What is Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies?
Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies is a flexible, interdisciplinary program that prepares students to think critically and creatively by employing gender as a primary category of analysis. WGST is an inclusive space for students to examine gender across a variety of diverse cultural and historical settings and to center the experiences of women and non-binary people. Students will work with their advisor to figure out an appropriate course of study tailored to their interests.
Why Take Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Courses?
Gender is fundamental to our understanding of culture, politics, economics, art, and literature. Gender is a critical tool for social and cultural analysis.
The program also offers courses that specifically center on the experiences of women and girls, fostering a more complete understanding of societies and cultures that often sideline their contributions.
Description of the Program
The goal of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program is to educate students in interdisciplinary approaches to feminist theories of women, gender, culture, and society. Students are exposed to a variety of forms of critical thinking in relation to:
- the social construction of knowledge and philosophy;
- approaches to science and medicine informed by “feminist empiricism” and “feminist standpoint” theories;
- historicized and cross-cultural accounts of gender and gender inequality;
- literary criticism;
- contemporary theories of art, performance, language, jurisprudence, psychology and religion in the context of women’s experience;
- studies of the body as a focal point for theorizing relations among the arts and sciences.