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College of Letters & Science

Gender and Women's Studies

Curriculum
Requirements for the Major
Honors in the Major
Certificate
Courses

3321 Sterling Hall, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706; 608-263-4703; www.womenstudies.wisc.edu

Professors Bloch, Collins, D'Acci, Friedman, Hyde, Lepowsky, Martin, Marx Ferree, McClintock, Pondrom, Schulenburg, Tesfagiorgis, Tripp, Uttal; Associate Professors Enke, Ewig, Houck; Assistant Professors Garlough, Ipsen, Kim, Lindsey, Samuels. For information about faculty research interests of our faculty please see the department's faculty directory.

Undergraduate advisor: Nina Valeo Cooke, 608-263-1785, afvaleo@wisc.edu

Faculty diversity liaison: Chair, 608-263-2763

The gender and women’s studies major or certificate provides a unique background for students seeking to analyze gender and other vectors of inequality, both historically and in contemporary society, as reflected through texts, social practices, and social institutions in the United States and abroad. Graduates have gone on to provide this kind of analysis in fields like health policy, immigration law, social work, reproductive justice, educational administration, employment policy, medicine, architectural design, and media production. The curriculum reflects the interdisciplinary nature of gender and women's studies, offering to all students an opportunity to study gender and women in such areas as literature, history, anthropology, sociology, education, law, biology, psychology, philosophy, political science, economics, and the arts. Department courses have been designed to fulfill breadth requirements in the appropriate divisions.

Curriculum

The curriculum includes a core sequence of interdisciplinary courses on the elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. These courses are distributed in essentially three areas—humanities, social sciences, and biological sciences. Supplementing this core of permanent courses is a wide range of special topics courses.

Certain courses on women and/or gender issues offered by university departments are crosslisted with gender and women's studies. These courses will also be listed in the Course Guide under the Gender and Women's Studies (Gen&WS) heading.

Requirements for the Major

To be accepted as majors in gender and women's studies, students must have completed Gen&WS 101, 102 or 103 with a grade of B or better; they may declare once they attain junior standing.

The undergraduate major in gender and women's studies requires that students complete either (A) the gender and women's studies core curriculum and an area of concentration, or (B) the gender and women's Studies core curriculum and a complete second major.

Option A consists of an interdisciplinary core curriculum of gender and women's studies courses and three courses from outside the program in one or more closely related departments or programs. A course approval form may be required for the concentration when taken outside a single department. Students who take this option will have a 39- to 42-credit major.

Option B consists of an interdisciplinary core curriculum of gender and women's studies courses and a complete second major in another department or program. Students who take this option will have a 30-credit gender and women's studies major and another major. In this option, the second major will fulfill the major requirement of an area of concentration outside gender and women's studies courses.

All majors complete a minimum of 30 credits in gender and women's studies (Gen&WS) including:

1. Gen&WS 101 or 102 (only one of these courses may count toward the major)

2. Gen&WS 103

3. One intermediate or advanced course from each of five areas:

(a) biology and health

431, 524, 530, 531, 532, 533

(b) humanities

200, 205, 248, 250, 251, 270, 310, 315, 317, 319, 324, 326, 330, 332, 340, 341, 351, 353, 354, 366, 367, 370, 410, 412, 415, 416, 417, 421, 437, 442, 450, 472, 519, 524, 532, 561, 574, 595, 624, 625, 654, 677, 679

(c) social science

200, 215, 320, 323, 325, 329, 331, 340, 353, 354, 392, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 431, 443, 469, 477, 519, 522, 523, 560, 561, 611, 643

(d) feminist theory

440, 441, 445, 449, 477

(e) international and multicultural perspectives

248, 315, 323, 324, 325, 326, 330, 331, 332, 366, 367, 420, 423, 424, 425, 437, 443, 472, 595, 624, 625, 643, 654, 664, 677, 679

4. Gen&WS 640 Capstone Seminar

5. Two electives: intermediate or advanced, in gender and women's studies (Gen&WS)

All students must fulfill the L&S requirement of at least 15 credits of upper-level work in the major completed in residence. Courses designated as I (intermediate), A (advanced) or D (intermediate/advanced) count toward this requirement.

Directed Study courses do not count toward the minimum credits required in the major.

In addition to the minimum of 30 credits in gender and women's studies, students who do not elect the double major option must take an area of concentration consisting of three intermediate or advanced-level courses outside gender and women's studies. These three courses (9-12 credits) may be taken in one department or program or in different departments or programs in order to focus on a central theme.

Students should call the undergraduate advisor (608-263-1785) to obtain more detailed information about the major and to make an appointment with the advisor.

Honors in the Major

Honors in the Major in gender and women's studies is intended for students who are eager to experience the excitement of original research and who wish to graduate with the best possible undergraduate training in the discipline. Honors in the Major is especially appropriate for those who are considering graduate work in gender and women's studies or who want rigorous training in research, reasoning, and writing skills useful to a wide range of career choices. Students should consult with the department advisor to determine the best way to fulfill honors requirements and how to make the most of the Honors in the Major experience in the field.

To earn the B.A. or B.S. with Honors in the Major in gender and women’s studies, students must satisfy both the requirements for the major and the following additional requirements:

Achieve a GPA of at least 3.3 out of 4.0 in all gender and women's studies courses at the time of graduation.
Achieve a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 in all courses taken at UW-Madison at the time of graduation.
Complete a two-semester senior honors thesis for a total of 8 credits of thesis work.

Interested and eligible students should submit a letter of application in spring of their junior year providing the following information:

(a) If completing more than one major, department(s) of additional major(s)

(b) Area(s) of interest within gender and women's studies

(c) Tentative ideas for an honor's thesis and a letter from a faculty member agreeing to supervise the project

In addition, a copy of the student's transcript, indicating course work and GPA, should be submitted at the time of application.

Acceptance into the honors program does not ensure that a faculty member will be available to supervise a thesis in the student's area of greatest interest. In order to develop a working relationship that may lead to thesis supervision, students should contact, and take courses with, gender and women's studies faculty and affiliates working in their area of interest soon after admission to the honors program.

Certificate

Any student is eligible to earn the program's undergraduate certificate in gender and women's studies. Special students are eligible to complete the certificate if they have completed a bachelor's degree. Students must meet with the certificate advisor to determine if they have completed the following requirements:

15 credits of course work in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies.

Transfer students must take at least 9 credits in residence.

Courses must include at least:

3 humanities credits (H, L, or Z) in gender and women's studies
3 social studies credits (S or Z) in gender and women's studies
3 natural or biological science credits (N or B) in gender and women's studies

No more than 6 credits for the certificate may be at the elementary level.

Gen&WS 101 and 102 may not both be taken for the certificate.

Grade point average for certificate courses must be at least 2.75.