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Major, Minor

Women and Gender Studies

Degree type:
BA
Mode of study:
On-campus
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The Women and Gender Studies program offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding women and the role that gender plays in relation to power.

About the program

The Women and Gender Studies major ensures that students will hone their craft in three areas: 

  • Research. Students majoring in Women and Gender Studies are immersed in research training and are expected to graduate with strong research skills. 
  • Policy. Women and Gender Studies majors think critically about women鈥檚 experiences, inclusion or exclusion, and to prepare for work in the policy arena. 
  • Empowerment. Women and Gender Studies majors are empowered through leadership studies and immersive coursework to become leaders in their communities, both globally and locally. 

Required core courses include WST 101 Intro to Women and Gender Studies; WST 01 Voice and Advocacy, International Relations and Gender; and WST 102 Readings in Women and Gender Studies. Beyond the required core courses for the major, students select a scholarship 鈥減ath鈥� to complete elective units in the major. Five elective paths have been designed to create a truly interdisciplinary experience drawing on coursework from multiple disciplines and departments. 

  • Path 1: Politics, Policy and Historical Perspectives 
  • Path 2: International Politics and Policy 
  • Path 3: The Body, Mind and Spirit 
  • Path 4: Culture and Society 
  • Path 5: Music and the Arts 
female student sitting on grass laughing with books in front of her

Minor

Women’s Studies and Leadership

The minor in Women鈥檚 Studies and Leadership offers an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and critical understanding of women and issues relating to gender, including the practice of leadership. The minor provides students with a strong theoretical and empirical background in women鈥檚 studies with particular focus on understanding the intersections between gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, culture, nation, inequality and women鈥檚 roles in society. 
 
The Women鈥檚 Studies and Leadership minor is well suited for students who are interested in pursuing advanced academic work in MA and PhD programs; professional schools in law, business or medicine; and for those students planning a career in public service, advocacy or social activism. 

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Course Highlights

International Relations and Gender 

At the end of this course, students will understand how gender shapes international relations; how conceptualizations such as masculinity and femininity affect foreign policy, nationalism, war and peace;  and what feminist perspectives contribute to the study of international relations. 

Introduction to Women and Gender Studies 

Drawing on the research of multiple disciplines from history and economics to sociology and political science, the class will examine cultural assumptions about sex, gender and sexuality.

Gender and Militarism 

Militarism and war have a relationship with, and impact on, the practice of gender. What does gender have to do with war, how does masculinity and femininity work in times of war to create soldiers, and how is gender used 鈥� along with race 鈥� to create enemies?

Affiliated Centers and Offices

Are you looking for ways to engage in a more intensive way with likeminded students and faculty across campus? As a WST major, you have opportunities to work with faculty on research, civic engagement initiatives, or leadership programming.

Co-Curricular Opportunities for Majors

The WST major connects students with our new Voice and Action (VAC) living/learning community on the Chalon campus. VAC serves as a hub and catalyst for Women and Gender Studies, leadership, and student engagement in Los Angeles and across the globe. Workshops, sit-ins, awareness campaigns that utilize our Makers Space, and a Women and Leadership speaker series are just some of the activities that VAC residents will benefit from and help coordinate.

Our Women鈥檚 Leadership office has a long standing relationship with Public Leadership Education Network (PLEN), the only national non-profit dedicated to preparing college women for leadership in public policy. A number of scholarships to attend PLEN seminars on various public policy topics are set aside for WST majors.

Undergraduate research opportunities and research assistant opportunities are available through the Center for the Advancement of Women, the GWSTEM Honors Program and the Center for Global Initiative’s Borderlands Project.

Overall, the WST major reflects the Mount鈥檚 mission to develop and support those who identify as women on their path to becoming changemakers.