Women and Gender Studies
Question! Challenge! Transform! Create!
Women & Gender Studies questions the meanings and significance of contemporary gender relations and their histories across class, race, nation, and cultures. We seek answers to questions such as: How does our society govern and regulate gender? What does it mean to be a gendered subject? How do we understand social marginalization, exclusion, and inclusion?
Our department offers the opportunity to explore these and other topics through a wide range of perspectives, where you will develop critical thinking skills as you learn theory as practice. Our courses generate critical thinking and engage students in exploring both breadth and depth across diverse intellectual approaches. For example, we have courses cross-listed with other disciplines such as History, Political Science, and Asian Studies as well as in the Faculty of Health Sciences. We are committed to the training and support of students throughout our curriculum. Students can expect to develop sound problem-solving skills, effective writing and communication skills, and the capability to work collaboratively. These are all skills that employers seek and society needs.
By choosing Women & Gender Studies you will join a department with over 30 years of excellence in teaching about and research into the past and present circumstances of women’s changing lives. Our focus is on immigration, sexualities, family and marriage, reproductive justice, constitutional rights, marriage and labour at the intersections of ethnicity, race, religion, settler colonialism and the regulation of gender. You will have opportunities to explore the diversity of feminist struggles and achievements past and present, locally and internationally.
Women & Gender Studies creates an engaging learning experience. Through class activities you will be able to work with community groups, participate in public symposia and local conferences, and study abroad. We offer summer courses in the Philippines and encourage students to join exchange programs. We also offer applied studies with various community agencies.
Research is central to our program and you will find many opportunities to work with faculty and community on research projects.
The BA in Women & Gender Studies can be the foundation for many careers. Students leaving our program work in public service, non-profit agencies, and in community development.
With a major or minor in Women & Gender Studies you can go on to professional studies. Students with this degree have become librarians, teachers, lawyers and social workers. You can go onto graduate school and have a teaching and research career, work in administration or in the international sphere.
From general introductory courses through specialized studies of methods and theories we offer an overview of the central themes and histories of our discipline. We link our teaching to current issues in our local community and beyond in our courses on Activism and Advocacy. In addition you will be able to take a wide variety of courses that reflect the research and interests of the department members. To view a list of undergraduate courses currently offered click here.
Learn more about graduate studies in the Department of Women & Gender.