Women's and Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary field that establishes gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability or ability, as fundamental categories for understanding social structures, cultural norms, and power dynamics. Combining research methods from the humanities and social sciences, the WGST major strengthens critical thinking, writing and research skills; highlights multiple forms of knowledge; and encourages students to think of themselves and others as citizens of a diverse world. WGST scholars produce a wide-variety of analytical, creative, and activist works, investigating intersecting forms of inequalities and oppression's in local and global contexts.
When students graduate with a emphasis in Women's and Gender Studies, they should be able to:
- Apply cross-cultural and global awareness to "big questions" about women and gender
- Have a comprehensive grasp of intersectionality and matrices of power
- Think critically: i.e. consider an issue from multiple perspectives; locate, evaluate and interpret diverse sources; engage in critical self-reflection
- Construct arguments with evidence obtained from research
- Work collaboratively
- Recognize sexist/racist writing and thinking
- Connect knowledge and experience, theory and activism, Women's and Gender Studies materials with other courses
- Communicate effectively in writing and speech
- Apply knowledge for social transformation, citizenship
- Use gender (and other identity categories) as a category or categories for analysis
This major can be combined with other programs to create a double major or a dual degree. The flexibility and expansiveness of the degree enables our graduates to work in a wide variety of fields, including education, law, public policy, health sciences, human resources, business management, social work, arts, non-profit organizations, NGO's, advertising and market research, communication, and journalism.
This is an emphasis area of the following major:
- Interdisciplinary, BA
This major has the following additional emphasis areas:
- Black Studies
- Environmental Studies
- Peace Studies