Women’s Studies (B.A.)

Program: B.A.
Women’s Studies Program
Department of Political Science  
College of Arts and Sciences

Liberal Arts Building 209  ~ 260-481-6686

Program Director:  Janet Badia, Department of Political Science

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Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary area of study that examines gender and its intersections with other categories of identity, including race and ethnicity, sexuality, class, nationality, and disability.  As such, it provides students the opportunity to integrate knowledge across  diverse academic disciplines, to understand gender within both historical and contemporary contexts, and to develop approaches to investigation, analysis, and research that reflect the complex nature of how gender operates in our lives, how systems of power and oppression function, and how individuals and organizations can bring about meaningful social change.

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Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this degree, students will:

• understand the major concepts of feminist critical analysis, including gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality, ability, and age, and the complexities of their intersections
• understand how gender is socially and historically constructed, how it relates to systems of power, privilege, and oppression, and how it impacts our lives
• understand a broad range of feminist theories with an appreciation for their cultural and historical contexts
• understand the history and importance of feminist thought and activism in the U.S. and around the globe
• understand the diversity of women’s experiences, roles, and contributions to society and culture
• understand how gender impacts the production of knowledge and how feminist approaches to learning and research have transformed traditional disciplines and other canons of knowledge
• understand 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 interdisciplinary, its commitment to feminist approaches to teaching and learning, and its development of feminist research methods
• be able to demonstrate effective reading, speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills through the work they complete in women’s studies courses
• be able to apply feminist perspectives to a range of issues and engage critical debates or areas of contention within feminism
• be able to apply feminist perspectives across disciplines
• be able to incorporate feminist theories and scholarship in research methods and problem-solving
• be able to transform knowledge into engagement and articulate effective strategies for change

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• This program is available on-campus.

Declaring the Major:

• Declare this major within the Department of Political Science  which is the administrative home of the Women’s Studies program.

General Requirements:

• Degree Requirements  
• General Education Requirements  
• College Requirements  
• Overlapping Content  
• Academic Regulations  

Program Requirements:

• A grade of C- or higher in all department courses required for the major and an overall GPA of 2.00 or higher for all courses required in the major.
• A thematic focus of at least three courses (9 of the 33 credits in major requirements) must be selected in consultation with your women’s studies advisor.  The thematic focus provides coherence within this interdisciplinary major and can be defined in several ways: geographically (e.g., women in America, women in Western Europe); chronologically (e.g., women in antiquity, women of the Renaissance); by a category or issue (e.g., women and peace, women of color, etc.).
• If you major in women’s studies, you are also required to have a minor or a second major.  If you elect to double-major in women’s studies and another arts and sciences discipline, women’s studies may be either your first or second major.  See Program Descriptions  in this Catalog for details on other majors and minors.
• You may count the courses taken to fulfill this major toward arts and sciences distribution requirements wherever possible. However, no more than two courses may be applied to another major.
• You may count only two courses toward both the women’s studies major and College of Arts and Sciences distribution requirements.  Only one course may be counted toward both the women’s studies major and any other minor.

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To earn the B.A. with a major in Women’s Studies, you must fulfill the following requirements in addition to the General Requirements noted above: