Women’s and Gender Studies, B.A.

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Women’s and Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary program that examines the historical construction and perpetuation of asymmetrical sex and gender systems, and their relationship to other systems of power. It also explores the ways in which gender intersects with personal identities, social arrangements, economic and political systems, and ways of knowing and understanding the world.

Women’s and Gender Studies offers a major with course offerings from 15 departments in the School of Arts and Sciences, The Crane School of Music, and the School of Education and Professional Studies. It also offers a Women’s and Gender Studies minor.

Program Student Learning Outcomes:

Women’s and Gender Studies B.A. students will be able to:

identify central contemporary/historical issues in gender studies.
use feminist concepts and theories to analyze the intersections of identities (e.g., gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, disability) within the context of unequal social and political power structures.
apply the methods of feminist knowledge production to explore relevant feminist topics.
engage in feminist praxis, connecting theory and practice, to promote social justice and human rights.

Women’s & Gender Studies Major Requirements:

The Women’s and Gender Studies major has four core requirements:

Introductory Course
Research Methods
Feminist Theory
Senior Seminar

In addition, students take at least one course from each four different disciplinary perspectives:

Historical
Social-Political
Artistic-Literary
Science-Health

Two additional W&GS electives are required as well. This interdisciplinary approach provides students with knowledge of key academic debates across the disciplines that frame the field of Women’s and Gender Studies.

Program Requirements

Required Courses: 12 Credits

WMST 100 - Introduction to Womens and Gender Studies 3 Credit(s)
WMST 360 - Feminist Research Methods 3 Credit(s)
WMST 370 - Feminist Theory 3 Credit(s)
WMST 462 - WS Seminar 3 Credit(s)

Multidisciplinary Perspectives Courses: 12-13 Credits

One course from each of the following four perspectives: Artistic-Literary, Historical, Science-Health, and Social-Political. A list of approved courses is available from the Director.

Artistic-Literary Perspective: Look at classes in the depts of English and Communication, Art History, and Theatre and Dance. The Director of WGS provides a list during advising of specific courses being offered in the next semester.

Historical Perspective: Look at classes in the depts of History, Art History, and English and Communication for the Historical perspective. The Director of WGS provides a list during advising of specific courses being offered in the next semester.

Science-Health Perspective: Look at classes in the depts of Anthropology, Public Health and Human Performance, and Psychology for the Science-Health Perspective. The Director of WGS provides a list during advising of specific courses being offered in the next semester.

Social-Political Perspective: Look at classes in the depts of Anthropology, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology for the Social-Political perspective. The Director of WGS provides a list during advising of specific courses being offered in the next semester.

Requests for courses outside the depts listed above will be considered by the Director of WGS on a case-by-case basis. Please email the Director for more information.

Electives: 6-8 Credits

New elective courses are added frequently; approved courses can be obtained from the Director. A list of frequently taught courses is available here: https://www.potsdam.edu/sites/default/files/WGScourses.pdf

Note(s)

Some courses have prerequisites in addition to WMST 100 . See catalog or instructors for other prerequisites.
SOCI 150 is the same as WMST 100 .
A minimum grade of 2.0/S is required for all courses in the major.
No course may double count for any of the above requirements.
No more than two courses may double count with any other SUNY Potsdam major or minor.