About the Program
The study of women, gender, and feminist scholarship is an interdisciplinary field that draws upon research in the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences, the arts, and professional education. Gender Studies courses encourage male, female, and gender-nonconforming students to make strong personal connections between classroom material and their own experience. Through applying feminist theories to their own lives, students learn, interpret, and evaluate various cultural phenomena, using a broad range of criteria, including gender, ethnicity, race, class, age, and sexual orientation.
The Bachelor of Arts designates a broad-based liberal arts education. The Bachelor of Science is advisable for those who wish to signal social science expertise in a related career such as social work or counseling psychology.
Majors, Minors & Degrees
Minors
Courses
GEND 2300R Women and Religion
3 hours
GEND 2360 Gender and Society
4 hours
GEND 2380 Women and Crime
4 hours
GEND 2550 Psychology of Women
4 hours
GEND 2650 Psychology of Gender
4 hours
GEND 2700 Women and Power
4 hours
GEND 2830 Music and Gender
3 hours
GEND 2850 Sex and the Arts
3 hours
GEND 2970 Gender Studies Internship
1-8 hours
A supervised, experiential learning opportunity in which the student works with an agency dealing with gender concerns. Students prepare weekly written reports and a reflective paper at the close of the semester. All students enrolled in the practicum will meet regularly with the faculty coordinator to discuss their internship activities and their relevance to gender studies. No P/F.
This course does not fulfill a core requirement for the major.
Corequisite(s): GEND 3000 Perspectives in Gender or permission of the program director.
GEND 3000 Perspectives in Gender
4 hours
This course provides an overview of key contemporary theories, concepts, issues, and debates in Gender Studies as well as an overview of the historical roots that inform this interdisciplinary area of study. Students will also conceptualize and develop an applied gender-project. While topics may vary by instructor expertise and state of the discipline, currently, focus will be placed upon intersectionality (categories such as gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, citizenship status, social class, caste, ability, and age interlock and work together), transnationalism (no matter one's location or awareness, one is connected to others in different parts of the world) and masculinities (analysis of masculine social formation and feminist masculinities). Students will glean an overview of the field of Gender Studies and its emergence from Women's Studies and advocacy for women's rights. Students will become familiar with key concepts from current gender scholarship. As professors encounter current scholarship they will change the course content to reflect the latest debates in the field. Upon completing the course, students must be able to show that they can conceptualize and complete a substantial project with real-world applications that they can then share with other students.
Prerequisite(s): Minimum sophomore standing.
(Normally offered each spring semester.)
GEND 3040 Global Health
3 hours
GEND 3270 Feminist Theories
3 hours
GEND 3300 Transgender Identities
2 hours
GEND 3360 Gender and Society
4 hours
GEND 3380 Women and Crime
4 hours
GEND 3900 Selected Topics
1-5 hours
A topical course designed to investigate relevant subject matter not included in any standard courses. The title and the content will be determined by current mutual interests of students and faculty. This course may be offered to meet a requirement for a major only by approval of the program director.
GEND 3960 Special Projects
1-3 hours
An opportunity for a student to engage in an individually arranged project supervised by a member of the Gender Studies faculty. Special Projects may not duplicate courses described in the catalog. P/F Only.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
GEND 3970 Internship
1-8 hours
A supervised, experiential learning opportunity in which the student works with an agency dealing with gender concerns. Students prepare weekly written reports and a reflective paper at the close of the semester. All students enrolled in the practicum will meet regularly with the faculty coordinator to discuss their internship activities and their relevance to gender studies. No P/F.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the program director.
Pre or corequisite(s): GEND 3000 Perspectives in Gender.
See THTRE 4800 Contemporary Theatre. Different topics are offered for THTRE 4800, however, only the topic of "Performance of Gender" is available as GEND-4800.
GEND 4900 Selected Topics
1-4 hours
A topical course designed to investigate relevant subject matter not included in any standard courses. The title and the content will be determined by current mutual interests of students and faculty. This course may be offered to meet a requirement for a major only by approval of the program director.
GEND 4960 Special Projects
1-3 hours
An opportunity for a student to engage in an individually arranged project supervised by a member of the Gender Studies faculty. Special Projects may not duplicate courses described in the catalog.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
GEND 4970 Gender Studies Internship
1-8 hours
A supervised, experiential learning opportunity in which the student works with an agency dealing with gender concerns. Students prepare weekly written reports and a reflective paper at the close of the semester. All students enrolled in the practicum will meet regularly with the faculty coordinator to discuss their internship activities and their relevance to gender studies. No P/F.
Pre or corequisite(s): GEND 3000 Perspectives in Gender.
GEND 4980 Senior Research
2 hours
This course is designed to guide students in their reading and collecting as they prepare for GEND 4990 Thesis Writing, the course in which they will write their senior thesis. Students will complete several low-stakes writing assignments to help them summarize, reflect on, sort and evaluate the evidence they encounter.
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing and the permission of the instructor.
GEND 4990 Thesis Writing
2 hours
A student will complete a research project or senior thesis under the direction of at least two Gender Studies faculty members. The student will present an oral defense of the thesis.
Prerequisite(s): Senior standing and permission of the supervising Gender Studies faculty members.