Gwen Raaberg, Director
3061 Moore Hall
(269) 387-2510

Women’s Studies courses are open to all students and may fulfill General Education, Liberal Education, major/minor, and elective requirements. Women’s Studies courses encourage in students a spirit of inquiry and teach approaches to thought and action that prepare students to function effectively in a diverse, rapidly changing society. The organizing principle of the field is the concept of gender as a social construction; equally important are the categories of ethnicity, race, class, age, sexual identity, and nationality, and gender is always investigated within this context. Course work investigates the condition of women in societies, historically and currently, and approaches issues related to women and gender through multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary methods. Women’s Studies seeks to develop students’ critical skills and creative potential in analyzing issues and conceiving solutions to problems regarding women and gender in a democratic society. 

The Women’s Studies coordinate major requires a minimum of twenty-four credit hours in the major to be taken in conjunction with another major. Course work in the major includes an interdisciplinary core consisting of an introductory course, intermediate courses focusing on research and theory, and concluding courses providing research possibilities and practical experience. Further course work is to be selected from the list of approved electives in consultation with the Women’s Studies advisor.

The Women’s Studies minor brings an additional perspective to any field of study. It consists of sixteen hours of course work, including the required Introduction to Women’s Studies and other courses to be selected from Women’s Studies core courses or the approved electives list.

In addition to the courses listed, students may pursue special interests and projects through independent studies, which offer variable credit hours for projects developed in consultation with the Women’s Studies advisor.