Dundee to host Scotland's first interdisciplinary gender research centre

Scotland's first centre for interdisciplinary gender research - the Mary Ann Baxter Centre - is to be established at the University.

Named after the co-founder of University College, Miss Mary Ann Baxter, the Centre will provide a central point for gathering and disseminating information about current research in issues of women and gender, building on strong links the University has already established across Europe.

Mary Ann Baxter was the principal benefactor of University College in 1881 and at her insistence a central clause in the Deed of Incorporation stated that Dundee would be 'a college for promoting the education of persons of BOTH SEXES and the study of science, literature and fine arts'.

Dundee's reputation as an institution that promotes the education of both sexes is evidenced in the fact that it was at Dundee that a woman first held a professorial chair in a Scottish university. Professor Margaret Fairlie (1891-1963) graduated in 1915; she returned to Dundee in 1919 to run a consultant practice in Gynaecology.

The Mary Ann Baxter Centre will be launched by the autumn and will be housed with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

"Our `Women, Culture, Society' postgraduate programme at Dundee has already led to the establishment of a long-term research collaboration into issues of gender in text and image involving researchers at the Universities of Dundee, Groningen, Lund and Alicante, so the logical next step is to establish a centre for gender studies," said Dr Marion Wynne-Davies, of the Department of English.

Dr Wynne-Davies announced plans for the centre at "Wonder Women", an interdisciplinary workshop on gender that was held at the University in March (see side panel).

"This is a very welcome development and testimony to the efforts of a small group of committed staff drawn from different disciplines in the University," said Professor Christopher Whatley, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.

"The study of gender in Scotland has been relatively slow to develop, some honourable exceptions apart. The publication of two pathbreaking studies in the field in recent months indicates that much splendid work is now being done. The Mary Ann Baxter Centre can contribute further to these developments by adding the expertise that the Dundee group can bring to the table - as well as the strong research links that have been forged with partners elsewhere in Europe."

The Centre will also operate as an 'umbrella organisation' to house postgraduate teaching and research specifically related to issues of women and gender, and will host conferences and other research-related events, including an international conference to be held in Dundee in spring/summer 2007. 'Debating the Difference: Gender in word and image' will be co-hosted by the Scottish Word and Image Group, and will form part of the University's 40th birthday celebrations.