Women’s and Gender Studies Minor

From creative works in literature and the arts to discoveries in science and technology, women have shaped all aspects of society. Today, more women graduate from college than men, yet only 14 percent of top executives in the nation are women. While we have made strides in diminishing disparities and inequities based on the perception of gender, it continues to shape and influence cultures here and abroad.

Women’s and gender studies is an interdisciplinary program that explores how sex, gender, and sexuality structure human societies, cultures, politics, economies, arts and aesthetics, and it examines the multitude of femininities, masculinities and transgender identities within a matrix of power relations constituted by race/ethnicity, class, sexuality, ability and nationality. Women’s and gender studies puts women—in all their diversity—at the center of inquiry, and is feminist, queer and anti-racist in perspective. WGS invites students to engage with the ways in which gender and sexuality operate in all societies, institutions and ideologies, and to critically examine the political and historical nature of knowledge production. We draw on many disciplines, including history, literature, political science, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, media, communications, cultural studies, and the law to emphasize rigorous critical thinking, imagination and creativity.

Program Contact: Lauren Sardi 203-582-8215