BA in Women’s Studies
The women’s studies major is an interdisciplinary degree program that includes courses on women and gender offered by the women’s studies program as well as through traditional disciplines and departments. The purpose of women’s studies is to offer a contemporary as well as a historical perspective on women’s contributions to selfhood, family, and society; identify, critically examine, and evaluate the assumptions made about women by tradition; and discover, acquire, and accumulate knowledge about women in order to empower understanding of their lives, their roles, and their humanity. Women’s studies balances traditional Western cultural assumptions with international women’s perspectives, including those of minorities, the disabled, and the economically deprived. The requirements for the major include an introductory women’s studies course; electives chosen from the arts, humanities, natural and social sciences, and professional schools; and a core of women’s studies courses, including a capstone experience of a senior seminar and internship or directed readings. Women’s studies majors are encouraged to combine women’s studies with another major.
(Download the Women’s Studies Major Checklist)
Women's Studies Minor
The minor in women’s studies is an interdisciplinary academic program with courses designed to complement and enrich students’ work in their major fields. To ensure flexibility in each student’s 24 s.h. program and thus assure the possibility of coordinating with the major, the women’s studies minor comprises a 6 s.h. core, which includes a course that introduces the student to the discipline and a senior seminar which helps the student synthesize what she or he has learned, and 18 s.h. of electives. A course may not count toward the student’s major degree and the women’s studies minor.
(Download the Women’s Studies Minor Checklist)
Graduate Minor
The graduate women’s studies minor consists of 9 s.h. of graduate-level course work designed to complement the student’s major field by exploring the experience of women in relationship to issues of gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, class, political structures, and social systems. The minor encourages critical thinking, seeks new knowledge, and explores feminist theory across cultural and disciplinary boundaries.
