Program Description

The Women’s Studies Program examines women’s lives and issues using an interdisciplinary approach. Through courses drawn primarily from the liberal arts, the major in women’s studies offers students the opportunity to study women’s struggles, achievements, and contributions in past and present societies and across cultures from a feminist perspective.

Designed to enhance feminist scholarship and activism, this program equips students with the skills to:

1. describe the conditions of women in various cultures and societies
2. understand the causes and consequences of women’s subordination,
3. evaluate theories of gender construction and inequality
4. learn the strategies and organizational skills needed to address gender inequalities, and
5. develop the ability to analyze primary sources and produce coherent research reports.

Program Faculty

Requirements for the Major

• Introduction to Women’s Studies
• One theory course:
  Feminist Theory or
  Black Feminist Theory
• One history course:
  The Political Economy of Women or
  “Aren’t I a Woman?”: The Construction of Womanhood in the U.S. or
  History of Feminist Movements
• One research methodology course:
  Fieldwork: Qualitative Methods or
  Behavioral Statistics or
  Research Methods or
  Feminism and Culture
• One course each in the following two areas (chosen from approved lists):
  Women in the U.S./European context
  Women in the international/global context
• One additional women’s studies elective, chosen from approved lists
• Senior Project in Women’s Studies

It is strongly recommended that students also:

1. pursue a minor or complete at least three courses in a coherent area of study — in the humanities, natural sciences, or social sciences — and
2. complete at least one applied course in women’s studies.

Representative Elective Courses

American Women Writers
Birth and Death
Citizens Living Under Islamic Laws
Feminist Approaches to Art and Theory
Gender and Health: International Issues
Gender and Popular Culture in South Asia
Gender and Power
Gender Politics and Islam
Global Sexualities
Human Sexuality
Identity and Difference: Studies in Feminist Philosophy
Internship in Women’s Studies
Masculinities: Feminist Perspectives
Psychology of Gender
Psychology of Women
Queer Media Convergence
Race, Gender, and the Law
Riot Grrls and Radical Women
Seminar in Buddhism and Feminist Philosophy
Sex, Politics, and Health
Sexuality in Western Culture
The Islamic State, Gender, and Sexuality
The Political Economy of Women
Women and Drama
Women and Film
Women and Politics
Women Artists and Feminist Criticism
Women Cross-Culturally
Women in Africa
Women in America
Women in the Biblical/Ancient World
Women in China
Women in Developing Countries
Women’s Rights as Human Rights

For more information, visit the Women’s Studies site in Academic Programs.

Updated May 27, 2008