Women’s and Gender Studies Minor

Vicky MacLean, Director

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program offers the Women’s and Gender Studies minor to enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of gender issues and the position of women in society. The program encourages a historically grounded comparative, global feminist perspective. All courses are informed by theories of the social construction of gender and address issues of diversity including race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, nationality, age, and/or ability. The program emphasizes an interactive learning process and promotes scholarly research. Students may minor in one of three areas: Women’s Studies, Gender Studies, or Sexuality Studies.

Upon selecting the Women’s and Gender Studies minor, students should complete a Minor Information Form and obtain advising through the program director.

General Requirements

All students considering a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies should take WGST 2100 as part of General Education requirements. All minors must also take WGST 4500 (completion of WGST 2100 and junior/senior standing required) plus 12 additional hours within an interdisciplinary structure as described below.

Women’s Studies Area

The Women’s Studies area focuses on women’s lives, thoughts, and social positions. The area consists of courses taught from a feminist perspective, within historical and contemporary contexts, incorporating multinational, multicultural, and multiracial points of view.

In addition to WGST 2100 and WGST 4500 , minors taking the Women’s Studies area must complete one additional program (WGST) course plus 9 hours of electives from the full list below. Students may take no more than 3 hours per major field/department.

Gender Studies Area

The Gender Studies area consists of courses that take a feminist approach to offer students knowledge and experience that facilitate intelligent and informed choice and communication regarding the socially constructed meaning of gender and gender issues within our multicultural, globalized society.

In addition to WGST 2100 and WGST 4500 , minors taking the Gender Studies area must complete either SOC 3400 or ANTH 3750 and 6 hours of electives from the following courses:

ANTH 3710 (“Language and Gender” only)
ANTH 3750 (if not taken for above requirement)
CDFS 4140 /SOC 4140
CDFS 4340
COMM 3225
COMM 4800 (“Gayspeak, Communication, and Film” only)
EMC 4800 /JOUR 4800 (“Race and Gender in the Mass Media” only)
ENGL 3885 ; SOC 3400 (if not taken for above requirement)
WGST 4213 (“Gender and Horror”); plus 3 hours from the full list of courses below.

Sexuality Studies Area

The Sexuality Studies area reflects the contemporary status of multi-disciplinary academic studies of sexuality. Diverse courses within the program and in various departments offer students opportunity to study sexual identities, sexuality and public policy (in local, national, and global levels), sexual relationships, sex work, sex practices and communities, and theories of sexuality and social deviance.

In addition to WGST 2100 , WGST 3010 , and WGST 4500 , minors taking the Sexuality Studies area must complete 9 hours of electives (no more than 6 hours in any department not including WGST) from the following:

COMM 4800 (“Sex and Communication”)
ENGL 2020 (“Gay and Lesbian Literature”)
ENGL 2020 (“Colonial Narratives: Gender, Race, and Sexuality”)
ENGL 3885 (approved topics only)
PHIL 4250
PSY 4600
WGST 3030
WGST 4202
Gay and Lesbian History
ANTH 4400

Program

WGST 2100 - Introduction to Women’s Studies 3 credit hours (required for all minors)
Students should choose WGST 2100 as part of the General Education requirement under Social/Behavioral Sciences.
WGST 2500 - Women and Leadership 3 credit hours
WGST 3000 - Women’s Leadership Conference Practicum A 3 credit hours
WGST 3001 - Women’s Leadership Conference Practicum B 3 credit hours
WGST 3010 - Sexuality Studies 3 credit hours
WGST 3030 - Topics in Sexuality 3 credit hours
WGST 3500 - Women in the Media 3 credit hours
WGST 3900 - Women and Globalism 3 credit hours
WGST 4201-4213 Symposium in Women’s Studies (series)
WGST 4500 - Feminist Theory 3 credit hours (required for all minors)
WGST 4900 - Independent Study 3 credit hours
WGST 4900 may be taken for credit no more than twice.

Departmental

Not all sections of a given course will earn Women’s and Gender Studies credit; see online schedule for each term’s approved offerings.

ANTH 3710 - Topics in Anthropology 1 to 6 credit hours (approved topics only)
ANTH 3750 - Race, Class, and Gender 3 credit hours
ANTH 3752 - Cultural Images of Gender 3 credit hours
ANTH 4400 - Sex Trafficking 3 credit hours
ART 4000 - Workshop 1 to 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
CDFS 4140 - Violence in the Family 3 credit hours
CDFS 4340 - The Contemporary Family 3 credit hours
CJA 3700 - Women, Crime, and Justice Administration 3 credit hours
COMM 3225 - Gender Communication 3 credit hours
COMM 4800 - Topics in Communication Studies 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
DANC 4200 - Women in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Dance 3 credit hours
ENGL 2020 - Themes in Literature and Culture 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
ENGL 3720 - Early Women Writers 3 credit hours
ENGL 3725 - Nineteenth-Century Women Writers 3 credit hours
ENGL 3730 - Twentieth-Century Women Writers 3 credit hours
ENGL 3735 - Black Women as Writers 3 credit hours
ENGL 3885 - Topics in Gender and Film 3 credit hours
ENGL 4900 - Selected Topics in Literature and Language 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
ENGL 4950 - Selected Topics in Contemporary Literature 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
FREN 3130 - Twentieth-Century Women Writers in French 3 credit hours
HIST 1020 - Survey Western Civilization II 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
HIST 3030 - Topics in African American History 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
HIST 3070 - Topics in World History 3 credit hours
HIST 4550 - Women in Modern Africa 3 credit hours
HIST 4790 - Women in Europe Since 1700 3 credit hours
HIST 4810 - History of Women in the Third World 3 credit hours
HLTH 4390 - Women’s Health 3 credit hours
HUM 2610 - Foreign Literature in Translation 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
HUM 3950 - Women in the Middle Ages 3 credit hours
JOUR 4800 - Seminar in Media Issues 3 credit hours (approved topics only) OR
EMC 4800 - Seminar in Media Issues 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
MUHL 4810 - Women In Music 3 credit hours
PHIL 4800 - Readings in Philosophy 3 credit hours
PS 3010 - Women and the Law 3 credit hours
PS 4260 - The Political Status of Women in the World 3 credit hours
PSY 4620 - Psychology of Women 3 credit hours
SOC 3400 - Gender and Society 3 credit hours
SOC 4030 - Topics in Gerontology 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
SOC 4140 - Violence in the Family 3 credit hours
SOC 4150 - Topics in Sociology 3 credit hours (approved topics only)
SOC 4361 - Contemporary Issues in Women’s Health 3 credit hours
SW 3050 - Women and Poverty 3 credit hours