Gender and women’s studies is an interdisciplinary field that asks questions about gender and other socially constructed aspects of our identities. Our learning and research focus on critical thinking and social transformation, in conversation with local and global movements such as #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ struggles and environmental justice. Check us out if you are eager to explore new ways of looking at the world.
Although few people come to college planning to major in gender and women's studies, the field has been around for nearly 50 years, and hundreds of schools offer degrees in this area. Still, your first gender and women’s studies class is likely to prompt you to ask "Why haven't I learned this before?" Because our courses examine subjects from multiple perspectives and question taken-for-granted beliefs, students often describe them as eye-opening. In addition, many of the top skills that employers seek today are at the heart of gender and women's studies: communicating across differences, team building, planning, problem-solving, and interpreting information.
The learning community we seek to build in gender and women's studies at Western Michigan University is committed to personally and socially transformative scholarship, education and advocacy. We value diverse people and divergent points of view. Whether you attend a single event or take a single course, or perhaps pursue a major or minor, we invite you to join us in pursuit of greater understanding as well as a more equitable and sustainable future.
The Gender and Women's Studies program is currently housed in the Sociology Department. To learn more about our program, please visit us here.