The course introduces students to definitions of feminism and the use of the concept of gender as a way of analyzing experience. Majors then take these ideas into a variety of courses offered either in women's studies or in different departments and cross listed with the Program in Women's Studies. Depending on your interests, you might study Russia's Women Writers, Psychology of Gender Roles, Gender Relations in Comparative Perspective, or Women and Men in American History. Every major takes our Junior-Senior Seminar, in which students practice gender analysis in preparation for their senior thesis. The interdisciplinary nature of women's studies requires majors to plan their program of courses carefully.
Students can custom-design their majors, focusing on courses in the areas of their interest.
In order to succeed in upper-level courses about women offered in different departments, however, women's studies majors must also learn the assumptions and methods of several different disciplines, such as textual criticism, quantitative analysis, or interview techniques. By the time of their senior thesis, we want our majors to know how to use the intellectual tools appropriate for the questions they have chosen to ask. All other faculty members who teach courses in women's studies hold appointments in other departments. They combine their training in particular disciplines with a commitment to our program. Professor Herzig will be on leave for 2000-2001.