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The Department of Gender and Women’s Studies hosts and pursues broad and deep knowledge about feminist movements, black and women of color feminisms, queer and transgender studies, imperialism and coloniality, and feminist and queer theories and methods across academic disciplines and fields.

Our scholarship considers how gender, in concert with other relations of power, is so often at the core of the philosophical assumptions underlying our interpretations of the nature and meaning of social processes, aesthetic movements, “private” feelings, and political exercises.

The field of Gender and Women’s Studies is indebted to histories and activities of protest and collective action against abuses of power and violence, to which we as a department contribute in our programming and public engagement as scholars, arts practitioners, and activists.

Finally, as teachers we hope to build with our students other possibilities for a world to come. We ask ourselves and you, over and again, “How can theorists, organizers, and artists today work together to create fair and just discourses and practices that will make us more free, and just what do we mean by ‘free’?”

What GWS graduates say about the department:

"I’ve actually found it (GWS degree) really makes me stand out, which is useful in a competitive job market…it shows an ability to look at in issue from multiple perspectives. "

From a triple major: 

"If I had to say which major was most formative for me, I would argue GWS had done the most for me as a college student [and] a future professional… I gained the most basic skills and explored myself and what my goals are in life.”