Mar 29, 2024  
2010-2011 HillBook (Class of 2014) 
    
2010-2011 HillBook (Class of 2014) [ARCHIVED HILL BOOK]

Gender and Sexuality Studies


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Programs of Study

Wendy C. Peek, Program Director

Gender & Sexuality Studies Steering Committee:
Margaret Boyd, Sociology & Criminology
Katie Currul-Dykeman, Sociology & Criminology
Robert Goulet, English
Stacy Grooters, English
George Piggford, C.S.C., English

The Gender and Sexuality Studies Program offers a major and a minor within the Bachelor of Arts degree.

The mission of the Gender and Sexuality Studies Program is to use gender as a lens to promote, from an interdisciplinary perspective, critical thinking and scholarly development. Informed by feminist and queer theoretical perspectives, Gender and Sexuality Studies explores the differences within and between men and women and how those differences are constructed within gendered systems of oppression. Courses in the program focus on a range of gendered institutions, such as family, work, religion, education, health, medicine, media, and politics. Our courses also investigate the many ways scholars, artists, and activists have researched, represented, and critiqued our gendered world.

Among the topics students can expect to study are:

  • The impact of gender and sexual identity on human relations within local, national, and global communities;
  • The relationship of gender to race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, religion, and nationality
  • The distinctions among biological sex, gender, sexual orientation, and sexual identity; and
  • The history and implications of gender and sexuality in questions of social justice.

Students in the Gender and Sexuality Studies major will learn the critical thinking and analytical skills necessary to enter the job market or pursue graduate study in a variety of fields including Women’s Studies, Sociology, English and History. Students will be able to develop expertise through directed studies and gain practical experience through internships, both of which will help them develop their career path. Gender and Sexuality Studies is also an excellent double major or minor for students who want to distinguish themselves on the job market.

Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Programs of Study