Professor Steinberg retired as director of the Women's Studies Program in 2003. Carolyn Dever (English) was the acting director of the program from spring 2004 to spring 2005, while a national search for a new director was launched. Professor Dever expertly guided the program through its transition from the leadership of Ronnie Steinberg to the installation in 2004 former director, Monica J. Casper (Sociology). Professor Casper and a dedicated team of students, faculty, and staff took the WGS Program to new heights. They:

• Changed the program's name to Women's and Gender Studies;
• Increased/enhanced program diversity through faculty hiring (e.g., Shubhra Sharma and Charlotte Pierce-Baker) and public lecture series;
• Increased the number of Affiliated Faculty to more than 90, including several faculty from outside the College of Arts and Science;
• Increased collaborative efforts and networking across campus with units such as the Center for Ethics, Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, Program in African American and Diaspora Studies, Jewish Studies, Center for the Americas, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, Black Cultural Center, and many others;
• Created a Community Advisory Board comprised of professionals representing diverse fields, drawn from the wider Nashville community;
• Broadened the WGS Steering Committee to include undergraduate and graduate students; and
• Created thematic concentrations in WGS including:
  • a. Feminisms: Global and Local
  • b. Gender, Activism, and Social Change
  • c. Gender, Bodies, and Health
  • d. Gender, Law, and Policy
  • e. Gender, Media, and the Arts
  • f. Intersections: Gender/Race/Ethnicity/Class/Sexualit

The program has come a long way since 1972. However, some challenges still remain: how to increase majors and minors, how to make our programming and curriculum more interdisciplinary and reflective of changing political and social realities, how to make WGS courses and degrees integral to the professional portfolio of students in the College of Arts and Science, and how to increase awareness of Women's and gender issues across campus and in the larger Nashville community.