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Women’s Studies—Interdisciplinary Program
119 Smith Hall
(585) 395-5700 or (585) 395-2026
Director: Catherine McKeen
Faculty: Margaret Blackman (Anthropology), Davida Bloom (Theater), Melissa Brown (Psychology), Miriam Burstein (English), Rikki Cannioto (Physical Education and Sport), Michelle Carron (Physical Education and Sport), Alisia Chase (Art), Ruth Childs (Theatre), Denise Copleten (Sociology), Patti A. Follansbee (Health Science), Elyse Gruttadauria (Health Science), Patricia Huntington Sigel (Criminal Justice), Owen S. Ireland (History), Barbara Kasper (Social Work), Jeffrey Lashbrook (Sociology), Jennifer M. Lloyd, (History), John K. Marah (African and Afro-American Studies), Catherine McKeen (Philosophy), Anne Macpherson (History), Andrea Parada (Foreign Languages and Literatures), Alison Parker (History), Toni Plummer (Health Science), Andrea Rubery (Political Science), Janine Santiago (Foreign Languages and Literature), Patricia Sharkey (Nursing), Joan Spade (Sociology), Melissa Syder (Social Work), Patricia Tweet (Sociology), Gary Voelkl (Sociology), and LouAnn Wurst (Anthropology). Associate Faculty: Mary Buggie Hunt, Colleen Donaldson, Barbara LeSavoy, Sharon Jacobson, Barbara Mitrano, Barbara Thompson, Katherine Marsh.
The Women’s Studies program at SUNY Brockport is a multidisciplinary, College-wide program which engenders in students an inclusive perspective, and provides students and faculty a framework within which to focus on questions, issues, and theories related to gender and women’s lives, roles, status, and contributions. The Women’s Studies program is also committed to the integration of women’s experiences, values, and accomplishments into the College curricula.
Courses deal with topics such as the diversity of women’s experiences; gender similarities as a whole and differences; women’s self-perceptions; images of women in folklore, film, and literature; and the intersection of race, class, and gender. A central objective is the development of knowledge and methodologies relevant to the shaping of social policies affecting women’s lives in institutions such as the health-care system, the workplace, the family, and the judicial system.
Women’s Studies, as a first or second major, strengthens both individual and career development, and is valuable preparation for fields such as law, administration, social work, education, sociology, criminal justice, the health professions, government services, business, counseling, journalism, recreation, and library science. Students may take courses for the women’s studies major, a minor, as electives, or for independent study.
Women’s Studies Program Mission Statement
Mission Statement:
Women’s Studies is:
- Committed to the integration of women’s experiences, values, and contributions to all aspects of life.
- Dedicated to heightening awareness of the political, socio-economic, and cultural dimensions of the nature of knowledge.
- Focused upon student success in their academic, professional, and personal lives.
Program Goals:
- Provide a curriculum with an inclusive view of the human experience.
- Teach and learn about women’s experiences.
- Value personal experience as a way of knowing.
- Create and produce new scholarship and new knowledge about women and apply it to personal, political, and institutional change.
- Empower women on campus through mentoring and leadership training.
Course of Study
Major in Women’s Studies
A major in women’s studies requires 36 credits, with 21 credits in approved, interdisciplinary core courses. The remaining 15 credits in electives are chosen with advisement, from the list of approved, interdisciplinary, women’s studies cross-listed electives.
| Numbers | Class | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| WMS 101 | Introduction to Women’s Studies | 3 |
| WMS 271 | Gender, Race and Class | 3 |
| WMS 301 | Feminist Theory | 3 |
| WMS 360 | Sex and Culture | 3 |
| WMS 401 | Senior Seminar in Women’s Studies | 3 |
| WMS 411 | Feminist Research Methods | 3 |
| Must chose at least one of the following courses in Women’s History 3 | ||
| WMS 323 | History of European and American Women | |
| WMS 328 | Women in America | |
| WMS 359 | European Women | |
| WMS 495 | Women, Gender, and Class | |
| Total: | 21 | |
| Electives: Must choose five electives in approved, interdisciplinary cross-listed courses: (At least 10 electives are offered every semester.) |
15 | |
|
EITHER |
||
|
OR |
||
| Total Credits in the Women’s Studies Major: | 36 | |
Minor in Women’s Studies
A minor in women ‘s studies requires 18 credits, with nine in interdisciplinary core
courses: WMS 101, 301, and 401. The remaining nine credits are chosen, with advisement,
from the list of approved women’s studies electives. At least one elective must be
an upper-division course. Half the credits for the minor in women’s studies (nine
credits) must be taken at SUNY Brockport.
| Number | The required core courses for the minor are: | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| WMS 101 | Introduction to Women's Studies | 3 |
| WMS 301 | Feminist Theory | 3 |
| WMS 360 | Sex and Culture 3 | 3 |
| Core Total: | 9 | |
| Women’s Studies Electives: | 9 | |
| Total for Minor: | 18 | |