Women and Gender Studies Minor

Description

The Department of Women and Gender Studies works to make knowledge about gender, power, and liberation more accessible as well as to critically study a diverse range of women’s and other marginalized perspectives, histories, and cultural creations and contributions. The Department seeks to promote student success within an academic, professional, and personal context. The minor curriculum provides students with the occasion to investigate intersections of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, class, age, sexuality, and ability as dimensions of social identity, considered at local, national, and transnational levels.

Because of its interdisciplinary framework, a Women and Gender Studies minor fits particularly well with many majors, since cross-listed courses can be applied toward both major and minor requirements. Majors that pair well with this minor include:

• African and African-American Studies
• Anthropology
• Art (Studio Art)
• Arts for Children
• Communication
• Criminal Justice
• Dance
• English
• French
• Healthcare Studies
• History
• International Studies
• Philosophy
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Social Work
• Sociology
• Spanish

Admission to the Program

Any undergraduate student can declare this minor.

Program Requirements

In addition to the course requirements below, students must meet the following requirements:

1. A grade of "C" or higher must be earned for all courses in the minor.
2. Half of the credits for the minor in Women and Gender studies (9 credits) must be taken at Brockport.

Required Core Courses = 9 credits

• WMS 101 Introduction to Women and Gender Studies
• ONE course in Feminist Theory selected from:
  • WMS 409 Feminist Theory
  • WMS 423 Black Feminist Theory
• ONE course selected from:
  • WMS 360 Sex and Culture
  • WMS/PBH 419 Human Sexualities
  • WMS/SOC 369 Sociology of Sexualities
  • WMS 330 Global Perspectives on Women and Gender
  • WMS/ANT 365 Lesbian and Gay Cultures in America

Elective Courses = 9 credits

• THREE Women and Gender Studies electives from approved, interdisciplinary cross-listed courses. At least ONE must be 300/400 level.

Total Number of Credits: 18

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:

1. Describe why centering anti-racist and decolonizing work is essential to effective social justice work and feminist thinking.
2. Explain how patriarchy and other sex/gender systems of power intersect with other systems of power.
3. Theorize ways in which bodies and social identities are culturally and historically constructed and shaped.
4. Identify and critically evaluate research and scholarly arguments within the field of Women and Gender Studies.
5. Identify and analyze language, media representation, and dominant forms of communication to produce an original argument about how power and privilege operate in society.
6. Apply collaborative strategies and knowledge of Women and Gender to imagine and create transformative feminist futures.