Women's Studies

Faculty
Description
Minor Requirements
Program Policies
Course Descriptions

Faculty

Jamey Piland, Associate Professor of Communication (Program Chair)
Faculty members from various disciplines contribute to the program

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Description

Trinity offers an interdisciplinary minor in women's studies designed to support the academic life and scholarship of both students and faculty as they investigate and research the status of women in every field of academic inquiry.

The discipline of women's studies was founded upon the integration of intellectual inquiry and social practice. Students in the program are strongly urged to combine feminist theory with practical applications of their scholarship. The Women's Studies Program strives for a broad and complex understanding of the female experience in a global context.

Trinity has been committed to the advancement of women since its founding. The university's general education curriculum expresses this commitment and emphasizes the value of an interdisciplinary, collaborative education. Using cross-cultural and multi-racial perspectives, the Women's Studies Program explores women's lives, labor, and arts; it examines the politics of gender, and it studies the history of gender roles as well as representations of those roles in different media. Focusing on the interaction of class, race, gender, and sexuality, it analyzes the relations of power in various cultures, and it provides students with a basic structure of ideas, a framework for analyzing the fundamental shift in understanding arising from a systematic retrieval of history and from women's changing awareness; the program also investigates strategies for social change.

The program offers a minor in women's studies to students in the College of Arts and Sciences and supports all of Trinity's undergraduate majors as well as individualized and interdisciplinary majors. Courses that meet general education requirements may also count toward the minor. The introductory course should be taken in the spring of the student's second year or the fall of the third year.

The Women's Studies curriculum offers students skills such as critical thinking, writing, research, and social activism. Students will find these skills are necessary for a wide range of academic disciplines. A minor in Women's Studies prepares students for careers in many fields, including research, policy, government and nonprofit agencies, publishing, international affairs, education, and advocacy.

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Minor Requirements

Required Courses (6 credits)

BOTH of the following courses: 

WST 240 Introduction to Women's Studies 
WST 440 Senior Seminar in Women's Studies 

Elective Courses (12 credits)

TWO courses chosen from among:

WST 250 Women in Popular Culture
WST 301 Women, Peacemaking and Non-Violence
WST 368 Women and Leadership
WST 369 Women and Community Change
WST 400 Internship in Women's Studies

TWO courses chosen from among:

COM 388 Gender and Communication 
COM 450 Women in Organizations
ECON 223 Women in the Economy
ENGL 277 Women Warriors in Film and Fiction
ENGL 371 Women in Fiction
ENGL 373 African American Women Writers
ENGL 377 Women in Contemporary American Film
ENGL 378 African American Women in Film
ENGL 434 Novels of Jane Austen
ENGL 435 The Brontë Sisters
ENGL 477 Seminar on Alice Walker
FNAR 247 Women in Music History
FNAR 321 Women Artists
HIS 245 Women, Work and Family in Medieval and Early Modern Europe 
HIS 344A African American Women's History 
HIS 393 Women in United States History to 1900
HUMR 301 Seminar: Perspectives on Gender 
PHIL   237 Women and Philosophy
POLS 211 Women and the Law  
POLS 299 Honors Seminar: The Political Lives of Women
PSYC 161 Women: Developmental and Multicultural Perspectives
PSYC 261 Psychology of Gender Roles
SOCY 333 Women and Third World Development
SOCY 341 Women, Men and Complex Organizations
RST 225 Religion and Women

* Other courses may be approved by the Program Chair. The Women's Studies Program usually publishes a list of approved courses offered each semester.

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Program Policies

Advanced Placement:
Credits earned through AP examinations do not fulfill requirements of the minor. 

CLEP Policy:
Credits earned through CLEP examinations do not fulfill requirements of the minor. 

Grades in Required Courses:
Students are required to earn a grade of "C" (2.0) or better in all courses counted to fulfill requirements for the minor. 

Pass/No Pass:
With the exception of internships, courses fulfilling minor requirements may not be taken pass/no pass. 

Senior Assessment:
In order to complete a minor in women's studies, students must take WST 440 Senior Seminar in Women's Studies that includes a comprehensive assessment. 

Study Abroad:
Students may meet minor requirements with courses taken during study abroad. 

TELL Policy:
The Women's Studies Program supports and encourages Trinity's TELL Program. Students applying for experiential learning credit should consult with the program faculty. 

Transfer Credits:
Transfer credit from appropriately accredited institutions of higher learning may be counted for minor requirements, dependent on program review and approval. 

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Course Descriptions

WST 240 Introduction to Women's Studies
Provides a basic structure of ideas for examining questions of gender differences in history, culture, and contemporary society. Students learn central concepts and research methods in women's studies and use them to examine such topics as family, religion, work, gender, sexuality, and social change.
3 credits 

WST 301 Women, Peacemaking and Non-Violence
Considers the theoretical foundations of non-violence and explores the application of these principles with reference to the experiences and history of women. 
3 credits 

WST 368 Women and Leadership
Explores women's leadership issues at the intersection of race, class, and gender. Key themes include the relational aspects of leadership, authenticity, identity and power, and the voice of leadership.
3 credits

WST 400 Internship in Women's Studies
Requires students to perform nine hours of volunteer work each week in an internship in advocacy groups, non-profit organizations, and federal or D.C. government agencies that advance women's interests. Studies include required readings, journal writing, construction of an ethnography, and compiling and annotating a bibliography.
3 credits
Prerequisite: WST 240 

WST 403 Feminist Criticism
Focuses on several schools of feminist criticism and theory. Serving as an introduction to feminist theory and criticism, the course will introduce students to some of the theories and theorists that serve as a foundation for understanding current feminist thought. We will explore the evolution and historical development of feminist criticism and will place ourselves as feminist scholars in this tradition. To emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of feminist scholarship, we will also explore several of the disciplines to which feminist criticism has been and can be applied. Students will have the opportunity to apply the feminist theories to their appropriate disciplines.
3 credits
Prerequisite: WST 240

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