Lindsey Wilson College

Women's & Gender Studies

BA - Program Requirements

Allison Egnew Smith, Ph.D., Dean, School of Arts & Humanities

W.W. Slider Humanities Center, Room 305

(270) 384-8158                 smitha@lindsey.edu

 

Rachel Carr, Ph.D., Program Coordinator

W.W. Slider Humanities Center, Room 301

(270) 384-8083             carrr@lindsey.edu

 

Full-time program faculty: Rachel Carr, Ph.D.; Danielle Cofer, Ph.D.; Allison Egnew Smith, Ph.D.

 

Mission Statement

The Women’s & Gender Studies program at Lindsey Wilson College is an interdisciplinary program that understands and emphasizes the vital connections between education, personal empowerment, and social transformation. The curriculum engages students in a variety of learning experiences, including service-learning, that prepares them to place women’s experiences at the center of critical inquiry, to understand gender as a cultural phenomenon that involves power, privilege, and intersectionality, and to use a feminist lens of analysis in a variety of contexts. In doing so, the Women’s & Gender Studies program fosters personal growth, professional success in a diverse global environment, and engaged citizenship.

 

To prepare students for success in the discipline, the curriculum is specifically designed to introduce key concepts and skills that are fundamental to the discipline and then to progressively build upon and develop prior knowledge. More specifically, 1000-level courses introduce students to women’s and gender studies as a discipline, especially its practice of placing women’s experience at the center of critical inquiry and its focus on cultural constructions and implications of gender. The 2000-level intermediate classes teach students to utilize gender as a critical lens to analyze and evaluate a wide range of social issues, institutions, and practices in ways that are sensitive to power, privilege, and intersectionality. The 3000-level intermediate classes develop students’ ability to analyze feminist texts, to comprehend and apply key concepts in feminist theory, and to participate in theory-informed feminist activism. Finally, the 4000-level mastery courses offer students the opportunity to integrate their learning and engage in advanced study of both critical issues in the discipline and gender issues relevant to their majors and future professional lives, which culminate in an individualized capstone research project with a service-learning component.

 

Graduation Requirements

Some courses taken for the major will simultaneously fulfill general education requirements. Please see the Graduation Requirements (bachelor’s degrees) section of this catalog for information on the general education program.

 

Students should note that the major provides only 24 hours of the required 39 hours of 3000-4000 level coursework, therefore students will need to complete additional 3000-4000 level coursework to meet this requirement.

 

Entrance Criteria

Students must complete WS 1003 and file a Declaration of Major form with the Registrar’s Office.

 

Program Requirements: 44-47 hours

Along with the general education program, students must complete the major’s prerequisites and core requirements and select program electives as indicated.

 

A.        Prerequisite and Recommended Courses: 3-9 hours

  • •        Principles of Communication (COMM 1003) is recommended for elective COMM 3713 – 3 hours  
  • Writing Studies I (ENGL 1013) is a prerequisite for ENGL 2103 and ENGL 2203 unless waiver requirements are met – 3 hours
  • Writing Studies II (ENGL 1023) is a prerequisite for WS 3203, WS 3213, and WS 4903 – 3 hours
  • Literary Interpretation (ENGL 2103)  or  World Literature (ENGL 2203) is a prerequisite for elective ENGL 3163 – 3 hours

 

B.        Core Requirements: 27 hours

  • Introduction to Women’s & Gender Studies (WS 1003) – 3 hours
  • Women in Global Perspective (WS 1013) – 3 hours
  • Gender & Popular Culture (WS 2203) – 3 hours
  • Gender & Politics (WS 2213) – 3 hours
  • Feminist Theory & Practice (WS 3203) – 3 hours
  • Women, Violence & Feminist Activism (WS 3213) – 3 hours
  • Feminist Writing & Film (WS 3313) – 3 hours
  • Critical Issues in Women’s & Gender Studies (WS 4103) – 3 hours
  • Women’s & Gender Studies Seminar (WS 4903) – 3 hours

 

C.        Program Electives (select from the following): 9 hours

  • Gender & Communication (COMM 3713) – 3 hours
  • Women Writers (ENGL 3163) – 3 hours
  • Women in the American Experience (HIST 3143) – 3 hours
  • Women in World History (HIST 3633) – 3 hours
  • Marriage & Family (HS 2203) – 3 hours
  • Gender Studies (HS 4013) – 3 hours
  • Women in Religion (RELI 3273) – 3 hours
  • Special Topics (WS 3803) – 3 hours

 

Note:   The program coordinator typically approves and distributes information about additional electives in various disciplines each semester.

 

Exit Assessment

A required service-learning activity and a research project completed in WS 4903 will assess mastery of the program’s student learning outcomes.