36] The Indiana University Foundation’s Gift Agreement for the Gloria Kaufman Memorial Fund
[37] Dr. Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992
[38] Guide to the Gloria Kaufman Collection
[39] Dr. Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992
[40] Dr. Kaufman Biography and Resume, 1992
[41] “IUSB’s Gloria Kaufman Gets Lundquist Award.”
[42] Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 24 August 1993.
[43] Sulok, Nancy J.
[44] The Indiana University Foundation’s Gift Agreement for the Gloria Kaufman Memorial Fund: IU South Bend Gloria Kaufman Collection, Indiana University South Bend Archives.
[45] Ibid.