Academic Program & Requirements

The Women's and Gender Studies program offers a major and a concentration, but we also offer a number of courses that are appropriate for all students. 

In Women's and Gender Studies, students will examine aspects of experiences that have traditionally been underrepresented (if not invisible) in academic studies -- for example, the lives and works of women, the experiences of gays and lesbians. Students will also examine gender as a cultural phenomenon: as a system of ideas defining "masculinity" and "femininity" and delineating differences between "the sexes" as well as "normal" expressions of sexuality. In the process, students will encounter some fundamental methodologies of women's and gender studies, and work toward an increasingly rich understanding of gender as a social construction, one that intersects with class, race, age, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, and sexual identity. In addition, students will explore the methods and concepts of women's and gender studies in a variety of academic disciplines, integrating, for instance, sociology, psychology, literature, the biological sciences, and art history. 

Learn more about the program by viewing our handbook.