Women's and Gender Studies at UVM offers students an opportunity to
think both about
what it means to be a woman in contemporary society and what it meant
to
be a woman in the past. It is a program of study that investigates the
significance
of gender in every aspect of life. Though instruction focuses on a wide
variety of issues, the program is guided by a central intellectual
question:
How is gender inequality created and sustained and what differences
does
that inequality make for different groups of women--poor women and
middle-class women; white women and women of color; women in industrial
nations and
women in developing ones; lesbians and heterosexuals?
As an interdisciplinary program, Women's and Gender Studies draws
together faculty and courses from more than a dozen departments in the
College of Arts and Sciences. To cross-list with Women's and Gender
Studies, a course must devote at least fifty percent of its content to
women or take a feminist scholarly perspective. Feminism begins with
the assumption that social and cultural institutions have historically
treated men and women differently, and that this different treatment
has been to the economic and cultural disadvantage of women.
Taking a feminist perspective also means paying attention to the
differences
that race, class, sexual orientation, nationality, (dis)ability, age,
historical period, and other factors make in our understanding of
gender. Women's and Gender
Studies courses use a feminist perspective in exporing issues in our
personal
lives, in cultures both past and present, in social and religious
institutions and in policy making. Other Women's and Gender Studies
courses focus on how women represent themselves and are represented in
artistic and literary creations and productions.
There is no single, monolithic feminism; there are many feminisms, and
many are represented in our program. Women's and Gender Studies at UVM
is open to everyone: some of our courses are taught by male faculty
members, and all students
are welcome in Women's and Gender Studies.
A feminist perspective can only flourish in environments that are
egalitarian. It is for this reason that Women's and Gender Studies is
defined by its emphasis on the environment it creates and perpetuates.
Classes are organized to allow the fullest possible participation of
students. Students in the Program also
play a full role in its design, organization, and governance. Women's
and Gender Studies
classes are generally small (our introductory course and senior seminar
are never larger than 20 students), and always emphasize student
participation.
While readings and discussion topics are often challenging and
controversial,
we value an inclusive atmosphere that accepts cultural, political, and
personal difference among students. Whether a Women's and Gender
Studies course is in art,
music, theater or literature; philosophy, history, or religion;
sociology,
psychology, anthropology, economics, political science, or geography;
or
in science, students never need to wonder what the relevance of the
courses
are to "real life." The relevance of our courses is clear and manifest,
and the material we study has direct connections to every student's
life
at home, in the workplace, and in society.
Women's and Gender Studies offers a major and a minor. Both require an
interdisciplinary introduction to Women's Studies and a senior seminar
in feminist theory; the major also requires a practical internship and
a self-designed concentration. With over sixty affiliated faculty
members,the program encourages shared activism and intellectual
community among professors and students. Professors participate in the
program on a volunteer basis, and are therefore exceptionally concerned
about the students' learning and about the subject matter they are
teaching.
For more information, call Mary Driscoll at 656-4282.
Some "Self-Designed Concentrations" for Women Studies Majors:
* Women and the Environment
* Representations of Women in Literature and the Arts
* Race, Class, and Gender
* Women's Bodies/Women's Health
* Women in Global Perspectives
Last modified December 05 2005 12:38 PM
