Women's Studies (B.A.)
At-a-Glance
Admission to the major: Requires good academic standing in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.
Minimum hours required for the major: 38 distributed in three fields
Minimum hours required for the minor: 16 distributed in three fields
Awards: Lanette S. Flower Scholarship, Ruth Ratner Miller Scholar, WEAL Scholarship
Advising: Individual faculty adviser, Internet Web page, Women's Studies handbook and career information package
Student organization: Student Women's Association
For Information: Contact the Women's Comprehensive Program. Phone: 216-687-4674
An interdisciplinary field of inquiry, women's studies encourages students to consider ways to restructure social institutions and interactions for a more democratic society and a stronger economy. By addressing past and present social disparities, women's studies promotes intellectual and practical problem-solving, on both the individual and societal levels. Women's studies helps students develop written and oral communication skills and the analytical and critical thinking skills needed to prepare them for leadership and a variety of careers in an increasingly diverse economic and political environment. Women's studies students will develop these skills while receiving a well-rounded liberal-arts education. These skills will prepare graduates for graduate work in women's studies or related fields, or for career opportunities in the changing work force and for the competitive economic and social realities of the 21st century. Women's studies enables students to:
- transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries, to analyze the role of gender in shaping human societies of the past and the present
- discover and communicate new knowledge and encourage new research in neglected areas
- develop a more balanced and accurate interpretation of existing knowledge
- comprehend crucial intersection of race, class, and gender in the global society and in their own lives
- develop the critical and analytical, transferable skills required for success in our rapidly changing economy.
Major-Field Requirements
To earn a Women's Studies major, students must take a minimum of 38 semester hours in Women's Studies courses. Courses are to be distributed over three departments with at least 6 hours in the humanities and 6 hours in the social sciences. Independent study (WST 496) may be included as part of the major. A grade of C or better must be earned in courses used to fulfill requirements for the major. Students are encouraged to use this framework to develop a more specialized Women's Studies curriculum based upon their particular career interests.
Required Courses
- WST 151 Intro to Women's Studies
- WST 351 Practicum in Women's Studies
- WST 495 Advanced Seminar in Women's Studies
Additional Women's Studies Courses
In addition to this list, certain special-topics courses may apply to the major if approved by the Women's Studies Faculty Committee. See individual departmental listing for course descriptions and prerequisites.
- ANT 324 Anthropology of Gender
- ANT 343 Language and Gender
- EDB 455 Women and Education
- ENF 214 Women Writers in English Translation
- ENF 215 Women Writers in English Translation
- ENG 207 African American Literature with Women's Studies faculty
- ENG 208 Womanism/Feminism
- ENG 330 Studies in Ancient Literature Feminist Approaches to Classical Literature
- ENG 333 Studies in 18th Century British Literature Feminist Approaches to 18th Century Fiction
- ENG 334 Studies in 19th Century British Literature Feminist Approaches to 19th Century Fiction
- ENG 335 Studies in 20th Century British Literature Feminist Approaches to 20th Century Fiction
- ENG 363 Gender Issues in Literature
- ENG 375 Major Authors (Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison. Virginia Woolf)
- FRN 365 Readings in French Literature French Decadence: Literature & Sexuality
- FRN 493 Special Topics in French French Women Writers: From the Middle Ages to the Present
- HIS 284 History of Women
- HIS 318 History of the Family
- HIS 354 European Women's History
- HIS 393 Special Topics in History: History of Women in America, History of African-American Women
- NUR 493: Special Topics: Women's Health Taking Charge and Promoting Health for Women
- PHL 253 Philosophy of Feminism
- PSY 255 Psychology of Women
- REL 260 Women and Religion
- REL 370 Sexual Ethics
- REL 376 Women in Early Christianity
- SOC 201 Race, Class, Gender
- SOC 302 Women in Corporate America
- SOC 310 Sociology of Marriage and Family
- SOC 317 Sociology of Gender
- SOC 349 Women and Crime
- SPN 484 Studies in Spanish American Literature: Latin American Women Writers in the 20th Century
- USA 455 Gender and Leadership
- UST 455 Gender and Leadership
- WST 393 Special Topics in Women's Studies: The Women's Movement, Women and International Social Development
Women's Studies Minor
A minor in Women's Studies is an excellent complement to majors in many other disciplines. To earn a Women's Studies minor, students must take a minimum of 16 semester hours in designated Women's Studies courses, 8 hours of which must be at the 300/400 level. Courses must be selected from at least three different academic areas, and include at least one humanities course and one social-science course.
The Advanced Seminar in Women's Studies (WST 495) is required for the minor in Women's Studies.