Willamette University

Women's and Gender Studies

Program Information

Feminist scholarship, which arose in the late twentieth century in response to the historically masculine bias of the academy, explores the important but often hidden ways that gender and gender inequality have shaped, and been shaped by, our cultural, social, and personal worlds. In recent years, scholars in the field have increasingly recognized that gender and gender inequality cannot be understood in abstraction from other axes of social identity and power, especially those of race, class, sexual orientation, and nation. Thus, the program in Women's and Gender Studies offers students the opportunity to examine, from both disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, gender's intersections with other dimensions of social power and identity. In addition to addressing these intersections, courses may focus on developments within feminist thought, on applications of feminist scholarship to a particular field of study, or on selected topics concerning gender and gender inequality. All Women's and Gender Studies classes encourage students to think systematically and critically about gender and to confront the challenges of moving toward a more equitable world.

Structure of the Program

Courses counting towards the Women's and Gender Studies Major and Minor fall into one of three groups.

Group A: Basic courses focusing on traditions of feminist thought or activism

Group B: Courses that emphasize the intersection of gender with some other axis of social power or identity

  • ANTH 258 (US) Women in Isalm (1)*
  • ENGL 116 Topics in Am Lit: Peculiar Intimacies (1)*
  • ENGL 438 Literature and Sexuality (1)
  • HIST 131 (TH) Historical Inquiry: Gender and Society in East Asia (1)*
  • HIST 131 (TH) Historical Inquiry: Gender and Power in Modern Africa (1)*
  • POLI 384 Transnational Feminist Politics (1)
  • RHET 317 Citizenship and the Public Sphere (1)
  • RHET 336 Rhetoric of US Women's Rights Before 1920 (1)
  • RHET 337 Rhetoric of US Women's Rights Since 1920 (1)
  • RHET 350 Topics in RHET: Race, Gender and the Public Sphere (1)
  • RHET 350 Topics in RHET: Rhetoric of U.S. Women's Rights I (1785-present)
  • SOC 334 Inequality in Society (1)
  • SOC 358 Special Topics in Sociology (.5 or 1)

Group C: Courses that examine particular disciplines or issues from feminist perspectives as well as other relevant courses on gender or women

  • ANTH 345 Sex and Gender in Anthropological Perspective (1)
  • CLAS 247 (IT; 4th Sem) Women in Roman Literature and Life (1)
  • CLAS 260 (IT; 4th Sem) Gender and Sexuality in Greek Society (1)
  • ENGL 355 (W) Feminist Criticism (1)
  • FREN 437 (IT) Female Voices in African Literature and Film (1)
  • HIST 262 American Women's History (1)
  • HIST 306 History through Biography: Women in World History (1)
  • HIST 375 Women and Gender in Medieval Europe (1)
  • HIST 393 Oral History: Theory, Methods, Practice (1)
  • PHIL 335 History, Sexuality and Power (1)
  • POLI 303 (AR) Topics in Political Theory: Politics of Sexuality (1)*
  • POLI 351 Women in American Politics (1)
  • PSYC 354 (US) Psychology of Women and Gender (1)
  • REL 256 (IT) Goddesses and Ghosts: Images of Women in Chinese Traditions (1)
  • REL 336 Women in World Religion (1)
  • RUSS 245 (IT; W) From Russia with Love: Family and Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Russian Literature (1)
  • SOC 121 (W; US) Gender in Society (1)
  • SOC 358 Special Topics in Sociology: Sexualities (1)
  • SOC 430 (W) Families (1)
  • SPAN 435 Contemporary Latin American Women Writers (1)
  • SPAN 438 Contemporary Spanish Women Writers (1)
  • SPAN 445 Topics in Medieval and Early Modern Spanish Literature (1)
  • WGS 258 Women in the Arts (1)

Courses that may be in Group A, B or C depending on the content of the specific Topic

  • WGS 342 Topics in Feminist Analysis (1)
  • WGS 358 Topics in WGS (1)
  • WGS 390 Independent Study in Women's and Gender Studies (1)
*Topics courses with multiple iterations. Please only count the listed topics for WGS.

Requirements for the Women's and Gender Studies Program Major (8 Credits)

Students will complete eight courses, including:

  • WGS 245 Feminism, Gender and Society or SOC 121 Gender in Society
  • WGS 353 (W) Feminist Theory (1)
  • WGS 499 Senior Thesis (1)
  • One course from Group B
  • Any four electives from Group A, B, or C which can include up to two courses by petition**

** Courses that may be counted by petition for the major are those that are offered one time only or have variable emphasis but that, in a given semester, focus on scholarship in Women's and Gender Studies.

Requirements for the Women's and Gender Studies Program Minor (5 Credits)

Students will complete five courses, including:

  • WGS 245 Feminist Theory or SOC 121 Gender in Society
  • WGS 353 (W) Feminist Theory (1)
  • Three additional courses from Group A, B, or C which can include one course by petition**

** Courses that may be counted toward the minor by petition are those that are given one time only or have variable emphases but which, in a given semester, focus on the analysis of gender and gender inequality and which draw on current scholarship in Women's Studies.