Gender and Women's Studies

Major and Minor

The program in Gender and Women's studies at Knox focuses on the systematic study of gender as a shaping factor in human life. It crosses traditional departmental boundaries, encouraging you to ask questions about many issues, such as:

• What difference does gender make?
• How are relationships shaped?
• Where is power located -- and why?
• Who benefits from the place of gender in dominant political, economic, and social structures?

Curriculum
Many of the courses in the Gender and Women's Studies Department center on the role that women have played in history, culture, and society. Attention to the importance of race and ethnicity, in intersection with gender, is pervasive in the curriculum. Some courses focus on men, with the lens of gender analysis applied. The complex interactions between men and women can be found throughout, and several courses include writings by or about lesbians and gay men.

The major requires two courses in a discipline outside of Gender and Women's Studies in order to provide a base for the interdisciplinary work of the program. A sampling of these disciplines is explored in the required course in feminist methodologies, which introduces the examination of how academic disciplines have shaped our ideas of what knowledge is -- who or what is worthy of study and which questions are worth asking -- and our advanced courses continue this work through the intensive study of particular topics.

Students can use independent study and internships to do work relating to their own special interests.