Women's and Gender Studies - BA
Women's and Gender Studies is a flexible interdisciplinary program devoted to the critical analysis of gender and the pursuit of knowledge about women throughout history and around the world. Combining the methods and insights of traditional liberal arts disciplines with the special insights of scholarship on women’s and gender studies, our courses yield fresh perspectives on the nature of gender as it intersects with race, ethnicity, class, religion, and nation, and encourage students to look beyond their own culture and era in examining gender’s role in shaping society. Through interdisciplinary breadth and an emphasis on critical thinking, women’s and gender studies prepares students to employ critical learning in their private lives as well as in public roles as citizens and members of a diverse and complex workforce.
Majors in Women’s and Gender Studies receive training in both humanities and social sciences approaches and are required to complete coursework that focuses on material beyond dominant U.S. culture. Core courses in Women's and Gender Studies have both theoretical and applied focuses; upper-division core courses in Women's and Gender Studies emphasize writing and research skills. Students enrolled in the BA are directed to complete several humanities-focused courses in Women's and Gender Studies, while also selecting their coursework in social sciences or humanities for their electives within their major.
Because gender has far-reaching influence on daily life, world culture, and public policy, this major equips students to enter a wide range of fields. As a liberal arts degree, women’s and gender studies is attractive to employers looking for recruits trained in critical thinking, organizational skills, reading, writing, and presenting in a wide range of subject areas. Expertise in women’s and gender issues is increasingly important to businesses, governmental agencies, and other organizations dealing with matters such as sexual harassment, flex-time, parental leave, and pay equity, just as specialists in women’s and gender studies find opportunities in education, law, health care, social work, counseling, media, public policy, and a wide range of other fields.
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Semester Credit Hours | |
| ENGL 104 | Composition and Rhetoric 1 | 3 |
| WGST 200 | Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies | 3 |
| American history | 3 | |
| Foreign language 2 | 4 | |
| Mathematics | 3 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
| Spring | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Public Speaking | ||
| Communication for Technical Professions | ||
| Argumentation and Debate | ||
| Writing about Literature | ||
| Technical and Business Writing | ||
| American history | 3 | |
| Foreign language 2 | 4 | |
| Mathematics | 3 | |
| WGST humanities elective 3 | 3 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 16 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| WGST 320 | Feminist Inquiry and Research Methods | 3 |
| Foreign language 2 | 3 | |
| Government/Political science | 3 | |
| Social and behavioral sciences 6 | 3 | |
| WGST elective 4 | 3 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| Government/Political science | 3 | |
| Foreign language 2 | 3 | |
| WGST humanities elective 3 | 3 | |
| WGST elective 4 | 3 | |
| General elective 5 | 3 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| Creative arts 6 | 3 | |
| Life and physical sciences | 3 | |
| Literature directed elective | 3 | |
| WGST elective 4 | 3 | |
| General elective 5 | 3 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| WGST 401 | Feminist Theory | 3 |
| Social and behavioral sciences 6 | 3 | |
| Literature directed elective | 3 | |
| WGST elective 4 | 3 | |
| General elective 5 | 3 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| WGST 481 | Senior Seminar | 3 |
| Language, philosophy and culture 6 | 3 | |
| Life and physical sciences | 3 | |
| General elective 5 | 3 | |
| General elective 5 | 3 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Internship in Women's and Gender Studies | ||
| Directed Studies | ||
| Research | ||
| Language, philosophy and culture or creative arts 6 | 3 | |
| Life and physical sciences | 3 | |
| General elective 5 | 3 | |
| General elective 5 | 1 | |
| Semester Credit Hours | 13 | |
| Total Semester Credit Hours | 120 | |
| 1 | A minimum grade of C is required. |
| 2 | Complete 14 hours of a foreign language through the intermediate level. If you choose to enroll in a language you have studied previously without receiving college credit, you must first take a placement test. See academic advisor. |
| 3 | Select from WGST 333/ENGL 333, WGST 343/FILM 343, WGST 374/ENGL 374, WGST 394, WGST 409/PHIL 409, WGST 428/COMM 428, WGST 445 WGST 474/ENGL 474, WGST 476/HIST 476, WGST 477/HIST 477. |
| 4 | Select from WGST 100-499. |
| 5 | Any 100-499 not used elsewhere. |
| 6 | WGST course may not be used to fulfill this requirement. |
Graduation requirements include 3 hours of International and Cultural Diversity courses and 3 hours of Cultural Discourse courses. A course satisfying a Core category, a college/department requirement, or a free elective can be used to satisfy this requirement. The required 6 hours may be met by courses satisfying other areas of a degree program. See your academic advisor for further information.
33 hours of WGST coursework required for the BA degree.
A minimum 2.0 GPR and a minimum grade of C for a course to count in the major. Completion of distribution requirements in the major as outlined.
At least 12 semester hours in the major must be completed in advanced courses (300- and 400-level), and at least 12 semester hours in the major field must be completed in residence at Texas A&M.
College and University Requirements
Students must complete a minimum of 36 hours of 300- or 400-level course work at Texas A&M University.