Women's and Gender Studies

The construct of gender shapes social orders, human institutions and individual experiences. If you  pursue a second major or a minor in Women's and Gender Studies (WGS), you will develop critical thinking, research and analysis, and oral and written communication skills. The discipline of WGS recognizes the importance of diversity and the consequences of differential power and opportunity. In providing foundational knowledge and understanding of such issues, the program prepares you to incorporate such understanding into your social life and professional career to help promote a more inclusive and equitable world.

The Center for Women's and Gender Studies curriculum will help you further your skills and awareness of these topics, a foundation that will serve you well in careers in arts, business, education, healthcare, journalism, law, science, and social services.

What you’ll learn with a Women’s and Gender Studies Minor or Second Major

With a women’s and gender studies minor or second major, you will have the skills needed to achieve your bigger goals, regardless of industry or area of expertise within the gender studies realm and will be able to:

  • Understand how the construct of gender identity shapes human experiences, institutions and social orders.
  • Analyze how institutions and structures of power shape experiences of gender, embodiment and sexuality.
  • Interpret how writers, artists, scholars, researchers and clinical practitioners represent or respond to gendered experiences.
  • Engage with the established scholarship of women’s and gender studies and apply it to rethink methods in other scholarly fields.
  • Build critical thinking, research and analysis, and oral and written communication skills through courses in at least two disciplines.

"My WGS studies not only gave me the opportunity to take courses in a wide variety of disciplines—including law, politics, sociology and literature—but also taught me valuable critical thinking skills and how to resist the notion of simply accepting something because someone says it's true."

Sydney McCabe, International Relations and Women's & Gender Studies double major

 

Program Information

Enhance your studies by adding Women's & Gender Studies as a second major or a minor.

Program Type

Major, Minor

Degree

Bachelor's

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Academic Department

English

Duration

4 years

Required Credit Hours

120

Modality

In-Person

Program Requirements

A Women's & Gender Studies second major requires the completion of 30 credits. A minor requires 15 credits.

View Catalog
The Women's & Gender Studies curriculum includes courses through at least two disciplines with a minimum of 15 credits at the 200-level or above. Some popular course offerings include:
  • WSGS/THEO 201 Women & Christianity (3 Credits)
  • WSGS/PSYC 453 Psychology of Gender (3 Credits)
  • WSGS/JMA 421 Sex, Myth, & Media (3 Credits)
  • WSGS/HIST 433 Gender in American History (3 Credits)
All WSGS are cross listed with departmental offerings. WSGS also offers several unique topic courses each semester.
If you take a course that is not cross listed with WGS but contains identifiable content devoted to the topic, you may petition to have that course count towards your Women's & Gender Studies degree.
Students who seek an internship that is related to Women's & Gender Studies can petition for up to three credits for the internship.
Students who take an independent study with identifiable content around Women's & Gender Studies may petition for it to count towards credit requirements.
Students interested in completing a minor in Women's & Gender Studies can do so by completing 15 credit hours of relatable coursework. 

Nursing students can fulfill up to 6 credits needed for the WGS minor through gender-focused projects in three required Nursing courses.
  • UPNS 348 Nursing for Maternal & Newborn Health (3 Credits)
  • UPNS 357 Population Health (3 Credits)
  • UPNS 324 Cultural Applications of Healthcare (3 Credits)
Students should contact the Center for Women's & Gender Studies if they wish to get credits towards the WGS minor through these courses for additional information.

Learning Outcomes

In addition to the Liberal Arts General Outcomes for all Undergraduate Degree Areas, students in the B.A. in Women's and Gender Studies program will demonstrate the following general competencies:
  1. Focus on how women’s and men’s experiences within history, society, and culture are shaped by their gendered positions and how these gendered positions in turn shape women’s and men’s responses/reactions to experiences.
  2. Examine institutional structures and structures of power in terms of their implications for women and men as gendered beings.
  3. Engage with the established field of women’s and gender studies and the body of scholarship it has produced over the last 30 years.
  4. Address ways in which a focus on women and/or gender allows for the rethinking of a given scholarly field or discipline.
  5. Promote open dialogue directed toward a vision of a world community that embraces diversity.