Minor in Women's and Gender Studies
About the Minor
The Women's and Gender Studies (WGST) Minor gives students a broad, interdisciplinary and global understanding of how gender intersects with race, age, class, sexual orientation, and other identities that shape human consciousness and experience. The WGST minor equips women, men and people who are gender variant with tools for making sense of societal structures within which they must operate as students, professionals and citizens. Through comparative study of gender across cultures, both within the United States and globally, students who minor in WGST gain a critical lens on the complexities of gender as it is constructed and understood in diverse contexts. Through WGST courses, students develop skills to be attuned to how gender impacts all aspects of human interaction, from the family, to the workplace, to the voting booth.
As an academic program Women's and Gender Studies provides a sharp focus on assumptions about the way the world can and does work. It offers a conceptual framework to analyze experiences of inequality and discrimination, and asks students to become active, engaged, thoughtful participants in their educational experiences and in their lives. Women's and Gender Studies prioritizes learning that helps students understand their "real life" experiences, at the same time that it asks students to reflect on and ask difficult, provocative and meaningful questions about those experiences.
Women's and Gender Studies works with many programs and departments at Drexel to emphasize how gender and sexuality intersect with other identities, as well as history, culture and geography to produce different beliefs, experiences and practices in peoples' lives and in larger social structures.
Because businesses working across many industries, including those in the nonprofit sector, are increasingly sensitive to issues such as gender discrimination, sexual harassment, equal pay for comparable work, support for LGBTQ-identified employees, parental leave, and day care, students with a Minor in Women's and Gender Studies gain a definite edge over other applicants for managerial and policy-making positions.
All prospective students should meet with an advisor from the College as soon as possible.
| Required Courses | ||
| WGST 101 | Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies | 3.0 |
| WGST 201 | Introduction to Feminisms | 3.0 |
| Choose one of the following three theory courses | 3.0 | |
| Sex, Gender, Feminism: A Seminar in Feminist Theories | ||
| Queer Theory | ||
| Masculinities | ||
| Students must complete at least 15 credits of elective courses: | 15.0 | |
| Gender & Black Popular Culture | ||
| Anthropology of Gender | ||
| Family and Kinship | ||
| Women in Art | ||
| Media and Identity | ||
| Sex, Violence, & Crime on the Internet | ||
| Issues in Domestic Violence | ||
| Gender, Crime, and Justice | ||
| Women and Literature | ||
| Women in American History | ||
| Technology and Identity | ||
| Women and Children: Health & Society | ||
| Philosophy of Sex & Love | ||
| Women's Health Psychology | ||
| Women & Minority Opportunities in Sport | ||
| Legal Foundations of Title IX | ||
| Sex and Society | ||
| Gender and Society | ||
| Writing on the Body | ||
| Women & Human Rights Worldwide | ||
| Arab Women Writers | ||
| African Francophone Women Writers: Displacement. From One Continent To Another | ||
| Women and Society in a Global Context | ||
| Gender and Black Popular Culture | ||
| Gender and Judaism | ||
| Cigarettes and High Heels | ||
| Women's Health and Human Rights | ||
| Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies | ||
| Independent Study in Women's and Gender Studies | ||
| Sex, Gender, Feminism: A Seminar in Feminist Theories | ||
| Queer Theory | ||
| Masculinities | ||
| Retail Intersections: Social & Cultural Issues | ||
| Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies | ||
| Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies | ||
| Total Credits | 24.0 | |
Writing-Intensive Course Requirements
In order to graduate, all students must pass three writing-intensive courses after their freshman year. Two writing-intensive courses must be in a student's major. The third can be in any discipline. Students are advised to take one writing-intensive class each year, beginning with the sophomore year, and to avoid “clustering” these courses near the end of their matriculation. Transfer students need to meet with an academic advisor to review the number of writing-intensive courses required to graduate.
A "WI" next to a course in this catalog may indicate that this course can fulfill a writing-intensive requirement. For the most up-to-date list of writing-intensive courses being offered, students should check the Writing Intensive Course List at the University Writing Program. Students scheduling their courses can also conduct a search for courses with the attribute "WI" to bring up a list of all writing-intensive courses available that term.
