Women’s Studies (B.A.)

Program: B.A.
College of Arts and Sciences

Liberal Arts Building 35F ~ 260-481-6711 - ipfw.edu/wost

Students graduating with a B.A. in women’s studies should be able to demonstrate knowledge about the following: 

• The history and importance of feminist thought and activism in the U.S. and around the globe
• A  broad range of feminist theories with an appreciation for their cultural and historical contexts
• How gender is socially and historically constructed, how it relates to systems of power, privilege, and oppression, and how it impacts women’s lives
• The major concepts of feminist critical analysis, including gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality, ability, and age, and the complexities of their intersections
• The diversity of women’s experiences, roles, and contributions to society and culture
• The history and status of women’s studies as an academic field of study and the key principles that distinguish it from traditional disciplines,including its interdisciplinarity, its commitment to feminist approaches to teaching and learning, and its development of feminist research methods.
• How gender impacts the production of knowledge and how feminist approaches to learning and research have transformed traditional disciplines and other canons of knowledge

Students graduating with a B.A. in women’s studies should also be able to demonstrate that they have developed the following skills:

• Ability to apply feminist perspectives to a range of issues and engage critical debates or ares of contention within feminism
• Ability to incorporate feminist theories and scholarship in research methods and problem-solving
• Ability to demonstrate effective reading, speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills through the work they complete in women’s studies courses
• Ability to apply feminist perspectives across disciplines
• Ability to transform knowledge into engagement and articulate effective strategies for change

Women’s Studies is based on the premise that the study of women’s experiences, concerns, social roles, and creativity is essential to our knowledge of humankind and society. Feminist scholarship and theory provide the knowledge and analytical tools necessary for a gender-balanced perspective on our world, both past and present. The Women’s Studies Program affords you the opportunity to pursue feminist scholarship on women and gender through a variety of interdisciplinary courses.

In addition to the B.A. program, an Associate of Arts with a concentration in Women’s Studies is available at IPFW. See College of Arts and Sciences in Part 4  for further information.

To earn the Bachelor of Arts with a major in Women’s Studies, you must satisfy the requirements of IPFW (see Part 8 ) and the College of Arts and Sciences (see Part 4 ), and complete the following courses. Only women’s studies courses in which you have earned a grade of C or better can be applied to the degree or used to satisfy prerequisites.