Gender and Women's Studies

Anissa Rogers, Ph.D., social work, director

The gender and women’s studies minor is open to all students from any major or school at the University, and helps students gain a greater understanding surrounding issues of identity and sexuality in their historical, ethical, theological, and socio-cultural contexts. The gender and women’s studies minor incorporates content reflecting both the study of women's experience specifically and the intersection of gender and culture more generally and encompasses all areas of human inquiry: the liberal arts, the social and natural sciences, engineering, nursing, education, law, business, medicine, and ministry.

Learning Outcomes for the Gender and Women’s Studies Minor

Students in the gender and women’s studies minor should be able to: 

1. Demonstrate knowledge of how different disciplines understand and study gender.
   1. Articulate orally or in writing the lenses through which at least two disciplines understand gender.
   2. Articulate orally or in writing the methods used by at least two disciplines to study gender.
2. Demonstrate an awareness of the intersections between gender and variables such as sex, sexuality, race, class, age, ethnicity, religion, and nationality.
   1. Identify at least two variables that affect or are affected by gender.
   2. Articulate orally or in writing how at least two variables affect or are affected by gender.
3. Demonstrate the ability, using feminist scholarship, to critique ideological assumptions underlying social institutions and systems.
   1. Identify and explain gender-related assumptions underlying social institutions and systems.
   2. Critique orally or in writing societal assumptions underlying gender from a feminist lens. 

Capstone Experience

Students pursing the gender and women’s studies minor will participate in an interdisciplinary one-credit capstone experience. The department in which the capstone course is offered will vary; students should consult the minor’s two-year course schedule for planning purposes. The capstone course will give students the opportunity to select projects completed in courses taken for the minor; compile a portfolio of these projects; articulate how these projects demonstrate mastery of the learning outcomes; and further the interdisciplinary dialogue around the learning outcomes.

Requirements 

1. SW 357/SOC 357: Perspectives on Gender and the Body – 3 hours 

2. Students choose one of the following: – 3 hours

    PHL 414: Philosophy & Feminism

    THE 358/THE 458: Intercultural Feminist Theology 

3. Students choose three courses from the following list: – 9 hours

    CST 411: Communication across Barriers

    ENG 370: Studies in Women Writers

    GRM 404: Multiculturalism in Germany

    HST 321: American Women

    PHL 412: Philosophy of Law

    POL 319: Politics and Identity

    SOC 432: Gender & Violence

    SOC 481: Marriage and the Family

    SOC 491: Families and Kinship

    SPN 408: Golden Age of Spanish Literature

    SPN 410: Individual and Society in Modern Spain

    SW 356/PSY 356: Perspectives on Human Sexuality

    THE 317/THE 417: Trickery, Gender, Power, and Politics in the Bible 

4. Capstone Experience – 1 hour

CST 491, ENG 491, GRM 491, HST 491, PHL 491, POL 491, SOC 491, SPN 491, SW 491, or THE 491 Gender and Women's Studies Capstone.

Total Credit Hours: 16