The statement goes on to note that the Institute will "sustain a continuing commitment to the study of women, gender and society." Yet, both sides have said no decisions have been made about whether all, or just some, of the research at the Institute will focus on gender.

A magnifying glass on gender would set the Radcliffe Institute apart from other centers of advanced study. Neil J. Smelser, director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Palo Alto, Calif. said such a focus would provide the new school with an inherently "different character" from his school.

And Scott, whose 1988 book Gender and the Politics of History is considered a landmark in the field, said a gender institute could make a real contribution to current scholarship.

"My sense is that there's an opportunity to have an institution that works on serious gender research or there's an opportunity to make gender one part, but not the only part, of what goes on," she said.

"I think [the first] would be the braver course," she said.

Members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences will be given a chance to further voice their comments about the new Institute when Rudenstine and Wilson present the agreement to merge at the next full Faculty meeting in May.

--Rachel P. Kovner contributed to the reporting of this article