Women’s Studies

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Purpose and Focus

Women’s Studies seeks to correct neglect, denial, and devaluation of the study of women and gender in higher education and to equip students with analytical skills they can apply to social issues. For students, this means learning how assumptions and policies regarding gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, physical ability, nationality, and other social dimensions shape the material conditions of women’s lives all over the world. The curriculum is designed to focus students on the relationship between feminist theories and women’s activism throughout history. Women’s Studies graduates, therefore, are equipped to work in any field or profession where analysis and action are integrated.

Degree Objectives/Learning Outcomes

Students completing the baccalaureate program will connect Women’s Studies scholarship and social activism in the process of forging their own paths as agents of social change. As confident and articulate people trained in critical thinking and gender analysis, women’s studies students will demonstrate knowledge of feminist theories, multidisciplinary perspectives, feminist research methodologies and ethics, global and local activism, and structural and cultural analyses, especially the intersectionality of gender, race, and class. Employers welcome the useful array of skills that graduates of women’s studies programs offer. They are skilled at thinking abstractly, reading critically, analyzing situations, organizing material, writing well, and conducting oral presentations.

Accreditation

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Undergraduate Major

Women’s Studies

Admission to the Major

Minimum GPA: 2.50

Admission Policies

Admission to, and retention in, the Women’s Studies Program as a major or minor requires an overall grade point average at or above 2.50. Students with a GPA of between 2.30 and 2.49 may be admitted to the program as Pre-Women’s Studies majors and minors.

Advisement

For academic advising, students should contact the Wilson Advising Center of the College of Liberal Arts. Majors and minors should consult the Chair of the Women’s Studies Department for career advising and for more specialized academic advising. Students should consult advisers to plan their schedules early in their UNLV careers because most women’s studies courses are offered only once annually. WMST 302 and 401 are both pre-requisites for WMST 497. If possible, we recommend you plan on taking WMST 401 before taking WMST 302.

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