This information is part of the Colgate University catalog, 2021-22.
Major Requirements
A minimum of eight courses, three of which are required as follows:
Required Courses
- WMST 202 - Women's Lives: An Introduction to Women's Studies A student must receive a minimum grade of C in WMST 202 in order to be admitted to the major program.
- WMST 301 - Feminist Methodologies: Theory and Praxis
- WMST 490 - Women's Studies Senior Seminar
Feminist Methodology
A course in feminist methodology:
- ANTH 211 - Investigating Contemporary Cultures (RI)
- CORE 109S - In Data We Trust: The Promise and Perils of a Data-Driven Society
- ECON 234 - Gender in the Economy
- EDUC 226 - Uses and Abuses of Educational Research (only when taught by approved faculty)
- UNST 350 - Interdisciplinary Methods Seminar
- WMST 301 - Feminist Methodologies: Theory and Praxis
- WMST 302 - Special Topics: Women's Lives in Text and Context
- WMST 391 - Independent Study (only when focused on methodology)
Feminist Theory
A course in feminist theory:
- ANTH 221 - Kinship and Marriage (RI)
- ANTH 315 - Gender and Culture
- ECON 234 - Gender in the Economy
-
EDUC 303 - Decolonizing Development: Gender, Power & Education in International Development
EDUC 339/WMST 339 - Critical and Feminist Disability Studies - ENGL 208 - Sex and the Global City
- GEOG 321 - Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change
- LGBT 303 - Queer Identities and Global Discourses
- PCON 260 - Gender in Conflict and Peace
- PHIL 360 - Feminist Philosophy
- SOCI 310 - Sociology of the Body
- SOCI 367 - Sociology of Gender
- SOCI 369 - Women, Health, and Medicine
- WMST 205 - Queer Latina Visualities: Art, Theory, and Resistance
- WMST 279 - Black Feminist Thinkers
Divisions
At least four more courses from the following list, taken from at least two of the divisions:
Division A
- LGBT 220 - Lives, Communities, and Modes of Critical Inquiry: An Exploration into LGBTQ Studies
- LGBT 227 - Machismo & the Latin Lover
- LGBT 303 - Queer Identities and Global Discourses
- LGBT 350 - Sexuality, Gender, and the Law
- NAST 301 - Native American Women
- PCON 260 - Gender in Conflict and Peace
- WRIT 242 - Stand and Speak: Feminist Rhetorics and Social Change
- WRIT 345 - Crafting Bodies: Movement, Gender, and Performance
Division B
- ANTH 228 - Women and Gender in Prehistory
- ANTH 315 - Gender and Culture
- ANTH 371 - Gender and Society in Africa
- ECON 234 - Gender in the Economy
- EDUC 303 - Decolonizing Development: Gender, Power & Education in International Development
- EDUC 312 - Women and Education
- GEOG 321 - Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change
- HIST 211 - Women's Rights in US History (US)
- HIST 213 - Women in the City (US)
- HIST 304 - Sex and Sexualities in U.S. History (US)
- POSC 451 - Seminar: Africa in World Politics
- SOCI 212 - Power, Racism, and Privilege
- SOCI 220 - Gender, Sexuality, and Society
- SOCI 306 - Sociology of the Family
- SOCI 367 - Sociology of Gender
- SOCI 369 - Women, Health, and Medicine
Division C
- CLAS 232 - Sexuality and Gender in Ancient Greece and Rome
- ENGL 202 - Justice and Power in Postcolonial Literature
- ENGL 204 - Native American Writers (when focused on writings of women)
- ENGL 207 - New Immigrant Voices
- ENGL 208 - Sex and the Global City
- ENGL 305 - The Female Protagonist
- ENGL 333 - African/Diaspora Women's Narrative
- ENGL 405 - The Brontës
- ENGL 408 - Literature of Medieval Women
- ENGL 433 - Caribbean Literature (when focused on writings of women)
- ENGL 460 - Studies in the Middle Ages (the literature of medieval women)
- FREN 222 - French and Francophone Literature in Translation
- FREN 353 - Introduction to French Literature: Literary Innovations in the 20th to 21st Centuries
- FREN 445 - Writing the Self in the 20th Century: Autobiography in French
- FREN 453 - Contemporary Literature in French
- FREN 455 - Francophone Voices from North Africa
- PHIL 360 - Feminist Philosophy
- RELG 213/JWST 213 The Bible as/and Literature
- RELG 234 - Women and Religious Traditions
- RELG 313 - The "Word" in the World: The Bible in Global Perspective
- RELG 253 - Love, God, and Sexuality
- SPAN 474 - Short Fiction in Contemporary Spain
- SPAN 477 - Women Writing in Latin America
Other Courses
Other courses may be counted toward a women's studies major, depending on the orientation of the course, and/or the direction of the readings and student projects during a particular year. Such courses need the approval of the instructor and the women's studies director to be counted toward a women's studies major. Students must check with their WMST adviser about which of the following courses meet WMST concentration requirements. WMST credit cannot be granted once the course is completed with a non-approved instructor.
These courses include:
- CORE 151 - Legacies of the Ancient World
- CORE 158C - Puerto Rico
- CORE 166C - India
- CORE 171C - Mexico
- CORE 172S - The Biology of Women: Sex, Gender, Reproduction, and Disease
- EDUC 204 - Child and Adolescent Development
- EDUC 310 - Racial Capitalism and Education Policy
- ENGL 208 - Sex and the Global City
- ENGL 336 - Native American Literature
- ENGL 346 - Victorian Poets & Essayists
- ENGL 363 - Contemporary Fiction
- ENGL 461 - Studies in the Renaissance
- LGBT 220 - Lives, Communities, and Modes of Critical Inquiry: An Exploration into LGBTQ Studies
- NAST 302 - Contemporary Issues in the Native American Southwest (Study Group)
- PHIL 417 - Advanced Topics in Philosophy
- POSC 317 - Identity Politics
- RELG 208/JWST 208 The Hebrew Bible in America
- RELG 282 - Islamic Traditions
- SOCI 312 - Social Inequality
- SOCI 333 - Sociology of the Life Course (RI)
- WMST 291 - Independent Study
- WMST 391 - Independent Study
- WMST 491 - Independent Study
- WMST 499 - Honors in Women's Studies
Additional Information
Students' relationships with their advisers are a critical part of the women's studies program. Following admission to the program, students, in consultation with their advisers, may develop a sequence of required and elective courses related to a particular topic. Some suggested topics are postcolonial and critical race studies; family studies; women in the United States; global perspectives on women; women, work, and family; women and social change; women and religion; and women, knowledge, and text.
Honors and High Honors
Students interested in pursuing honors can find the additional requirements on the Women's Studies program page.
Women's Studies Program
For more information about the department, including Faculty, transfer credit, awards, and more, please visit the Women's Studies program catalogue page.