Major in Women’s and Gender Studies

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Major in Women’s and Gender Studies

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See through the lens of gender.

The women’s and gender studies major explores how gender intersects with areas such as sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, and other social identities — historically and now. You’ll explore women’s issues, the social construction of femininities and masculinities, and the gendered dimensions of virtually anything.

This interdisciplinary program incorporates perspectives from dozens of faculty across the university. From the personal to the political, from theory to practice, you’ll be expected to analyze and discuss diverse viewpoints and engage with gender issues on campus, in the Worcester community, and beyond.

Requirements for:

Major

Minor

Why Major in Women’s and Gender Studies at Clark?

Gain insights from applications of feminist theory that push you to think more critically about ideas and events that you encounter in your everyday life, while using gender analysis to understand and evaluate the lived experiences of diverse individuals and communities.
Develop an individualized area of specialization with the help of a faculty adviser; complete a minor or concentration — or a second major — in another field, as required, to support your specialization and to reinforce connections with other disciplines.
Carry forward a tradition of activism: Women’s and Gender Studies is a program with a history dating from the 1970s, when student activists urged their feminist mentors to begin offering courses in women’s studies.
Women’s and gender studies is one of seven undergraduate programs affiliated with Clark’s Center for Gender, Race and Area Studies, a community of faculty and students who study diverse, disadvantaged, or marginalized societies and populations, with an emphasis on promoting social justice.

Our Stories

View All Women's and Gender Studies Stories

'You mustn't make waves'

75 years of women undergraduates at Clark

A living legacy to gender justice warriors

Professor Cynthia Enloe named to Gender Justice Legacy Wall

Crystal Hill's take on Cuba

Undergrad surprised by country's progressive social programs for youth

View All Women's and Gender Studies Stories

Your Will. Your Way.

The Major Path

Foundation courses

Core courses in Women’s and Gender Studies — WGS 110 – Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies and WGS 200 – Introduction to Feminist Theory — will provide you with a solid foundation in women’s studies and gender analysis, while courses selected from many other departments will introduce you to a range of disciplinary approaches and perspectives.

Choose a specialization

Faculty from across disciplines are committed to teaching courses that explore the intersections of gender with sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, age, class, ability, and other social identities, from within their disciplinary homes. You’ll work closely with a faculty adviser affiliated with the WGS program to refine your interests and develop an individualized area of specialization within the field. Areas of specialization cross at least two academic departments and form a coherent theme, such as:

Women in comparative fiction
Gender and environment
Gender, war, and militaries
Gender, identity, and sexuality
Feminist critiques of globalization

You are required to complete a minor or concentration (a second major is strongly encouraged) in another field to support your specialization and to reinforce connections with other academic disciplines. Some popular combinations include: English, history, political science, psychology, and sociology.

Courses to support advanced study

After taking a skills or methods course to support advanced study in your area of specialization, you will be able to apply the knowledge and skills gained through WGS coursework to a culminating research project or applied experience through an advanced research seminar, internship, or a directed study with a faculty member. Our students contribute to the production of knowledge in both activist and scholarly spheres.

The Hazel Hughes Award

This award is presented in honor of the former Dean of Women, Hazel Hughes, for outstanding academic achievement by an undergraduate student.

The Alice Higgins Award

This awards is presented in honor of long-time Clark trustee and supporter of women’s and gender studies, Alice Higgins, for outstanding contributions to women and girls at Clark University and/or in the wider community.

The Cynthia Enloe Scholar/Activist Award
Created in honor of Professor Cynthia Enloe, this aware is given to the student who has worked hard to advance scholarship in women’s and gender studies and has been an activist in this cause.

During your junior year, you might be accepted into the women’s and gender studies honors program. Joining the program means you’ll work closely with a professor to create a thesis on a topic of your choice. Learn more

The LEEP difference

An education merging knowledge, action, and impact

With Liberal Education and Effective Practice, lessons begin in the classroom but never end there. Your learning includes world and workplace experiences that forge your skills and shape your path.

Learn More

At Clark, your education extends beyond the classroom. LEEP Center advisers can help you choose from a range of opportunities that complement your coursework and put your women’s and gender studies knowledge into practice.

The women’s and gender studies major is designed to help you learn outside the classroom. Our program values engaged practice, and you’ll have the opportunity to attend public lectures; participate in networking events with community action organizations and support groups; and organize events to raise awareness about women’s issues and gendered identities, Women’s History Month, LGBT History Month, and related faculty and student research at Clark.

Many students choose to pursue internships during the academic year or over the summer to connect feminist theories with practice while building their professional networks.

Other opportunities include:

In alignment with Clark’s LEEP philosophy, participation in a Study Abroad and Away program is an opportunity to gain world and workplace experience to complement your on-campus work. Clark approves semester, yearlong, and summer opportunities to earn credit through academic coursework, internships, community-based learning, or research. Explore our Study Abroad and Away page, where you can search programs by academic interest, location, and language; after you’ve identified some appropriate programs, ensure they fit into your four-year plan by talking with your faculty adviser as early as possible.

You also can complement your academic work by participating in Clark’s many clubs, organizations, and athletic teams. Here are some student organizations that might be of interest to you as a women’s and gender studies major:

Internships

Abby’s House
AIDS Project Worcester
Girls Inc.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
Pathways for Change

Clark is committed to action-based learning, and the women’s and gender studies program has incorporated action research into our program requirements. We encourage you to explore opportunities for joining WGS faculty and graduate students from other departments in their research. As a WGS major or minor, you may take an advanced research seminar, or design a directed study around your area of specialization with a faculty mentor. This research can build from a LEEP project, or provide the groundwork for an independent research proposal.

