Tracy M. Tefertiller '94 has been tracking the spending habits of 400 teenage girls. "I spend a lot of time at the mall and looking through Seventeen magazine," she says.

Caroline M. Mitchell '94 spent last summer in Nigeria studying a women's health and family planning center.

Tefertiller and Mitchell, who are both Women's Studies concentrators, approach their projects to study the position of women in society.

"Considering gender, some more, some less, is the unified approach that focuses the diverse body of studies," says part-time Director of Studies for the Committee on Women's Studies Juliet B. Schor, who is also senior lecturer on economics.

Women's Studies concentrators are a small, close-knit group of students who share an interest in gender and their feelings for the program.

"I love it," Caroline M. Mitchell '94 says. "I know almost everyone in my class. It's a really friendly place."

The concentration has grown from about seven to 12 students to 42 this year.

Supervised by an interdisciplinary committee which credits courses from departments ranging from government to sociology to music--students' plans of study vary widely.

"The concentration offers a lot of room for flexibility," says Debbie B. Stulberg '95. "My courses are from four or five different departments. Their philosophy is that it counts if it's within your area, however you define it."

`Where Everybody Knows Your Name'

Concentrators also laud the individual attention that the Women's Studies committee showers on them.

"Economics is such a huge department. It takes so long to feel your way around," says Tefertiller, a joint concentrator in economics and Women's Studies. "In women's studies, everyone knows my name, my thesis topics, what fellowships and grants I've applied for."

"I really feel that they have a concern for me as an individual, not just some ideal of the model concentrator," she says.

Schor and the Women's Studies committee's Assistant Director of Studies Andrea S. Walsh personally advise all of the students in the honors-only concentration. The heavy emphasis on advising is necessary since concentrators design their own studies.

Students must take three introductory courses in women's studies and year-long tutorials, but choose the remaining seven courses from a committee-approved list of courses in a number of departments.