StudyQA — Bachelor: Women’s Studies — University of Maryland, College Park

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Description Contents Requirements Funding

Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry analyzing structures of power, especially as they are grounded in gender, race, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality, ability, and other inequalities, and as they configure historical and contemporary struggles for social change. The department and faculty at the University of Maryland enjoy a global reputation for innovative theoretical and methodological interventions and for their attention to curriculum transformation and global women’s studies institution building. With a core faculty of 12 and more than 80 affiliate faculty from across the campus, the program offers a B.A., M.A./Ph.D, undergraduate and graduate certificates in women’s studies, a minor in black women’s studies, and undergraduate minors and certificates in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies.

There is no limit to what can be done with a degree in Women’s Studies. The B.A. in Women’s Studies prepares students for positions in a wide range of fields, for example, in government and in policy, research and service organizations that focus on women’s issues. Majors learn writing, critical thinking, research, public presentation and leadership skills that are valued by many employers. Employers today are increasingly aware of gender and diversity issues and recognize that Women’s Studies majors are trained to deal with them. Many graduates work in social change and nonprofit helping organizations, where they apply what they have learned to real-life problems. The Women’s Studies major also provides excellent preparation for a variety of graduate programs in such areas as Women’s Studies, history, sociology, anthropology, psychology and English, as well as professional training in law, medicine and social work. Our graduate students are prepared to enter careers in academia, as well as public policy, social justice advocacy and museum work.

Foundation Courses (18 credits)

WMST 200 Introduction to Women’s Studies: Women and Society or WMST 250 Introduction to Women’s Studies: Women, Art and Culture
WMST 300 Feminist Reconceptualizations of Knowledge
WMST 350 Feminist Pedagogy or WMST 380 Feminist Analysis of the Workplace
WMST 400 Theories of Feminism
WMST 488 Senior Seminar

Distributive Courses (9 credits)

Choose one course from each area. See advisor for list of approved courses:

Arts and Literature
Historical Perspectives
Social and Natural Sciences

Cultural Diversity (6 credits)

Two courses chosen with approval of advisor. Courses in this category may overlap with other requirements.

Student Developed Emphasis (9 credits)

Three courses chosen with approval of advisor and ordinarily drawn from those approved for the major.

No course with a grade less than “C-” may be used to satisfy major requirements, and an overall GPA of 2.0 in the major is required for graduation

Requirements

Nonrefundable application fee of $75
Two letters of recommendation are required for a completed application: one from your school counselor and one from a teacher. Recommendations must be sent to us directly from the recommender.
Official copy of your high school transcripts
Where appropriate, include official results and certificates of completion from national secondary school examinations such as GCSE/GCE, CBSE national and regional, CXC/CSEC and WAEC. Transcripts must be sent in the native language with a certified English translation.
The SAT or the ACT is required.
If neither the SAT nor the ACT is available in your country, submit a written request for a waiver of this requirement with your application. Applicants who don’t submit some form of official standardized testing may be at a competitive disadvantage.
Activities and awards list or resume
If English is not your native language—regardless of your citizenship—you must have an official report of your scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) sent to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at the address below by the appropriate application deadline. The Office of Undergraduate Admissions will consider all materials submitted in the application package to determine your level of English proficiency.