Women's and Gender Studies

The interdisciplinary field of Women's and Gender Studies includes the totality of women’s actions, experiences, movements, and contributions across time and cultures. Goals of the program include:

  • to study women’s lives, histories, traditions, voices, and identities
  • to understand and respect the diversities and commonalities among women
  • to appreciate that women have been, and are, significant actors in history and all fields of human endeavor
  • to understand the causes and consequences of women’s oppression and to relate it to other forms of oppression, such as race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, age, and ability
  • to help students learn to act effectively in the public and political spheres, and in their personal lives

The Women's and Gender Studies program is interdisciplinary in nature, with courses and faculty drawn from throughout the College. Students may obtain a minor in Women's and Gender Studies, in conjunction with a major in any area of study. All students wishing to pursue a Women's and Gender Studies minor must declare so through the Women's and Gender Studies coordinator.

Note: All Women's and Gender Studies courses are open to all students, male or female, whether or not they are pursuing a Women's and Gender Studies minor or certificate.

Requirements for Women's and Gender Studies Minor:

Course# Course Name Credits
WGS 2000 Women’s Lives: Realities and Choices 3
WGS 3900  Women's and Gender Studies Senior Seminar: Selected Topics 

Choose three from the following list of electives*:                                9
(Electives must be from a minimum of two different disciplines)

Total Credits Required Women's and Gender Studies Minor:                    15

Students must choose at least two courses from the following list:

BIOL/SOC/WGS 2452 Sex and Gender: Biological and Sociological Perspectives
COM 2850 Women in Media
COM 3652  Gender Communication
ENG 1330  Feminine and Masculine in Literature 
ENG 2632  Women in 19th Century World Literature 
ENG 2850  Women in Film
ENG 3340  Women in Modern Literature 
NSG 2051  Nursing Therapeutics: Mothers and Infants
NSG/SOC/WGS 2230  Women, Health, and Health Care 
P&H 1090  American First Ladies
P&H 2292  Social History of Women 
PSY 2106  Psychology of Women 
PSY/SOC 2115  Men, Self and Society
SOC 2660  Sociology of Women 

Students completing only two courses from the above list must choose a third elective from the following:

BIOL/PSY/WGS 2450  Human Sexuality (Samuelson/Fournier)
ENG 1280/1290   Writing Workshop I (Regney, Young) 
ENG 1380/1390   Writing Workshop II (Regney, Young) 
ENG 2020   Major British Writers II (Hunter) 
ENG 2110  American Literature I (Regney) 
ENG 2140   Contemporary American Literature (Regney)
ENG 2635 Banned Books (Regney)
ENG 3620   Victorian Literature (Hunter) 
NSG 2100   Transitions to Baccalaureate Nursing (Caroline) 
PHIL 2010  Ethics (Koch, Pregeant) 
P&H 2420   Gay Politics in the United States (Keighton)  
REL 2160  Contemporary Theological Issues (Pregeant) 
SOC 1000  Perspectives on Society and Culture (Levin, O'Neil) 
SOC 1600   Social Problems (Levin, Lischinsky, O'Neil, Seck) 
SOC/PSY 2060  Aging and the Life Cycle (Hainer) 
SOC/ED 2162 Sociology of Education (Levin)
SOC/CJ 2300  Women, Minorities, and Social Justice 
SOC 2414   Victorian Murder, Mystery & Mayhem (Richardson)  
SOC 2620   Family, Kinship, Social Organization (Levin)  
SOC 2680 Sociology of Work: From Corporate Suites to Cleaning Streets (Levin)
SOC/CJ 3404   Sociology of Violence (Seck) 
SOC/CJ 3640 Deviance & Social Control (Levin)
SOC 3650 Images and Power (O'Neil)
SOC 3760  Wealth, Poverty and Social Class in America (Levin) 
VA 2930  Contemporary Art (Alpert) 
 
*Students may petition the Women’s Studies Committee to receive credit for course(s) or coursework not Listed above.
Accreditation
Declaring a Major
Curriculum
Majors
Minors