Gender and Women’s Studies Minor

This interdisciplinary minor is designed for students in any major who also want a concentration in the study of gender. The minor investigates how gender operates as an organizing axis of social, cultural, economic, and political institutions, as well as in the everyday lives and cultural products of people who must live within them. Special attention is paid to how gender intersects with other differences, including race, sexuality, class, religion, nation, disability, and age, and how power, resistance, and life chances are differentially distributed at these intersections.

The minor provides a good foundation of critical reading, writing, and thinking skills that prepare students for work or graduate school in a variety of fields, including psychology, law, social work, medicine, nonprofit management, human resources, and more. To earn the minor, students must complete 18 credits of coursework offered by the Department of Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies, including three core courses and three courses from approved electives, one of which must be a Range of Experience (RoE) course. All courses in the GWST minor must be completed with a grade of C or better.

Core Courses (9 credits)

Students must complete 9 credits of core courses.

GWST 100 - Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies (3.00)
GWST 200 - Studies in Feminist Activism (3.00)
GWST 480 - Theories of Feminism (3.00)

Elective Courses (9 credits)

Nine elective Gender and Women’s Studies courses must be completed, including at least one course of the following courses that specifically addresses the range of women’s experience, for example through a focus on international women, ethnicity, sexual orientation and/or class (RoE).

GWST 320 - Transnational Feminist Film (3.00) (RoE)
GWST 340 - Women, Gender and Globalization (3.00) (RoE)
GWST 342 - Gender in Modern South Asia (3.00) (RoE)
GWST 343 - Gender, Human Rights, and Political Violence in Latin America (3.00) (RoE)
GWST 344 - Transnational Femininities (3.00)
GWST 345 - Unruly Bodies (3.00) (RoE)

Note:

Selected topics courses (GWST 290, 292, 390, 392, 490 and 492) may be counted toward the 9 credits in electives with permission of adviser.

A maximum of six (6) credits of GWST electives may be taken at the 200 level.

A maximum of three (3) GWST independent study credits may be counted toward each minor.

A maximum of three (3) GWST internship credits may be counted toward each minor.

A grade of “C” or better is required in all courses applied toward either minor.