Gender & Women's Studies Faculty Guidelines
GENDER & WOMEN’S STUDIES PROGRAM
Guidelines for Women’s Studies Faculty and Approved Electives
Mission Statement
The Gender & Women’s Studies Program broadens women’s and men’s knowledge of gender dynamics, globally and historically, with an emphasis on issues central to women’s lives. Through an interdisciplinary classroom experience, community outreach, and special events, the Gender & Women’s Studies Program advances understanding of the social and cultural institutions and practices that affect us.
GOALS:
- sharpen ability to critically analyze gender issues
- encourage the practice of feminist scholarship
- enhance intellectual and personal growth
- advocate ethical conduct, social justice, and responsible global citizenship
These goals support the university’s goals in a number of ways. As an interdisciplinary program, Gender & Women’s Studies enhances intellectual and personal growth by synthesizing various ways of knowing, learning, and communication. For the undergraduate minor, approved electives must be taken in both the humanities and the sciences/social sciences, thus exposing students to alternative methods of social, political, scientific, and literary analysis. The core course in the interdisciplinary minor (Introduction to Women’s Studies) meets Category C (social sciences) of the general education requirements. The graduate certificate, which is fully available online, consists of at least five courses: two core courses and three electives, one of which must be outside the student’s home discipline.
I. Gender & Women’s Studies Faculty
Gender & women’s studies faculty include all faculty under current contract with Western Kentucky University who teach a course listed as a Gender & Women’s Studies core course or elective, as determined by the Gender & Women’s Studies Steering Committee.
II. Gender & Women’s Studies Courses/Guidelines
Given the mission of the Gender & Women’s Studies Program, it is understood that our courses focus on women and gender and aim to
1. assist students in exploring how social constructions of gender have contributed to the oppression and/or empowerment of women and men, historically and in contemporary America and the world;
2. introduce students to differences, including, but not limited to, those based on ability, age, class, ethnicity, family composition, gender identity, race, region, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and the distribution of resources in and among countries and groups globally;
3. use authors whose work reflects current feminist scholarship;
4. incorporate pedagogies that stress collaborative and active learning and that facilitate critical thinking, reading, and writing.
