Mission 

The mission of the Center for Research on Women (CROW) is to conduct, promote, and disseminate scholarship on women and social inequality.

About

The Center for Research on Women has investigated issues of gender, race, class and social inequality for 30 years. An interdisciplinary unit within the College of Arts & Sciences, this thriving academic center is home to collaborative researchers committed to scholarly excellence and deep community involvement.

The Center is regarded as a national leader in promoting an integrative approach to understanding and addressing inequities in our society. The Center's approach to research, theory and programming emphasizes the structural relationships among race, class, gender, and sexuality, particularly in the U.S. South and among women of color.

This kind of action-oriented, community-based research strengthens the public's understanding of women's experiences and informs local, regional and national public policy. 

Locally, CROW has long-running relationships with the Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis, Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region, The Urban Child Institute, Choices. (formerly Memphis Center for Reproductive Health), and various governmental agencies. On campus, CROW collaborates with many other departments and centers, including the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, the Department of Anthropology, African and African American Studies, the Department of History and the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change. CROW continues to host visiting scholars, women's research forums and academic networking events, as well as community issue forums. 

CROW History & Directors

Dr. Bonnie Thornton Dill 1982 – 1988
Dr. Lynn Weber 1988 –1994
Dr. Elizabeth Higganbotham (acting director) 1994 – 1996

The founding members of CROW, Bonnie Thornton Dill, Lynn Weber, and Elizabeth Higganbotham, provided leadership for the Center for the first 14 years. As a professor of sociology at Memphis State University, Dill caught the attention of the Ford Foundation who ultimately awarded Dill, Higganbotham, and Weber a $211,547 grant to form the Center for Research on Women. These three women drew from their personal and professional experiences (and frustrations) to establish one of the first academic spaces dedicated to the intersection of race and gender. The early years of CROW saw the creation of a research clearinghouse, numerous workshops and conferences, visiting scholars, a newsletter with a local and national audience, and a role in the development of the National Council for Research on Women. In a 2002 CROW newsletter, Weber explains that during this time, "the Center became a magnet for people all over the country who came to do work on race and gender," including Patricia Hill Collins who wrote the groundbreaking piece Toward a New Vision: Race, Class and Gender as Categories of Analysis and Connection during her time as a visiting scholar at CROW. Dill, Weber, and Higganbotham also brought in tremendous funding for the Center; during the 1990s, CROW was able to expand to additional spaces on South Campus and throughout Memphis. Under the leadership of its founding members, CROW connected faculty and students and contributed to the canon of women's research through curriculum integration series, on-campus research institutes during the summer, and a plethora of publications.

Dr. Barbara Ellen Smith 1996 – 2005                                                                       and Dr. Phyllis Betts (acting director) 2001-2002

When Smith took a year-long research sabbatical, long-time Associate Director Dr. Phyllis Betts stepped in as Acting Director for the Center. Dr. Betts' research on crime in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods around Memphis placed the Center at the forefront of the University's growing engaged scholarship movement. Dr. Betts continues to be involved with the Center as the Associate Director.

Dr. Lynda Sagrestano 2006 – present

A social psychologist by training, Dr. Sagrestano has shifted the focus of CROW towards eliminating health disparities in the Mid-South. Dr. Sagrestano has continued the tradition of action-based participatory research as the Center has joined the City's initiatives to reduce teen pregnancy and infant mortality and has produced research on child care, poverty, sexual harassment in schools and the needs of single mothers as well as people living with HIV/AIDS. Over the past six years, the Center has also hosted several special events, including an original production entitled In Her Own Words: Inspirational Speeches from the Women's Rights Movement, a lecture from Dr. Judith Butler, and the photo exhibit SnapShots: Memphis Women at Work. Dr. Sagrestano continues to connect the Center to local and national communities as she serves on the board for several organizations, including the Memphis Area Women's Council, the Governor's Infant Mortality Committee, and the National Council for Research on Women.

Since that Ford Foundation grant 30 years ago, CROW has brought in funding from many sources including the National Science Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, and the National Council for Research on Women. Locally, CROW has long-running relationships the Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis, Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region, the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change, the Assisi Foundation, the Urban Child Institute, Choices: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, and various governmental agencies. On campus, CROW collaborates with the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, the Department of Anthropology, African and African American Studies, and the Department of History. CROW continues to host visiting scholars, women's research forums and academic networking events, as well as community issue forums. The Center remains committed to action-oriented, interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on gender and race-based social justice.