ABSTRACT
In 1978, a course entitled Women in Society was developed by the Sociology Department of Massey University, in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The course was offered only to on-campus students until 1984, when it also became available to distance learners through the university's Extramural Department. At the end of that year two of the course lecturers, Bev James and Shelagh Cox, taped a discussion between themselves in which they describe and evaluate the teaching of women's studies at a distance. Their dialogue, as presented in this chapter, offers insights into collaborative teaching and learning about women's own lives. The Women in Society course was started in 1978 by Ephra Garrett, who is a New Zealand feminist. Robyn Leeming has left the university, so now it is Bev James and Shelagh who teach it. It's been taught internally for some years, and it was taught extramurally-that is, distance teaching - for the first time in 1984.
