Website: https://www.washburn.edu/academics/interdisciplinary-studies/womens-gender-studies.html

Contact:  Dr. Jim Schnoebelen, jim.schnoebelen@washburn.edu or wags@washburn.edu

Mission

The Washburn University Women’s and Gender Studies Minor is an interdisciplinary program devoted to encouraging research on women and gender, sponsoring events focused on issues relevant to women and gender, and promoting outreach across the campus and to the larger community. Women’s and Gender Studies explores the connections between race and ethnicity, class, sexual identity and gender as they impact the lived experience in a variety of cultural contexts. Courses critically examine the social, historical, psychological, literary, artistic, philosophic, and biological roles of women and gender while seeking to provide a fuller understanding of the multidimensional nature of personhood. Emphasizing the connections between theory and practice, Women’s and Gender Studies encourages applied learning through internships, community involvement projects, research, and service learning courses.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Women’s and Gender Studies minor students will be able to:

• Critically analyze the basic components that distinguish feminist methodologies from other approaches of inquiry.
• Describe the multiple ways in which gender is intersected by other social relations such as race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and nation.
• Apply feminist methodology to course subject matter, demonstrating in-depth knowledge of one aspect of women’s experience learned through (for example) a literary genre, a time period, a geographic region, or focus on a very narrow topic.

Study Plan

To obtain the Optional Minor in Women’s & Gender Studies, a student must complete at least 18 hours of designated Women’s & Gender Studies course work, with at least 6 of the hours at the upper division level. These courses should include WG 175 Introduction to Women's Studies and WG 400 Women's/Gender Study Capstone. The minor will be supervised by a Women’s & Gender Studies Advisory Committee member. Students may complete the minor in two ways. They may (a) submit a study plan consisting of coursework formally identified as counting towards the WGSM or (b) they may develop a study plan to request alternate coursework be accepted toward the minor. The minor plans will be reviewed to ensure the program learning outcomes are met. Students wishing to complete the minor must submit their study plan for approval before completing coursework in the minor.

Minor Requirements

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Such as Women & Gender in Early America, Feminist Theories, etc. Approval required.

Course Offerings