It was in the mid-1970s that women’s studies courses began to make the

Have a small doubt on 3rd Questions...Which of the following can be said about the course ‘The History of Korean Family and Women’?
Excerpts from the passage "Thus the instructor of a course on Korean history whose theme is ‘The History of Korean Family and Women’ makes the comment: “The course is not from the perspective of women’s studies, but rather to fill a gap in Japanese research on Korean history[/color]”.

A is just a paraphrase of what is being told in the coloured line.

Believe the question asks more than paraphrase or according to passage, it is about inference and out of the lot I found option E as more relevant.

A. It represents historic research more than an explicit feminist perspective. --- Paraphrase of statement "The course is not from the perspective of women’s studies, but rather to fill a gap in Japanese research on Korean history"
B. It does not conform to National Women's Education Center's definition of "women's studies". --- Its a 180 degree
C. It is an old course revised by subtly adding a feminist perspective. ---its not mentioned
D. It is not likely taught by an instructor who claims women's studies as his/her field of specialization.---it goes beyond what is mentioned in the paragraph...may be it or maybe it is not...not clearly told
E. It highlights concerns over the extent to which women's studies are taught from feminist perspectives.--- can be inferred as entire 2nd paragraph was to highlight concern that studies are not taught from feminist perspective and doubts the survey..author is skeptical throughout...goes well with the tone as well...

Can someone help here?

1.Which of the following best summarizes the content of the passage?

A. A critique of women's studies as an academic discipline
B. A report on the progress of women's studies programs in Japan
C. An assessment of the status of women's studies programs in the Japanese academia
D. An analysis of the philosophy of women's studies programs
E. An abbreviated history of women's studies programs in Japan in the 1970s

I chose B instead of OA-C .

AjiteshArun , GMATNinja , MagooshExpert , GMATGuruNY , VeritasKarishma , DmitryFarber , workout , other experts - Can you please provide a solution for this question ?

I'd be a little wary of marking C as well, but we should keep the word "best" (best summarizes the content) in mind. It is a reminder that the correct option has to be the best of the 5 given options, nothing more.

Let's compare B and C:

B. A report on the progress of women's studies programs in Japan
C. An assessment of the status of women's studies programs in the Japanese academia

It's possible that the author of this question is asking us to mark the option that provides a reference to Japanese universities (maybe they've set the option with only Japan up as being too general). They could also be asking us to pick the word assessment, keeping in mind that the author of the passage does not simply report things.

Experts' Global is on GMAT Club, so maybe their instructors could also chip in with the OE.

Hi,

nice explanation!
one point which goes in favor of choice B is "progress". how the women's studies progressed in 1970s, 1994s is also mentioned which is completely neglected in choice C.

Any expert ????

Which of the following can be said about the course ‘The History of Korean Family and Women’?
A. It represents historic research more than an explicit feminist perspective.
B. It does not conform to National Women's Education Center's definition of "women's studies".
C. It is an old course revised by subtly adding a feminist perspective.
D. It is not likely taught by an instructor who claims women's studies as his/her field of specialization.
E. It highlights concerns over the extent to which women's studies are taught from feminist perspectives.

IMO E is incorrect because the question asks the content of the course, the course itself, not the author's purpose to present this course.

It was in the mid-1970s that women’s studies courses began to make their appearance in Japanese universities. Thus far, very few studies have actually looked closely at the types of courses offered; the content and methodology of the courses; how they are perceived and evaluated by students, faculty, and administrators; and the impact of these courses – both short-term and long-term – on students as well as on the institutions themselves. An annual survey of women’s studies course offerings in higher institutions nationwide conducted by National Women’s Education Center since 1983 is one of few such sources.

According to its 1994 report, in 1992, 268 institutions of higher education offered courses in women’s studies out of a total of 1,101 institutions. There is no question that this represents a significant increase compared to the late 1970s, when only a handful of institutions offered such courses. Yet, looking again at the courses and the proportion of institutions offering them, it must be pointed out that the figure is deceptive. Even in cases in which courses are offered, usually just one or two courses are taught at each institution. Another questionable point concerns the extent to which the various courses are taught from a feminist perspective. The NWEC survey gives no definition for the term women’s studies. The questionnaire asks whether the respondent runs any ‘women’s studies-related course’ by which it basically means any course that is labeled ‘women’s’, such as ‘Women’s Studies’, ‘Women’s Issues’, or ‘Women’s History’ as well as courses in any of the various disciplines that deal with the subject of women or give special attention to women. Our estimate is that courses with explicitly feminist perspectives make up about one-third of all courses offered. The rest seem to consist of best of an ‘add women and stir’ type of approach, as it were. Thus the instructor of a course on Korean history whose theme is ‘The History of Korean Family and Women’ makes the comment: “The course is not from the perspective of women’s studies, but rather to fill a gap in Japanese research on Korean history”. This is not surprising in the light that, in the NWEC survey, only 26 out of 499 instructors teaching women’s studies-related courses – all of whom were women – claimed their field of specialization to be that of women’s studies per se.

Which of the following best summarizes the content of the passage?

A. A critique of women's studies as an academic discipline
B. A report on the progress of women's studies programs in Japan
C. An assessment of the status of women's studies programs in the Japanese academia
D. An analysis of the philosophy of women's studies programs
E. An abbreviated history of women's studies programs in Japan in the 1970s