What is Gender Studies?

Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary field that straddles the social sciences and humanities in order to examine how and why gender matters in our lives and in our world.

Informed by feminist and queer theoretical perspectives, Gender Studies explores the differences within and between men and women and how those differences are constructed within gendered systems of privilege and oppression.

Courses in the program focus on a range of gendered institutions, such as family, work, religion, education, health, medicine, media, and politics. Our courses also investigate the many ways scholars, artists, and activists have researched, represented, and critiqued our gendered world.

Among the topics students can expect to study are:

• the impact of gender and sexual identity on human relations within local, national, transnational, and/or global communities;
• the relationship of gender to race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, religion, and/or nationality;
• the distinctions among biological sex, gender, sexual orientation, and sexual identity;
• and the history and implications of gender and sexuality in questions of social justice.

Students in the Gender Studies major will learn the critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to enter the job market or pursue graduate study in a variety of fields including Women's Studies, Sociology, English and History.

Students will be able to develop expertise through directed studies and gain practical experience through internships, both of which will help them develop their career path. Gender Studies is also an excellent double major or minor for students who want to distinguish themselves on the job market.