Academic Programs / Liberal Arts
Women's Studies
Patricia Melzer, Director and Advising Coordinator
816 Anderson Hall
215-204-6953
pmelzer@temple.edu
811 Anderson Hall
215-204-6954
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 women's studies, the humanities and social sciences; and pursue careers in health, counseling, teaching, and public advocacy.
Major Requirements
Department |
Course # |
Course Name |
Hours |
RCI |
One to three lower-level courses (choose from the following courses). |
3-9 |
|
Women’s Studies
Women’s Studies
Women’s Studies
Women’s Studies
Women’s Studies |
1096
1708
1101/1197
1201
1676/1696 |
Introduction to Women’s Studies
Gender & History
American Women’s Lives (1197 also WI)
International Women’s Writing
Men & Women in American Society (1696 also WI) |
|
IN/WI
IS
AC
IS
AC |
|
|
|
|
|
Women’s Studies |
1301 |
Essential Issues in Women’s Studies |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Six to eight upper level electives (over 2000) |
18-24 |
|
Majors will also be permitted
to take two of these six to 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). Majors must
take two designated upper-level courses designed for students to learn how to
write a research paper. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Women’s Studies |
4386 |
Field Work in Women’s Studies |
3 |
|
Women’s Studies |
4396 |
Research Seminar* (Capstone Course) |
3 |
WI |
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
36 |
|
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
Department |
Course # |
Course Name |
Hours |
RCI |
Women’s Studies |
Electives |
Six electives in Women’s Studies. At least three of these six are at the upper level (above 2000). See major requirements for examples. |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Women’s Studies |
1301 |
Essential Issues in Women’s Studies |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
21 |
|
Certificate in Women’s Studies
Designed for students outside the College of Liberal Arts who want to pursue a Women’s Studies oriented career.
Department |
Course # |
Course Name |
Hours |
RCI |
Women’s Studies |
1096 |
Introduction to Women's Studies |
3 |
IN |
Women’s Studies |
4389 |
Field Work in Women’s Studies |
3 |
|
Women's Studies |
Two Electives |
Two electives in Women's Studies. At least one of these two courses must be at the upper level. |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
|
12 |
|
|