Women and Gender Studies

Major in Women and Gender Studies

The goals for the Women and Gender Studies major are to:

1. Teach and learn about all women's experiences, past and present, to make women visible  in their similarities and their differences, and to value personal experiences as a way of knowing.

2. Create new scholarship and new knowledge about women, and apply it to personal, political, and institutional change.

3. Provide an inclusive view of the human experience.

Course of Study = Required courses and Electives = 36 credits

Required Courses:                                             

WMS 101 Introduction to Women's Studies (A, S, W, D). Provides an introduction to women's studies, its perspective, and its interdisciplinary nature. Using several disciplines, it examines women's position in culture and society and explores the genesis, development, and impact of our culture's assumptions about women's nature and women's roles. 3 Cr. Every semester.

WMS 271 Gender, Race and Class (A, S, W). Cross listed with AAS 271, SOC 271. Examines the intersecting experiences of gender, race, and class, and responses to the institutional and interpersonal discrimination in women's and men's lives. Investigates the history of efforts to end discrimination, and ways these efforts translate into issues of current concern in the United States. 3 Cr. Every semester

WMS 301 Feminist Theory (A). Prerequisite: WMS 101 or instructor's permission. Provides an advanced interdisciplinary and multicultural introduction to the main traditions of feminist theory, to impact of feminist theory on a variety of disciplines, and to feminist theory as applied to various issues in society and culture. 3 Cr. Spring.

WMS 360 Sex and Culture (A, I, W, D) Explores human sexuality as variously and richly patterned by different cultures. Covers the evolution of human sexuality; cultural significance of biological sex differences; sex roles; patterning of heterosexuality, homosexuality, and transsexuality in selected  world cultures; and changing patterns of sexual behaviors in the United States.  Emphasizes the female perspective and the interplay of biological, psychological,  and cultural factors in the patterning of human sexuality. 3 Cr. Every semester.

WMS 401 Senior Seminar in Women's Studies (A, W) Prerequisite: WMS 101 and 301, and senior status; or instructor's permission. Provides advanced study of a significant topic in women's studies through an in integrative interdisciplinary and multicultural approach. Also provides students with the opportunity to think critically and analytically about women's lives, experiences,  values, and contributions; requires students to produce a well reasoned seminar paper. 3 credits Every semester.

WMS 411 Feminist Research Methodology (A, W) Prerequisites: WMS 101 and WMS 301 or instructor's permission. Explores the process and logic of feminist research, including feminist critiques of approaches to and assumptions about nature and generation of knowledge; theoretical, methodological, and ethical issues in research design and method; exposure to a diversity of feminist research designs and methods; and techniques for interdisciplinary literature searches. 3 Cr. Fall.

Must chose at least one of the following courses in women's history (at least one of the following will be offered every semester):        

WMS 323  History of European and American Women (A, W) Cross listed as HST 323. Surveys the history of women in Europe and North America from 1700 to the present. Examines changes in women's economic, social, cultural, and political roles, in images and stereotypes of women, and explores the growing emphasis on the reproduction and mothering in the modern era. Focuses on ordinary women's experiences. 3 Cr.

WMS 328 Women in America (A, W, D) Cross listed with HST 328. Examines cultural images of American women, such as the Victorian Lady, the flapper, and Rosie the Riveter, as prescriptions within specific socio-economic contexts, from ante-bellum period to the present. Examines individual as well as organized resistance to conventional definitions of woman hood; and contemporary issues including employment, reproductive freedom, and the significance of the media within historical context. 3 Cr. Fall.

WMS 359 European Women (A, W) Cross listed with HST 359. Examines the history of European women since 1500, including traditional roles in  political, cultural, and social life. Focuses on change over the centuries. 3 Cr.

WMS 495 Women, Gender, and Class (A) Cross listed as HST 495. Examines and analyzes European and U.S. women's experiences between the two world wars in terms of gender and class. Introduces theories of women's and gender history and of gender and class analysis. Seminar format; requires committed student participation. 3 Cr.

HST 344 Sex, Sin and Sorority: Women in the Early American Republic (A, W) Explores the origins of the modern American woman. Seeks to describe and explain the ways women in America transformed their reproductive, productive, political, and personal lives during the first century of The Great American Republic, c. 1776-1876. It is aimed at a general audience and has no prerequisites. Lectures, reading, discussion, quizzes, essay exams. 3 Cr. Every Semester.

Total Required Core Credits

21

Electives: At least 10 electives offered every semester

Must choose five (5) electives from approved interdisciplinary courses:

EITHER
At least one course from each of the following:

Humanities	3
Social Sciences	3
Behavioral and Physical Sciences	3

and two (2) more approved courses

6

Total electives

15

OR
At least two (2) courses in either Humanities, Social Sciences, or Behavioral and Physical Sciences. Plus at least one (1) course in each of the remaining two (2) concentrations. Plus one (1) more approved by advisor course.

Total electives

15

Total Credits in the WMS major

36