The FIU Women's Studies Center, established in 1982, develops and coordinates academic courses and community programming on women, sexual orientation, and gender, and supports research in those and related fields.
The Center offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Women's Studies as well as an undergraduate certificate program. Courses provide an opportunity for the study of women, the construction of gender, and gay and lesbian studies through liberal arts disciplines, the sciences, and professional programs. They are coordinated through various university departments, and are open to all students. The center is committed to teaching and research about gender in the contexts of global concerns, nationality, race, religion, region, ethnicity, class, age, and sexual identity.

The Women's Studies Center fosters faculty research through research seminars, lecture series, and conferences such as the annual Women's History Month Conference. The Center can serve as a source of information on grants for faculty and graduate student research, as well as on graduate programs in women's and gender studies at other institutions. It maintains a library of books and periodicals in Women's Studies, which faculty, staff, students, and other members of the community may consult.

The field of Women's Studies, since its inception, has diversified to include teaching and research on a large range of issues related to gender and sex; participating in this growth, our program has enthusiastically expanded its course offerings to reflect new interests, definitions, and subject matters. As women's issues have entered the academic mainstream, we applaud that accomplishment and continue to contribute to it. At the same time, the affiliated faculty of the program is committed to teaching and research in some of the most dynamic and innovative areas of the field, including transgender issues, gay and lesbian studies, transnational and multiethnic women's studies, and women's health. The projected establishment of research centers and undergraduate concentrations will extend and focus our commitment to women's studies and our energetic engagement with new specializations in the field.