He also said he took issue with what he said was a dearth of study of anti-feminist thought within the concentration.
“The women’s studies department has no conservative or anti-feminist scholars,” said Mansfield. “It has invited no anti-feminist speakers.”
He added that the classes for which he had seen reading lists likewise contained no anti-feminist authors.
In an interview later, Mansfield said the change of name would do nothing but “make obvious what they were all along, which is a department of feminist studies.”
“Women’s studies is a neutral name, it could be from any point of view,” he continued. “But when you say gender and sexuality, you get a lot more of a feminist tinge.”
The name change had been discussed in both the Committee on Undergraduate Education and the Faculty Council during the past month.
—Staff writer Laura L. Krug can be reached at krug@fas.harvard.edu.