Minor Requirements

The purpose of the program is to acquaint students with current scholarship on women and gender, to introduce them to feminist theory and research, and to provide opportunities and support for students to engage in feminist activism. Students are also encouraged to undertake their own feminist research projects. Search the dynamic schedule to find each semester's Women's Studies courses. Students may declare a major or a minor in Women's Studies.

The Women's Studies minor prepares students who wish to gain a strong interdisciplinary perspective in advance of employment and/or graduate or professional study leading to careers in a wide variety of fields including, for instance, law, education, politics, business, social action, the arts, medicine and so on. Graduates of Women's Studies programs nationwide report reasons for choosing this field of study that range from lifelong interest in feminism, to discovering new intellectual challenges, to providing themselves with the confidence and freedom to "do whatever you choose to do."

The following guidelines have been reviewed and approved by the Women's Studies Curriculum Committee, the Women's Studies Executive Committee and the Committee for Honors and Interdisciplinary Studies. Because the program's curriculum offers a wide variety of choices, each minor is asked to work closely with a Women's Studies advisor to select related courses in a content area reflecting a specific interest in Women's Studies. For example, students might seek out courses in anthropology, Black Studies, English, history, literary and cultural studies, psychology, sociology and so on, that help them consider issues relating to their interests in women's roles in a variety of cultures and in women's history, health, creativity, etc. In other words, minors are asked to select courses according to an organized plan that allows them to build expertise in a subject from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

A minor in Women's Studies consists of a minimum of 19 credit hours. All students must complete WMST 205, at least 6 credits in humanities courses, at least 6 credits in social science courses and approved electives. Courses that fulfill the minor requirements are listed on the Women's Studies website under Courses.

If you want to declare a Women's Studies minor, find a Women's Studies adviser and in consultation with her/him, fill out two forms:  Declaration Of Women's Studies Minor (pdf) and Registrar's Declaration of Academic Minor (pdf). These forms are also available in the Women's Studies office. Upon completion, they are filed with the adviser and with the Office of the Registrar in the basement of Blow Hall.