Coordinator, Amy Reynolds
The certificate in gender studies is an interdisciplinary program designed to help students investigate national and international questions related to gender. One of the primary goals of the program is to strengthen critical thinking skills through the study of global sociopolitical gender concerns, biblical and historical approaches to femininity and masculinity, relationships between men and women, and the complex cultural processes involved in gender construction. The interdisciplinary focus of the program prepares students to become proactive participants in the world by exposing them to economic, political, and cultural realities at home and around the world. Responsible Christian inquiry coupled with increasing cultural sensitivity can help create effective ambassadors for Christ in our rapidly changing world.
The program’s academic home is the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, providing a foundational understanding of sociocultural factors related to gender. The program assumes that solid Christian inquiry is foundational to productive scholarship and problem solving regarding issues that face our world today. As such, we strive to provide students with resources from our Christian heritage that will equip them for local and global leadership in all areas that pertain to human diversity.
Students from any major are eligible for the 24-hour gender studies certificate. Students will complete a ten-hour core of courses that investigate sociological and theological approaches to gender issues, and end their study with a capstone course designed to integrate approaches from several key disciplines. In addition, students will select 14 hours of classes from a variety of offerings from different departments. These classes will be distributed among three main areas:
- theology and theory
- social and historical context
- cultural considerations of everyday life
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate Requirements | ||
| Core | 10 | |
| Gender and Theology | ||
| Gender Studies Capstone | ||
| Gender Studies Independent Study | ||
| Gender & Society | ||
| Content Units 1 | 14 | |
| Theology and Theory | ||
| Select 4-6 credits of the following: | 4-6 | |
| Ruth & Esther | ||
| Women in the World of the NT | ||
| Marriage, Sex and Family in the Christian Tradition | ||
| Modern Literary Theory | ||
| Topics in Philosophy | ||
| Psychology of Human Sexuality | ||
| Social, Historical, & Global Context | ||
| Select 4-6 credits of the following: | 4-6 | |
| Politics of Veiling in the Modern Middle East | ||
| Power and Gender in Southeast Asia | ||
| Renaissance Europe (1300-1600) | ||
| History of Women in the U.S. | ||
| Women and Politics | ||
| Sociology of Sexuality | ||
| The Family | ||
| Gender in Life and Culture | ||
| Select 4-6 credits of the following: | 4-6 | |
| Documentary Photography | ||
| Community Art | ||
| Global Health | ||
| Interpersonal Communication | ||
| Theater and Culture | ||
| Children's Literature | ||
| Young Adult Literature | ||
| African-American Literature | ||
| Women Writers | ||
| Total Credits | 36-42 | |
| 1 | Students select 14 credits of courses from each of the areas listed. At least three different disciplines need to be represented in courses selected. |
Flexible Course Additions (2-4 hours). On a case-by-case basis, the Gender Studies Certificate can include courses and independent study work in which students participate in a class with gender-related topics and/or pursue work directly related to the issues addressed in the Gender Studies program. This can occur in one of two ways.
- Special Topics Courses that are offered on an occasional basis and address gender-related topics may be petitioned for acceptance as partial fulfillment of the Course Content Units in either the Social, Historical, and Global Context or Gender in Life and Culture. Examples include, but are not limited to, COMM 424 Special Topics in Interpersonal Communication or certain gender-related Advanced Topics in Psychology (PSYC 482 - 488).
- With permission of the professor and Gender Studies program, students could take a course in which they pursue gender issues as a significant part of the course. An example is BITH 393 Topics in Christian Thought in which a student would focus on gender as an aspect of personhood.