The Center for Women's and Gender Studies

Based in the humanities and social sciences, the Center for Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) offers:

Coursework in Women's and Gender Studies can lead to:

An Inter-/Multi-Disciplinary Center

In studying Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) at Duquesne, you will gain valuable insight into the gendered structures of society. You'll be introduced to the rapidly expanding areas of scholarship focused on gender, embodiment and sexuality that are transforming scholarship in virtually every academic discipline today.

In pursuing a program in Women's and Gender Studies, students will learn:

  • How the construct of gender identity shapes an individual's and/or community's experiences
  • How writers, artists, scholars, researchers and clinical practitioners represent or respond to those gendered experiences
  • How institutions and structures of power shape an individual's and/or community's experiences of gender, embodiment and sexuality
  • How to engage with the established field of women's and gender studies and the body of scholarship it has produced
  • How gender studies can revise critical methods in many other scholarly fields

Careers and Women's and Gender Studies

The construct of gender shapes social orders, human institutions and individual experiences. Students who pursue Women's and Gender Studies 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 students to incorporate such understanding into their social lives and professional careers.

Women's and Gender Studies helps prepare students to use the insight and experience they gain to excel in a variety of careers. Those with a WGS background are poised to work with social service groups, legal services, educational institutions, healthcare settings, religious organizations, nonprofits, communication groups and scientific communities. Students can further enhance their education by combining their studies with a major in biology, business, communication, education, English, health sciences, history, journalism, law, international relations, nursing, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, or theology. Students completing the Physicians' Assistant program or the Doctorate of Pharmacy also have the option of pursuing the WGS minor.

Our Mission

The Center aims to promote an open dialogue among students, faculty, community members and visiting speakers. We seek to build a community that embraces diversity, inclusion, justice and equality for all, values that are central to a liberal education. The Women's and Gender Studies program thus supports Duquesne University's mission: to provide students with opportunities for intellectual growth and for the development of moral and ethical foundations.