The minor in Women’s Studies offers both diversity and depth of course work, ranging from Feminist Humor to Feminism as serious theory and worldmaking practice, from “the notorious RBG” as Icon to “Witches: the Monstrous Feminine.” Students can immerse themselves in experiential learning via internships and capstone work.
Students encounter renowned scholars, contemporary discourse leaders and genuinely key figures from the deep past and wide world. They work from points of their own departures into our dynamic, inter- and multi-disciplinary field—steeped in research as well as in vital, timely, sometimes timeless inquiry.
Invariably, our students grow in their perception, comprehension and critical appraisals. They “reconsider it all,” the entanglements of sex, gender, identities and compounding identities born of class, race, locale, belief, persuasion, etc.; they study women’s struggles for rights, freedom and opportunity, for bodily integrity, equality, justice and more. They delve into contexts, explore the evolving givens, the told and untold stories of all who fall into a sometimes widening, sometimes narrowing circle. Guided by expert faculty, students who sign on for the academic adventure of our Women Studies minor depart not only with intellectual skills honed through theory, methods and ranging subject areas but also with practical, hands-on skills. What sort of skills? You might ask. Skills like these: transversal communication, lucid self-expression, empathic listening, tuned-in reflection, requisite revision, a new willingness to “meet the Universe halfway”—each and all acquired through the give-and-take of colloquia, the risk-taking of individual investigation and capstone work.
The Women’s Studies Minor is housed within 5X’s School of Multidisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities. It is steeped in the richness of inter- and multi-disciplinary work, granting students sophisticated exposure to ways in which multiple academic fields speak to any proffered topic, stirring, surprising and inviting “the newly thinkable.” The School provides students with quality instruction, faculty and student mentoring, and a support system designed for student success.
A History of Women's Studies at Kent State
