Women’s and Gender Studies Major: BA Degree Requirements

The mission of the Women’s and Gender Studies program at Eastern is to offer students a quality undergraduate education in gender scholarship. 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.  These academic offerings help students think about social change in informed ways and develop an intellectual community that integrates a range of experiences. 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.

Required Courses

• WST 260 Introduction to Women’s Studies - 3 credits
• WST 351^ Feminist Theories - 3 credits
• WST 481^^ Independent Study Writing-Intensive Capstone in WGS - 3 credits
  
  • This Stage 3 writing-intensive course requirement will be met by an independent study advised by a Women’s and Gender Studies faculty member. Students produce theses to be read by a second reader approved by the Women’s Studies Advisory Committee.

    With permission of the director, this requirement may be met by a discipline-based substitute such as a departmental senior seminar The thesis resulting from such work will then be read by a second reader approved by the Women’s Studies Advisory Committee.

• WST 490 Internship in Women’s Studies - 3 credits
  
  • The experiential learning component may be taken in Women’s and Gender Studies or in a disciplinary area relevant to the Women’s and Gender Studies major and signed off by the director.

Sexualities

• Choose one:
  
  • PSY 319 Human Sexuality - 3 credits
  • WST/SOC 208 Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Lives - 3 credits
  • WST/PSY 315 Psychology of Gender - 3 credits
  • WST 352 Lesbian Literature - 3 credits

Race, Culture, Gender – U.S. Emphasis

• Choose one:
  • WST/SOC 310 Women and Crime - 3 credits
  • WST 316/CRM 317 Race, Gender, and the Criminal Justice System - 3 credits
  • WST/PSC 326 Politics of Race, Class, and Gender - 3 credits
  • GEO/PSC/WST 336 Politics of Race and Violence
  • WST 347 Black Women’s Studies - 3 credits
  • ENG 393 Chicana and Latinx Rhetorics - 3 credits

Race, Culture, Gender – Global Emphasis

• Choose one:
  
  • ANT 300 Women and Work - 3 credits
  • WST/FRE 231 Women Writers from French-speaking Countries - 3 credits
  • WST/FRE 331 Global and French Perspectives on Women’s Issues - 3 credits
  • WST/GEO 306 Gender, Justice, Environment - 3 credits
  • WST/GEO/PSC 338 Geopolitics - 3 credits

Historical Perspectives

• Choose one:
  
  • WST/HIS 244 Immigrant Women - 3 credits
  • WST/ENG 307 Medieval Women Mystics - 3 credits
  • WST/HIS 317 Women and Family in Western Society - 3 credits
  • WST/ART 355 Women, Gender, and Art - 3 credits
  • WST/ENG 356 Women Writers to 1900 - 3 credits
  • WST/ENG 361 Feminist Philosophies - 3 credits
  • WST/HIS 363 Gender in History - 3 credits
  • WST/ANT 370 Sex and Gender in the Ancient World - 3 credits

Major Electives

• Choose twelve (12) credits:
  
  • ANT 300 Women and Work - 3 credits
  • ART 355 Women, Gender, and the Art - 3 credits
  • CRM 317 Race, Gender, and the Criminal Justice System - 3 credits
  • ENG 228 Poetry of Women - 3 credits
  • ENG 307 Medieval Women Mystics - 3 credits
  • ENG 324 Literature by Women Authors of Latin America - 3 credits
  • ENG 356 Women Writers to 1900 - 3 credits
  • ENG 357 20th Century Women Writers - 3 credits
  • ENG 365 Topics in Literature/Language (when topically appropriate) - 3 credits
  • ENG 373 Studies in Rhetoric & Comp (when topically appropriate) - 3 credits
  • FRE 231 Women Writers from French-speaking Countries - 3 credits
  • FRE 331 Perspectives on Women’s Issues - 3 credits
  • GEO 306 Gender, Justice, Environment - 3 credits
  • GEO/PSC/WST 336 Politics of Race and Violence - 3 credits
  • GEO 338 Geopolitics - 3 credits
  • HIS 244 Immigrant Women - 3 credits
  • HIS 317 Women and Family in Western Society - 3 credits
  • HIS 363 Gender in History - 3 credits
  • PHI/WST 361 Feminist Philosophies - 3 credits
  • PSC 227 Women and Politics - 3 credits
  • PSC 326 Politics of Race, Class, and Gender - 3 credits
  • PSY 315 Psychology of Gender - 3 credits
  • PSY 319 Human Sexuality - 3 credits
  • SOC 208 Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Lives - 3 credits
  • SOC 212 Sociology of Families - 3 credits
  • SOC 240 Sociology of Gender - 3 credits
  • SOC 310 Women and Crime - 3 credits
  • SOC 347 Black Women’s Studies - 3 credits
  • SOC 373 Collective Behavior and Social Movement - 3 credits
  • WST 490 Internship in Women’s Studies (may be repeated for credit) - 3 credits
  • WST 491 Teaching Assistant in Women’s Studies - 3 credits
    ^meets stage 2 University Writing Requirements
    ^^meets Stage 3 University Writing Requirements 

*approved reuse to meet Liberal Arts Core Tier I Literature and Thought

^meets Stage 2 University Writing Requirement

^^meets Stage 3 University Writing Requirement