July 5, 2002 UNT Inhouse publication: New director of women’s studies selected

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New director of women's studies selected

Sandra L. Spencer, a lecturer in the Department of English, has been named the new director of women's studies at UNT. Her appointment is effective Sept. 1.

Located in the College of Arts and Sciences, the women's studies program administers an interdisciplinary minor open to all undergraduates. The minor allows students to design individual courses of study that suit their academic interests and needs.

Courses offered for the minor address women-specific issues as well as the interaction of women and men in the home, workplace and government. More than 30 faculty members, representing almost all of UNT's schools and colleges, teach the courses.

Students may also take women's studies courses for a master's degree with a major in interdisciplinary studies.

In addition to administering academic programs, the women's studies program regularly sponsors public forums and discussions.

Spencer joined the UNT Department of English faculty in 1996 after earning her doctoral degree in Victorian literature from the department. She also holds a master's degree in British literature from UNT. As a master's student, she was named an outstanding teaching fellow for the Department of English.

Spencer says she has had a lifelong interest in women's studies.

"My mother and I have both worked in positions traditionally filled by men and have faced unique challenges because of those experiences," she says. "This is an exciting time to be in women's studies. The complex issues faced by the women of Afghanistan, for example, raise questions about issues facing not only women's studies scholars, but also all women at this time."

Topics for the courses that Spencer has taught for the women's studies program include 19th-century women and work. Her courses on Jane Austen and Victorian novels also have featured an emphasis on women's studies.

Spencer also taught courses in Scotland and England as part of UNT study abroad programs.

Besides UNT, Spencer has taught at the Richland College campus of the Dallas County Community College District. She was also a visiting scholar for the National Faculty at Delta Teachers Academy in Eudora, Ark.

At UNT, she has served on the Curriculum Assessment Committee, English as a Second Language Committee and the University Task Force on Developmental Education. She was the College of Arts and Sciences representative for a study abroad exchange between UNT and five universities in the United Kingdom in 2000.

Spencer has published essays and encyclopedia entries in Women's Writing, Victorian Periodicals Review and Directory of Literary Biography, among other publications. Her original poetry has appeared in the Wormwood Review and North Texas Review.

In addition to her graduate degrees from UNT, Spencer received a bachelor's degree in English and history from the University of Texas at Dallas.