The mission of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at Eastern is to offer our students a quality undergraduate education in gender scholarship. Our students learn about the achievements and activism of women and other historically underrepresented groups as they consider the ways in which gender and other identities shape social experiences in a liberal arts context.

Women’s and Gender Studies has grown into an interdisciplinary academic program that analyzes how all our lives are shaped by the significance of gender and other forms of identity, like sex, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, nationality, and location.

Eastern is the only public university in Connecticut with a major in Women’s and Gender Studies. We are delighted to offer a major and minor in this field. These academic offerings allow our students ways to think about social change in informed ways, and to develop an intellectual community that integrates a range of experiences. Our students graduate with analytical skills that prepare them for future careers in law, social work, public health, the media, public policy, the creative arts, nonprofit organizations, and academia.

Maureen McDonnell, Director