Women's Studies (Interdisciplinary Minor)

Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary program offered jointly by 18 departments and three colleges. Students majoring in any field may choose to minor in Women's Studies or to take Women's Studies courses. A minor in Women’s Studies helps women and men prepare for the sequence of careers that will be the hallmark of personal success in the 21st century. A background in Women’s Studies provides academic credentials and transferrable skills including critical thinking, writing, speaking and research skills through the methodologies and subject matters of multiple academic disciplines that study women’s abilities, history, values and interests.

Women's Studies helps students understand reasons for social changes in women’s roles. It provides informative perspectives on career options. It prepares students for graduate work in Women's Studies and other disciplines. And Women’s Studies educates students to become effective agents for change in the community and work place. Thus, Women's Studies enhances career preparation and provides a more accurate and balanced view of the society in which the student will serve.

Students electing this minor should inform the Women's Studies Director, who will serve as adviser in cooperation with the Women's Studies faculty.

Required Courses:

The Women's Studies minor requires a minimum of 16 credit hours in courses designated as Women's Studies, of which 8 credit hours must be at the 300- to 400-level. There are three distribution requirements:

1. COURSES MUST BE SELECTED FROM AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.


2. COURSES MUST INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE COURSE FROM THE HUMANITIES:
   • ARB 380 Women in the Arab World
   • ENF 214 Women Writers in English Translation
   • ENF 215 Women Writers in English Translation
   • ENG 207 African American Literature when taught by WST faculty
   • ENG 208 Womanism/Feminism
   • ENG 330 Studies in Ancient Literature when offered as Feminist Approaches to Classical Literature
   • ENG 333 Studies in Restoration and 18th-Century British Literature when offered as Feminist Approaches to 18th Century Fiction
   • ENG 334 Studies in 19th-Century British Literature when offered as Feminist Approaches to 19th Century Fiction
   • ENG 335 Studies in 20th-Century British and Anglophone Literature
   • ENG 363 Gender Issues in Literature
   • ENG 375 Major Author when offered as: Jane Austin, or Bronte Sisters, or Emily Dickinson, or Toni Morrison, or Virginia Woolf)
   • FRN 365 Readings in French Literature when offered as French Decadence: Literature & Sexuality
   • FRN 493 Special Topics in French when offered as French Women Writers: From the Middle Ages to the Present
   • HIS 284 History of Women
   • HIS 327 American Sexual Communities and Politics
   • HIS 354 European Women's History
   • HIS 381 Class, Gender and Sexuality in China: 1700-present
   • HIS 393 Special Topics: when offered as History of Women in America, History of Black American Women
   • MLA 280 Women in the Arab World
   • PHL 253 Philosophy of Feminism
   • PHL 410 Studies in the History of Philosophy when offered as Women Philosophers
   • PHL 446 Ethics of Human Reproduction
   • REL 260 Women and Religion
   • REL 370 Sexual Ethics
   • REL 376 Women in Early Christianity
   • SPN 484 Studies in Spanish American Literature when offered as Latin-American Women Writers in the 20th Century


3. AND, AT LEAST ONE COURSE FROM THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
   • ANT 324 Anthropology of Gender
   • ANT 243 Language and Gender
   • COM 331 Gender and Communication
   • COM 493 Special Topics: when offered as Gender Differences in Language
   • EDB 455 Women and Education
   • HSC 346 Women's Health
   • NUR 493 Special topics: when offered as Women’s Health
   • PSY 255 Psychology of Women
   • PSY 352 Human Sexuality
   • SOC 201 Race, Class, and Gender
   • SOC 302 Women in Corporate America
   • SOC 310 Sociology of Marriage and the Family
   • SOC 317 Sociology of Gender
   • SOC 349 Women and Crime
   • USA 455 Gender and Leadership
   • WST 151 Intro to Women's Studies
   • WST 351 Practicum
   • WST 393 Special Topics
   • WST 495 Advanced Seminar: Women's Studies
   • WST 496 Independent Study

Up to 6 credit hours of independent study, WST 496, involving investigation of a topic relevant to Women's Studies, will be accepted toward the required credits. Students who wish to take an independent study course should contact the Director of the Women’s Studies Program who must pre-approve the prospectus for independent study.

Return to top