Women's Studies
The Women's Studies curriculum posits gender relations as a basic organizing principle of analysis. Gender is explored as a social construction which reflects and produces differentials of power and opportunity in many social systems. In a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts,women's studies majors explore the interactive matrix of gender, class, race, age, ethnicity, nationality and sexual identity. Such analysis illuminates the variety of men's and women's experiences and expressions, while identifying those which have been scripted into social definitions of normative human behaviors.
Women's studies majors study and develop feminist critiques of traditional disciplinary knowledge, yet there is an integrative component that draws on the valuable contributions of traditional knowledge as well. Exploration of the roots and forms of women's political activism, and the feminist reconstruction of history, contribute to the formulation of inclusive perspectives toward social life and the understanding of models and examples of social change. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum, women's studies majors apply multiple methodologies in developing research and critical thinking skills, and forms of personal expression. In IDS 401 courses, internships and thesis projects, students integrate knowledge from different classes to conceptualize new, fuller ways of understanding.