The major and concentration in women's and gender studies offer students an opportunity to engage in two important and interrelated areas of study. Students will examine aspects of experiences that have traditionally been underrepresented in academic studies. For example, the lives and works of women and the experiences of gay, lesbian and trans individuals. Students will 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 will 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. Students also 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. Students will come to understand how questions of gender are deeply embedded in the liberal arts tradition.
The major and concentration encourage and enable students to take responsibility for their own learning. Toward this end, courses will invite students to participate in a range of collaborative work. This culminates in the senior colloquium, where students determine the content and intellectual direction of the course as a whole. Ultimately, students are encouraged to acquire a sophisticated insight into the consequences of the social construction of gender for both women and men, an insight that empowers them to engage and question the pervasive role of gender in their own lives and communities. Students construct their major by choosing courses from the offerings of both the Women's and Gender Studies Program and more than 15 other departments and programs across the College.
WGS 111, Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies, is a wide-ranging interdisciplinary course designed to help students develop a critical framework for thinking about questions relating to gender. Students will examine the historical development of gendered public and private spheres, the relation of biological sex to sociological gender, and the difference between sex roles and sexual stereotypes. They will attempt to understand how racism, heterosexism and homophobia intersect with the cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity and will consider ways to promote more egalitarian gender relations. Students also are encouraged to explore more specialized areas of gender studies in courses specifically designed for students at all levels, including first-year students. These include WGS 121, 221 and 232. Students completing WGS 111 can enroll in WGS 242 to explore gender studies in a more global context.
Minimum of 11 courses is required for the major:
Six courses in women's and gender studies:
The major who wishes to participate in the Honors Program must have an overall GPA of 3.33, and 3.5 in the WGS major. The candidate in honors will complete all requirements for the major as well as the Senior Capstone. The candidate will take two semesters of independent study and will design and complete a research project. This project should integrate both feminist theory and methodologies, as well as the student's chosen disciplinary or interdisciplinary cluster. Each honors student will prepare an annotated bibliography on her or his chosen project during the fall term. After approval, the senior honors project will be undertaken in consultation with a project advisor.
We encourage students to think boldly and innovatively about the kinds of projects they undertake and about how those projects interact with and benefit their communities. Senior honors projects might include gender-focused sociological or historical studies undertaken locally; exhibitions, productions or installations of gender-exploratory art, music or theater; or political, social and/or environmental service-oriented or activist work. Students will be closely mentored throughout their projects and, in the spring, will be evaluated by an external evaluator and by faculty in the program and in relevant disciplines. The evaluators will assess the strength of the students' overall work, as well as the strength of their self-designed, project-appropriate public presentations of that work.
The Program in Women's and Gender Studies typically accepts transfer credits from other colleges and universities for courses that meet Kenyon's requirements for transfer credit. We especially encourage students to take courses that are not regularly offered in our curriculum. We do not permit students to earn transfer credits through online evaluation or two-week special courses offered during winter breaks. All transfer credit must be pre-approved by the program director.
Any two WGS courses paired will satisfy the social sciences diversification requirement.
Complete listing of courses that count toward the WGS major or concentration can be found on the WGS department page.