Women's & Gender Studies

Women’s & Gender Studies is an academic department that fosters innovative teaching and cutting-edge research by focusing on how relations of gender, intersecting with race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, nation and other differences, affect every aspect of society. With a core faculty of three professors and more than 15 contributing faculty, our department is truly interdisciplinary in its scope, breadth and depth. We offer courses that explore women’s and men’s historical lives and contemporary experiences around the world, cross-cultural analyses of gender, gendered economies around the world, women’s and men’s roles in religion, same-sex sexualities, and theories of gender, sexualities and intersectionality.

So what is this about?

The women’s & gender-studies department pushes students to develop a rich and complex understanding of the range of women’s and men’s gendered experiences, underscoring differences based on class, race, culture, ethnic origin, religion, age, and sexual identity. Faculty and students in the department conduct research in and organize events that showcase our theoretical, historical, and practical approaches to this mission. We sponsor an annual Research on Women by Students Symposium every spring with the President’s Commission for Women; teach introductory and advanced courses on such topics as Feminism and Spirituality, Fat Studies, and Sexual Labors; and work with other departments and offices to bring compelling speakers to campus (including Elaine Brown, Marilyn Wann, Jennifer Baumgardner, and Loretta Ross).