Visit the WGS faculty web pages to select a research mentor closely aligned with your intended area of specialization, or visit our program office for a consultation. Our faculty areas of expertise are intellectually and geographically diverse, each drawing from their own disciplinary practices. WGS faculty may study the representations of various femininities and masculinities in the visual and performing arts, media, and literature; gay and lesbian studies; the histories of women and other marginalized communities in the U.S. and around the world; the gendered dimensions of resource extraction and economic development in the global South; the effects of war, genocide, and oppression on women and children; masculinity and men’s mental health; the psychology of sexual violence; and feminist and queer theories and methodologies across the social sciences.

You may be eligible for funding to support collaborative or independent research during the academic year or during the summer months.

Recent research produced by WGS students includes:

A presentation by WGS student Margaret E. Foster (’18) on “Beyond Binaries: Queerness as Transcendence.” Sponsored by Jennifer Plante.
Anna-Louise Noden ’18, submitted her Thesis on “Bad Behavior: Diagnosing and Treating Nymphomania Across the Female Life Cycle at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.”
A capstone project conducted during a study abroad experience at University of Geneva, which included researching and writing a paper titled “Relationships between Family Leave Policies and Citizens’ Value of Women.”
A directed study project investigating the roles of women in professional and collegiate athletics, which resulted in a research paper that informed the Clark Athletics Department decision to institute a “National Women and Girls in Sports Day Clinic.”
A summer LEEP project titled “Sex Work and Storytelling,” which involved conducting oral histories with former sex workers in Worcester; the project became a senior honors thesis that was presented at the Women’s Oral History Conference in Worcester.

Present Your Research

Clark’s annual Fall Fest and Academic Spree Day are opportunities to share your research or creative work with the Clark community while you hone your presentation skills. Some projects women’s and gender studies students and recent alumni have presented are:

Beyond Binaries: Queerness as Transcendence
National Youth Survey on Youth Perspective of FGM (female genital mutilation) in the United Kingdom
The Influence of Race and Socioeconomic Status on Altruistic Behavior

Some students are able to develop their research projects into formal papers that they author themselves or co-author with a faculty mentor. You also may have the opportunity to present your research paper at a professional conference and network with other WGS students and professionals. Our students and recent alumni have represented the WGS program at the following conferences:

National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) Annual Conference
Annual Feminist Theory Workshop at Duke University
Worcester Women’s Oral History Conference

You also can submit your research results for publication in our student-run Scholarly Undergraduate Research Journal.

At Clark you’ll get more than a great education; you’ll also be prepared for a long, productive career and life of consequence. And once you’ve completed your degree, you can join other Clark alumni who have gone on to work for great organizations and attend some of the best graduate schools in the world.

Graduate schools attended by women’s and gender studies graduates from Clark include:

Columbia University; MPH (public health)
Simmons College; MSW (social work)
Ohio State University; M.A. in higher education/student affairs
Simmons College; M.S. in nursing
Clark University; M.A. in community development and planning

Career Outcomes

Facing History and Ourselves
Print publishing assistant
University of California, Berkeley
Research associate
Harvard School of Public Health
Senior project coordinator
Comprehensive Housing Assistance Inc.
Senior engagement coordinator
Center for Progress
Email marketing manager

We’ve Got It Covered

Featured Courses

GEOG 136

PLS

Gender and Environment

From “Mother Earth” to “Father Sky,” gender concepts are embedded in our understanding of the environment. Explore how gender affects human settlement and land-use patterns, as well as ecological practices.

HIST 295

Dangerous Women

Throughout history, audacious, ambitious women have been called saints, sinners, prostitutes, witches, and nasty. In this course, you’ll explore the experiences and treatment of such “dangerous” women.

SPAN 136

Women in Hispanic Literature and Art

Consider topics like identity formation, sexuality, education, self-representation, and others as you delve into works of literature, film, and painting created by female artists from Spain and Latin America.

PSCI 092

PLS

Women and War

Women have assumed both active and passive roles in violent conflict since the beginning of time. Here you’ll examine the impact of war on women and develop a broader understanding of women’s role in society.

CMLT 109

PLS

Human Rights and Literature

Through readings, class discussions, and outreach to local human rights organizations, you’ll trace the meaning of human rights — along with who counts as human — from the Age of Enlightenment to the present day.

PSYC 254

D&I

Psychology of Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation is the focus of many current social and political debates. Examine the nature of sexual orientation, how it’s assessed and measured, and shifts in the way it’s understood in today’s society.

ID 120

D&I

Introduction to Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Use anthropological observation and problem-solving to gain insight into other cultures — and your own; and explore the practicality of applying anthropological knowledge to further the cause of a more just world.

HIST 212

History of Sexuality from the Enlightenment to the Present

Investigate how past societies determined which sexual behaviors were licit or illicit, and the institutions and individuals responsible for the regulation, repression, and occasional encouragement of the practices.

ENG 260

Making Gender Through the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Did you know that gender roles became more clearly defined in 18th-century Britain? Uncover how the texts of this period helped shape perceptions of masculinity and femininity, both socially and culturally.

HIST 133

D&I

Women During the Holocaust

While often less empowered than men, the lives of women in the past are nonetheless worthy of study. See why as you explore their experiences in the Holocaust — as victims, perpetrators, rescuers, and resisters.

WGS 220

Queer Theory

In this student-led seminar, you’ll develop an overview of queer theory through five main topics: identity construction, activism and application, class and power, intersectional identities, and nationalism.

WGS 202

D&I

Masculinities in American History and Culture

Dissect the major trends that have created, influenced — and undermined — various masculine identities over time in the United States, as well as masculinity’s intersection with race, sexuality, class, and ability.

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Explore what the Women's and Gender Studies Program has to offer.