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Undergraduate

What is Gender Studies?

The Gender Studies undergraduate curriculum provides an interdisciplinary program of study grounded in the liberal arts. Gender Studies students are well-rounded, intellectually curious people committed to social justice. An education in Gender Studies prepares us to live, think, and be agents of change in a complex world.

What We Do

In addition to the thinking, reading, research, and writing skills central to a liberal arts education, Gender Studies cultivates the ability to:

  • identify and examine how systems of gender and sexuality operate in diverse local, national, and global contexts

  • apply interdisciplinary critical thinking and analysis in research, writing, communication, and the arts

  • analyze representations and ideologies of gender and sexuality through their intersections with other categories of difference and inequality, including race, class, religion, nationality, age, dis/ability, and geography

  • think critically about complex issues related to power and difference, in ways that enable deep understanding and authentic communication

  • understand their own value as agents of change, as they apply Gender Studies to social justice issues in their own communities and beyond.

Pairing Gender Studies with Science, Engineering, or Business

The skills developed through Gender Studies are crucial for students in and beyond the liberal arts, and pair well with degrees in Science, Engineering, and Business. For future scientists, engineers, and business professionals, a minor or supplementary major in Gender Studies cultivates critical thinking and problem solving across disciplines and differences, and prepares students to innovate in and transform their primary fields of work and study.

Find out how a Gender Studies major or minor fits with your other area(s) of study.

“The Gender Studies Program helped me learn how to think critically. This has been instrumental in everything I've done.”


—Catherine Sheehy ’92

Schedule an appointment with the Director of Undergraduate Studies