Women and Gender Studies Minor
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Women and Gender Studies (WGS) uses the concepts of gender, race/ethnicity and class to analyze all dimensions of human experience. WGS is an interdisciplinary minor that complements any major and is excellent preparation for today’s diverse workplace. Recent Elizabethtown graduates minoring in the program have gone on to careers in occupational therapy, banking and science or have pursued advanced degrees.
Students in WGS classes consider questions like the following: How do women and men differ, and how do we explain the differences (nature, nurture or both)? Why was winning the vote so important for women, African-Americans and Native Americans, and has everyone in the United States achieved equal rights and opportunities today? Who earns more, men or women, and why? Are Barbie, Superman, Cinderella and the Incredible Hulk good role models for small girls and boys?
Women and Gender Studies emphasizes activism as well as academics. The program sponsors an annual film series in conjunction with the student Allies and Womenspeak groups. WGS faculty and students help to organize the Women’s History Month celebration each spring and have performed together in a student-directed production of “The Vagina Monologues.” Many WGS classes have a service-learning component, and students have done volunteer work to benefit women and families in nearby communities.
The WGS minor requires a minimum of 21 credit hours, comprised of six courses. Note that several of these courses also satisfy Core requirements or may count toward a student’s major.
Required courses: Women and Gender Studies 105, 315 and either 462 or 464.
Elective courses: Three courses – at least one and not more than two – from each category: Humanities and Social Sciences.
Humanities electives: Communications
252, Multicultural Communications, (Humanities
Core); English 251, Multicultural Literature (Humanities Core);
English 317, Studies in Narrative:
Women Writers; Religious Studies 323,
Women,
Gender, and the Hebrew Bible.
Social Science electives: Political Science 365, Women and Politics; Psychology 237, Psychology of Women (Social Science Core); Sociology 204, Population and Global Issues; Sociology 305, Marriage and the Family; Social Work 339, Human Sexuality; Social Work 355, Women in Society.
WGS 105 SSC Sex and Gender in Society
4.00 credits. (Social Sciences Core Course) An introduction to the field of women’s and gender studies that helps students understand the social construction of gender and its influence on women’s and men’s lives. The course addresses historical perspectives on women, men and gender; the structure of public and private institutions, such as the home, schools and the workplace; and contemporary issues, such as mass media images of women, health, discrimination and violence. Social science research methods and feminist methods of inquiry are stressed. Offered every semester.
WGS 315 Feminist and Gender Theories
4.00 credits. An interdisciplinary study of theory and research methods, this course continues students’ investigation of fundamental concepts (e.g., sex, gender, race/ ethnicity and class). It also covers the political positions that have defined the American women’s movement, such as individual rights, the appropriations and revisions of major theories by feminist thinkers (e.g. Marxism, psychoanalysis), and the grounding of theories in experiences unique to women, such as motherhood. *Prerequisites: WGS 105, and junior or senior standing. Offered alternate years.
WGS 462/464 Directed Research Project
2.00 or 4.00 credits. This required capstone course allows students to design a project integrating previous courses and their own interests in the interdisciplinary field of Women and Gender Studies. Each student produces a major research paper or equivalent project (such as an internship) and is encouraged to present the results publicly. Students take either the two-credit or four-credit version of this course. *Prerequisites: WGS 105, 315 and two Women and Gender Studies elective courses from different Departments. See the Director of Women and Gender Studies for more information. Offered every semester.
For further information on the minor, contact Kimberly VanEsveld Adams, the Director of Women and Gender Studies.
