Women Studies

Goals of the Major:

1. To provide majors with an understanding of the interdisciplinary scholarship on women, gender, and sexuality, and to train them in interdisciplinary methods.
2. To offer theoretical and practical approaches to feminist thinking across the disciplines.
3. To encourage comparative thinking about coursework that explores the multicultural and global nature of feminist scholarship.
4. To train majors to think analytically by teaching them to read and write critically.
5. To provide supporting skills and context for the study of women through the cognate requirement.
6. To encourage intellectual and academic breadth through the cognate requirement.

Areas of the Women's Studies major:

LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) and Sexuality Studies offers an interdisciplinary approach to sexuality that includes topics such as religious beliefs, legal codes, medical constructions, and social movements, and recognizes them as historically variable and culturally specific. With the contributions of empirical research, feminist scholarship, and queer theory, courses in this area acquaint students with history of sexuality and understanding the formation of sexual identities and sexuality.

Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the U.S. examines the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity in order to consider differences among women and men, as well as the impact of multiple categories of identity on experience and on the formation and contestation of gender itself. Interracial and interethnic relations, the mutual influence of social movements, and racialized genders are also explored. Although the U.S. is the primary focus, consideration of various diasporas encourages analysis of the links between communities across national borders.

Gender, Culture and Representation explores ways in which ideas and meanings about women and gender are produced culturally and historically. It positions students as readers, viewers, and interpreters of cultures and cultural artifacts, especially in the domains of literature, philosophy, the visual and performing arts, mass media (including film), and their histories. Courses might explore a particular historical topic from a feminist perspective. Others might introduce students to feminist analyses of past and/or contemporary cultural forms and encourage them to consider processes of viewing, writing, and producing knowledge.

Gender in the Global Context offers a comparative cross-cultural perspective on the construction and meaning of gender, race, class, and sexuality. It examines current forces of globalization and empire, the histories of imperialism and colonialism, and postcolonial resistance and theory. Courses decenter the U.S. while placing it in a geopolitical context, including global and transnational feminisms.

Prerequisite to the Major

WOMENSTD 240,  completed with a minimum grade of C- or above.

Requirements for the Major

33 credits (at least 25 must be at the 300-level or above) distributed as follows:

1. Courses in Women's Studies: Majors must complete areas A through E below.
   1. Feminist Theory: WOMENSTD 330. Feminist Thought.
   2. Thematic Areas. One course from each of the following four areas (only one course may be double-counted to meet these four thematic area course requirements):
      1. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Sexuality Studies
      2. Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the U.S.
      3. Gender in a Global Context
      4. Gender, Culture, and Representation
   3. Practice Course. One course chosen from:
      • WOMENSTD 350. Nonprofit Management, Community Engagement, and Feminist Practice
      • WOMENSTD 351. Leading Feminism
      • WOMENSTD 404/HS 404. Gender Based Violence: From Theory to Action  
      • WOMENSTD 425. Feminist Practice of Oral History.
      • SOC 389, Gender and Sexuality section
   4. Senior Seminar: WOMENSTD 440. Senior Capstone. (Must be taken in-residence)
   5. Electives: Additional WOMENSTD credits to bring the total major credits up to 27 (excluding prerequisites and cognates).
2. Cognates: Two upper-level courses (for a total of six credits), neither in WOMENSTD nor cross-listed, are required. In order to ensure that the interdisciplinary Women's Studies major is complemented by training in a single discipline, these courses will normally be in the same department. Cognate courses should not be courses on women but should provide supporting skills or contexts for the study of women.

Grade Policy:

All courses in the Women’s Studies major must be completed with a C- or above, including the prereq, WOMENSTD 240 Introduction to Women’s Studies.

Areas of the Women's Studies major

LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) and Sexuality Studies offers an interdisciplinary approach to sexuality that includes topics such as religious beliefs, legal codes, medical constructions, and social movements, and recognizes them as historically variable and culturally specific. With the contributions of empirical research, feminist scholarship, and queer theory, courses in this area acquaint students with history of sexuality and understanding the formation of sexual identities and sexuality.

Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the U.S. examines the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity in order to consider differences among women and men, as well as the impact of multiple categories of identity on experience and on the formation and contestation of gender itself. Interracial and interethnic relations, the mutual influence of social movements, and racialized genders are also explored. Although the U.S. is the primary focus, consideration of various diasporas encourages analysis of the links between communities across national borders.

Gender, Culture and Representation explores ways in which ideas and meanings about women and gender are produced culturally and historically. It positions students as readers, viewers, and interpreters of cultures and cultural artifacts, especially in the domains of literature, philosophy, the visual and performing arts, mass media (including film), and their histories. Courses might explore a particular historical topic from a feminist perspective. Others might introduce students to feminist analyses of past and/or contemporary cultural forms and encourage them to consider processes of viewing, writing, and producing knowledge.

Gender in the Global Context offers a comparative cross-cultural perspective on the construction and meaning of gender, race, class, and sexuality. It examines current forces of globalization and empire, the histories of imperialism and colonialism, and postcolonial resistance and theory. Courses decenter the U.S. while placing it in a geopolitical context, including global and transnational feminisms.

Residence Requirement

At least 14 credits of Women’s Studies courses must be taken in residence — including WOMENSTD 440 Senior Capstone and not including cognates.

In-residence: Courses elected on the Ann Arbor campus or at off-campus sites directed by Ann Arbor faculty. This includes STDABRD, Camp Davis, Biological Station, Michigan-in-Washington.

Constraints

A maximum of six Women’s Studies independent study credits may be taken, excluding credits for the practicum.

Honors

The Women's Studies Honors Program provides an opportunity for majors to complete a comprehensive, original independent project under the guidance of a faculty mentor as the culmination to their undergraduate studies. Students should choose topics on which they have already done some academic study. Those interested in pursuing Honors should begin to consider it in their sophomore year and discuss their interests with a department advisor. Students learn methodology in WOMENSTD 389 (the Junior Honors Seminar) during the winter term of their junior year. The thesis is researched and written in the second term of the student's junior year and in their senior year. The Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) serves as the Honors Plan Advisor in Women's Studies. Honors applications are due December 1 of the student's junior year.

Eligibility. Women's Studies majors who have maintained an overall GPA of at least 3.4 and a 3.5 GPA in Women's Studies (including the pre-requisite) may apply for an honors major. Applicants must have completed or plan to complete WOMENSTD 240 (Introduction to Women's Studies) and WOMENSTD 330 (Feminist Thought) by the end of their junior year and applicants must demonstrate both the interest and capacity to carry out the comprehensive independent work required to complete an Honors thesis.

1. You must apply via The Common Application, and submit the University of Michigan Questions. International students are not eligible for application fee waivers.
2. All undergraduate first-year applicants are required to submit test results from either the SAT with writing or the ACT with writing.
3. Submit the School Report.
4. Submit one Teacher Evaluation (academic teacher).
5. Submit a Counselor Recommendation (encouraged, but not required).
6. Submit your high school transcript. An official English translation is required to accompany the transcript if the transcript is not issued in English by the school. (Students who have already completed high school, including university transfer applicants, should be sure to have final high school transcript submitted showing the graduation date. Also provide a detailed explanation of any educational gaps.)
7. If you are a speaker of English as a second language, you will need to submit your MELAB, TOEFL, or IELTS scores.
8. Please note that international students on temporary visas are not eligible for financial aid, and should expect to pay the full cost of attendance. Scholarships are generally not available.   

Do not submit any extra documents unless specifically requested, as this may only delay your decision.