Gender Studies, A.A.

The women’s and gender studies program is an interdisciplinary community of faculty committed to a transformative analysis of gender as it intersects class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, age, nationality, and transnationality. The program provides an academic forum for the study of these intersections within historical, economic, political, social, and cultural contexts.

The women’s and gender studies program seeks to balance theory and activism, the personal and the political, the local and the global, and the classroom and the community. The program specifically emphasizes:

1. Providing students with the theoretical and methodological tools to analyze gender within their chosen disciplines.
2. Providing a learner-centered education in which critical thinking, student involvement, and personal insight are encouraged and made relevant to the learning process.
3. Empowering students to critically and creatively apply an analysis of gender to their personal, family, educational, professional, and civic roles.
4. Providing innovative and collaborative study, teaching, and service that promote new knowledge and socially responsible interactions with the world.

The women’s and gender studies program is inclusive and welcomes students from all academic disciplines.

We invite you to consider a major or minor in gender studies.

The career and/or academic opportunities for gender studies graduates are rich and diverse. Graduates may work in the following fields:

• Advocacy of all kinds
• Communication
• Employment and training
• Support service for survivors of violence and abuse
• Politics
• Social Research in a wide variety of fields
• Reproductive rights and health
• Law enforcement and policy
• Administration or management

Graduates may also choose to complete their bachelor’s degree gender studies and continue on to graduate school. Graduates may attain graduate degrees in academic fields such as anthropology, art, communication, economics, education, government, history, humanities, international relations, law, literature, philosophy, psychology, and sociology.