Program Description

The gender studies program, which offers a major leading to the BA as well as a minor, examines gender using an interdisciplinary approach. Consisting of a variety of courses drawn from across the college, the program offers students the opportunity to study gender in a variety of historical periods and geographical areas using different academic, political, and feminist perspectives. The program equips students with reading, writing, research, and analytical skills that enable them to:

• identify and analyze the links among gender, sexuality, identity, power, and social justice
• identify and analyze intersections among gender and sexuality and other categories of difference, such as class, race, religion, nationality, and physical ability
• situate gender and sexuality in broader historical and geopolitical contexts
• write or otherwise present (depending on the field of study) analyses of gender and sexuality in specific visual, literary, and theoretical works
• design and execute a senior project that demonstrates these competencies within a theoretical framework of gender and sexuality

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

A minimum of eight courses in gender studies with a grade of C or higher and an 8-credit senior project:

• Introduction to Gender and Sexuality
• Four electives in gender studies, with no more than three chosen from one school or conservatory
• One upper-level theory course
• One upper-level course on gender across time or cultures
• Gender Studies Junior Seminar
• Senior Project

Representative Elective Courses

American Women Writers
Birth and Death
Citizens Living Under Islamic Laws
Feminist Approaches to Art and Theory
Feminist Theory
Gender and Health: International Issues
Gender and Popular Culture in South Asia
Gender and Power
Gender Politics and Islam
Global Sexualities
History of Feminist Movements
History of Gender and Sexuality in the U.S.
Human Sexuality
Masculinities: Feminist Perspectives
Psychology of Women
Queer Cinema
Queer Media Convergence
Race, Gender, and the Law
Riot Grrls and Radical Women
Sex and Gender in Latin America
Sex, Politics, and Health
Sexuality and Society
The Islamic State, Gender, and Sexuality
The Lives of Women
Theories of Sexuality
The Political Economy of Women
Women and Film
Women and Politics
Women Artists and Feminist Criticism
Women in the Biblical/Ancient World
Women in Developing Countries
Women in Performance
Women’s Rights as Human Rights

Representative Alumni

• Allison Fradkin ’07, playwright and author of Dykechotomous and The Dykeutante Ball; editor, Off the Rocks, NewTown Writers; literary coordinator, Pride Films and Plays, Chicago, Ill.
• Amber Galeo ’04, MA in human rights, MFA student in creative writing (expected in 2013), Columbia University
• Kristen Kamsler ’11, associate producer, Alan Weiss Productions (Teen Kid News and Conrad Productions)
• Simone Varadian ’05, MS.Ed, Baruch College, City University of New York; assistant director of admission, Teachers College, Columbia University
• Kate Wadkins ’06, MA in women’s and gender history, Sarah Lawrence College; coordinator, Disruptive Media Lab; contributing writer, Hyperallergic, and curator, Brain Waves, Brooklyn, N.Y.

For more information, please visit the gender studies program site.

Updated Dec. 12, 2012

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