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The “Woman Question” and the Dynamics of Institutional Design at Western Reserve College in the Gilded Age

Slantcheva-Durst, Snejana
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo162057534163787

Abstract Details

2021, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, History.
The present study traces the influences of women students, and the “woman question,” on Western Reserve College during its most critical period of transformation during the Gilded Age. In addition, I also aim to build a second, parallel story: the creation of one of the pioneer coordinate colleges for women in the United States: the Western Reserve University’s College for Women. I argue that women students and the question of their presence at Western Reserve College were a significant and integral force behind institutional and campus environment changes in the last quarter of the 19th century, and propelled the transformation of the college into an urban university. Women’s presence left traces on at least four critical areas: the campus environments, the college’s relationship with the surrounding educational network, institutional change and college reform, and town-gown dynamics. The attempts to accommodate the “woman question” led to the major shifts in co-educational and coordinate approaches as Western Reserve College transformed itself from a small liberal arts college into an urban university. With this study, I join revisionist interpretations of the history of women’s presence in colleges and universities in the Gilded Age, employing a lens that looks at women as an axis of institutional change.
Kim Nielsen, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
251 p.
Education; Gender; Higher Education; History; Urban Planning; Womens Studies
woman question; gender informed history; Western Reserve College; town-gown dynamics; higher education; college design; college reform; womens influence; Gilded Age; late 19th century; history of higher education; history of womens education

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Slantcheva-Durst, S. (2021). The “Woman Question” and the Dynamics of Institutional Design at Western Reserve College in the Gilded Age [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo162057534163787

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Slantcheva-Durst, Snejana. The “Woman Question” and the Dynamics of Institutional Design at Western Reserve College in the Gilded Age. 2021. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo162057534163787.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Slantcheva-Durst, Snejana. "The “Woman Question” and the Dynamics of Institutional Design at Western Reserve College in the Gilded Age." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2021. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo162057534163787

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2021, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.