Women's Studies

Laura Levitt, Chair
811 Anderson Hall
215-204-1644
llevitt@temple.edu

Siobhan Brooks King, Undergraduate Advisor
215-204-4874
Siobhan.Brooks@temple.edu

Colleen Knapp, Administrator

811 Anderson Hall

215-204-1644

knappco@temple.edu

www.temple.edu/womenstu

Women's Studies offers a cohesive framework of inquiry for the examination of women, gender, and sexuality in the U.S. and around the world, as they relate to other social categories, such as race, class, disability, nationality, and ethnicity.  As an interdisciplinary field, Women's Studies takes into account social, historical, and cultural variables in its study of women's material and cultural experiences as a social group; the examination of the workings of gender as an analytical category, identity, and social force; and the social, political, and cultural functioning of sexuality.  Women's Studies also seeks to transform traditional fields of study by incorporating new methodologies, data, theories, and frameworks developed by feminist scholars.

Temple University's Women's Studies Program is part of the College of Liberal Arts.  It offers an undergraduate major and minor, as well as a certificate for students outside the College of Liberal Arts.  In preparation for graduate school, Women's Studies majors have the opportunity to graduate with distinction in the major after completing an honors thesis.

The Women's Studies Program offers students the opportunity to study women, gender, and sexuality through an interdisciplinary curriculum taught by faculty from various departments across the university.  Students learn to apply the methods and theories of social scientists, historians, philosophers, literary critics, etc., to the study of women's experiences, as well as gender and sexual identities.  They explore a growing body of feminist theories that revise our understanding of gender, society, and culture.  We encourage students not only to understand intellectually the importance of class, race, sexuality, physical ability, and gender to people's lives but also to learn actively through fieldwork (community internship).  After graduation, Women's Studies students enter professional schools in law, medicine and business; take graduate degrees in the humanities and social sciences; and pursue careers in health, counseling, teaching, and public advocacy.

Major Requirements

*Majors will be permitted to take two of these eight courses outside Women's Studies (courses that are not cross listed) with the written permission of the advising coordinator. These courses must support the student's academic or professional growth in conjunction with the major (e.g. a research methods course in another discipline for which the student will write on a subject related to gender or courses taken in a study abroad program).

**The final requirement for the major is a two-course sequence.  This sequence should be taken during the major's last three semesters of enrollment. Students will select a field assignment with the assistance of the advising coordinator. This sequence is designed for students to learn how to write a research paper.

Distinction in Major

Women's Studies students may graduate with a distinction in the major if they have a GPA of 3.5 or better in the major, a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better, and successfully complete an honors thesis (minimum 3 credits) under the supervision of a faculty member from Women's Studies.

Minor Requirements

Certificate in Women's Studies

Designed for students outside the College of Liberal Arts who want to pursue a Women's Studies oriented career.

Suggested Semester-by-Semester Plan