Gender and sexuality Studies
Minor offered

Masculinity and femininity vary as a result of cultural, historical, political and institutional forces. The gender and sexuality studies program helps students understand the multiple ways gender and gender relations are socially constructed, and how these understandings of gender in turn shape political institutions, law, the economy, education, work, art, music, literature, religion, sexuality and the family. As an interdisciplinary program that encourages students to explore gender from multiple perspectives, gender and sexuality studies can help students broaden their understanding of other disciplines while facilitating recognition of gender dynamics in students’ lives. Each course is designed to do the following:

1.    Acquaint students with the scholarly analysis of gender and gender relations.
2.    Promote an understanding of the social construction of gender in society.
3.    Help students become aware of the impact of gender in their own lives and in society.
4.    Enable students to analyze gender relationships through the use of feminist theories and methodologies.
5.    Encourage reassessment of the gendered social distribution of power.
6.    Recognize how gender inequality is related to other social hierarchies such as race, ethnicity, class and sexuality.
7. Foster a classroom climate that encourages student participation and helps students to develop the tools with which to connect the content of the course to their own lives.

Minor Requirements

The minor in gender and sexuality studies consists of six courses. Required courses are: Gender Studies 103 (Gender and Society), 290 (Gender and Feminist Theory) and 460 (Senior Seminar). In addition, minors must take three gender and sexuality studies or cross-listed electives, at least two of which should be at the 300 or 400 level. No more than one of these elective courses may be taken from any single department other than gender and sexuality studies.

A research project or paper must be completed as part of either a 300- or 400-level cross-listed elective seminar or a 400-level gender studies independent study. Students must secure the consent of the instructor and the approval of the gender and sexuality studies curriculum committee prior to undertaking independent study.

Elective courses are approved for cross-listing by the gender and sexuality studies advisory board, and are listed in the Class Schedule with both gender and sexuality studies and the relevant department or program (i.e., anthropology, Canadian studies, English, fine arts, global studies, government, history, modern languages and literatures, performance and communication arts, philosophy, psychology, religious studies and sociology).

Special Events and Activities

The program regularly sponsors or co-sponsors speakers and performers on campus; we encourage students to learn about gender through these events. Each spring the program also awards the Don Makosky Award, named after one of the founding faculty members of the program, to a senior student who has worked to transform the campus in relation to gender and sexuality issues.

Courses
The program regularly sponsors or co-sponsors speakers and performers on campus; we encourage students to learn about gender through these events. Each spring the program also awards the Don Makosky Award, named after one of the founding faculty members of the program, to a senior student who has worked to transform the campus in relation to gender and sexuality issues.

Advisory Board

Margaret Kent Bass, B.A., Wilmington; M.Ed., Mississippi; Ph.D., Louisiana State
Associate Dean of the Center for Diversity and Social Justice, Associate Professor of English and Coordinator of U.S. Ethnic and Cultural Studies

Judith A. DeGroat, B.A., M.A., Wisconsin   (Milwaukee); Ph.D., Rochester
Associate Professor of History and Chair of Department

Mark E. Denaci, B.Ph., Miami University; M.A., Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium); M.A., Case Western Reserve; M.A., Ph.D., Rochester
Assistant Professor of Fine Arts

Rhonda Danielle Egan, B.A., Goucher; Ph.D., Boston College
Associate Professor and Coordinator of Gender Studies

Evette Hornsby-Minor, B.S., M.S., Ed.D., San Diego State
Assistant Professor of Gender Studies

Valerie Doris Lehr, B.A., South Florida; M.A., Ph.D., Maryland
Vice President of the University, Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Government and Gender Studies

Marina A. Llorente, B.A., Málaga (Spain); M.A., Ph.D., Kansas
Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures (Spanish) and Chair of Department

Eve Walsh Stoddard, A.B., Mount Holyoke; Ph.D., UCLA
Charles A. Dana Professor of Global Studies and Chair of Department

Jessica L. Willis, B.A., University of California/Santa Cruz; M.A., New College of California
Visiting Instructor of Gender Studies

Jennifer L. Hansen, B.A., Santa Clara; M.A., Boston College; Ph.D., SUNY Stony Brook
Visiting Associate Professor of Gender Studies, Philosophy and the First-Year Program