Women’s Studies
Goals
This program explores aspects of the past, present, and future of women’s status in the United States and globally. Our program emphasizes the relevance of a rights-based discourse for young college women and men today, while at the same time offering an exciting knowledge base that other academic fields of study can actively incorporate.
Careers
Students of all backgrounds can apply the knowledge acquired in this program to careers such as law, policy-making, social welfare, health, counseling, human resources, economic development, education, journalism, literature, art, teaching, communication, or political activism at local, national, and international levels.
Today, virtually all graduate programs and professions require knowledge and considerations of gender issues, so this minor is crucial to students who wish to pursue further academic studies.
Program Description
Achieving social justice and overcoming sexism and racism in the USA and globally are the main underlining principles of the women’s studies program at Niagara University. Specifically, the program offers courses that address:
- The impact of social distinctions based on gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, culture, religion, and sexuality on equality among all people
- The use of feminist theories as points of intellectual departure and critical inquiry
- The indispensability of gender awareness in students’ own lives, including an appreciation of diverse ways of understanding the world
- The possibilities for activism and change at local, national, and global levels
The program draws its strength from using an interdisciplinary framework to analyze the historical, economic, political, social, and cultural experiences of women, and from providing critical tools for analytical inquiry into the lives of women through the use of “gender lens” and active integration of students’ own experiences and lives.
Courses
This course analyzes the social construction of gender and its relationship to class, race, age, ethnicity, and sexual identity. A wide range of topics are discussed including the following: Systems of privilege and inequality in women's lives; learning gender; sexuality, power, and intimacy; mental health and health issues; women's work; social policy issues; religion and spirituality in women's lives; and activism and social change.
This course offers in depth study of topics of interest to women's studies scholarship. May be taken up to three times with different course material.