Gender and Women's Studies

• General Information
• Programs of Study
• Core Courses

Faculty

• Stephanie Cavanaugh, PhD, History
• Wendy Churchill, PhD, History
• Lauren Cruikshank, PhD, Culture & Media Studies
• Tia Dafnos, PhD, Sociology
• Elif Dalkir, PhD, Economics 
• Elizabeth Effinger, PhD, English
• Triny Finlay, PhD, English
• Nadia Francavilla, PhD, Culture & Media Studies
• Carmen Gill, PhD, MMFC/Sociology
• Anna Hamling, PhD, Culture and Media Studies
• Suzanne Hindmarch, PhD, Political Science
• Cathy Holtmann, PhD, MMRC/Sociology
• Bonnie Huskins, PhD, History
• Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy, PhD, History
• Jean Ketterling, PhD, Culture and Media Studies 
• Sophie Lavoie, PhD, Culture and Media Studies
• Sabine LeBel, PhD, Culture and Media Studies
• Carolyn MacDonald, PhD, Ancient World Studies
• Koumari Mitra, PhD, Anthropology
• Sasha Mullally, PhD, History
• Lucia O’Sullivan, PhD, Psychology 
• Carmen Poulin, PhD, Psychology
• Lisa Robertson, PhD, English 
• Melanie Simoes Santos, PhD, English 
• Edith Snook, PhD, English
• Lisa Todd, PhD, History
• Joanne Wright, PhD, Political Science

General Information

The interdisciplinary Gender and Women's Studies Program offers students the opportunity to analyze the position of marginalized peoples and understand the construction of gender, sex, sexuality, race, class, and disability in society. Students also will explore avenues toward imagining and creating an equitable world. Students will benefit from the knowledges of professors across the Faculty of Arts who are engaged in research pertaining to gender, sexuality, feminist, and women’s studies. 

Eligibility

Admission to the introductory Gender and Women’s Studies courses, GWS1003 and GWS 2003, is open to students in all Faculties and all years. Students in any Faculty may complete a Minor in Gender and Women’s Studies. However, only students in Arts may take the Double Major or Joint Honours program; students will normally seek admission to the program from the Co-ordinator of Gender and Women’s Studies after successfully completing 45 ch.

Programs of Study

Minor

A Minor consists of 24 ch of course work, selected in consultation with the Coordinator of Gender and Women’s Studies. These include: 

• at least one of GWS 1003, Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies I and  GWS 2003, Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies II; 

• GWS 3003, Feminist and Queer Theories; 

• GWS 4004, Seminar in Gender and Women’s Studies; and 

• an additional 15 ch of GWS courses and/or GWS-approved courses (list available from the Co-ordinator). 

Double Major

A Double Major consists of 30 ch of course work, selected in consultation with the Coordinator of Gender and Women’s Studies. These include: 

• at least one of GWS 1003, Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies I and GWS 2003, Introduction to Women’s Studies II; 

• GWS 3003, Feminist and Queer Theories; 

•  GWS 4004, Seminar in Gender and Women’s Studies; and  

• an additional 21 ch of GWS courses and/or GWS-approved courses (list available from the Co-ordinator). 

Joint Honours

The GWS portion of a Joint Honours programme consists of 36ch of course work in GWS, selected in consultation with the Coordinator of Gender and Women's Studies. These 36ch include: 

• at least one of GWS 1003, Introduction to Gender and Women's Studies I, and GWS 2003, Introduction to Women's Studies II; 

• GWS 3003, Feminist and Queer Theories; 

• GWS 4004, Seminar in Gender and Women's Studies; 

• GWS 4900, Honours Thesis in Gender and Women's Studies; and 

• an additional 21ch of GWS courses and/or GWS-approved courses (list available from the Co-ordinator). 

If a student is completing Joint Honours in GWS and another program requiring an Honours thesis, 6 credit hours of upper-level or seminar courses may replace GWS 4900. Prior approval from the Coordinator of Gender and Women's Studies must be obtained. 

GWS Courses 

GWS 1007 History of the Body 

GWS 1543 Gender – Then and Now 

GWS 2313 Sociology of Women 

GWS 2987 Intro to Queer Literatures 

GWS 3025 History, Gender, and Sexualities 

GWS 3043 Human Sexuality 

GWS 3055 Gender and Media 

GWS 3056 Queer Media and Culture 

GWS 3072 Women Directors & Recent Trends in German Cinema   

GWS 3114 Gender, Sex, and Culture 

GWS 3263 Psychology of Women 

GWS 3447 Gender, Race and Global Politics 

GWS 3536 Histoire de la littérature des femmes en France 

GWS 3543 Sociology of Gender Relations 

GWS 3668 Women, Creativity, and Nonviolence across Cultures I 

GWS 3669 Women, Creativity, and Nonviolence across Cultures II 

GWS 3883 Women’s Writing in English 

GWS 3913 Gender and Power in the Ancient Mediterranean 

GWS 4223 Topical Seminar in Sex and Gender 

GWS 4702 Gender, Sexuality, and Health

GWS-Approved Courses 

ANTH 3704 South Asia
ANTH 4204 Gender, Kinship and Marriage
ANTH 4502 Issues in Medical Anthropology

CCS 2666 Celebrities and Mass Media in Latin America
CCS 3062 Love and Religion: Latin American and Caribbean Women's Narrative

CCS/MUS 3799 Women in Music

CCS 4061 Russian Women Writers
CCS 4062 Contemporary Spanish and Latin American Women Artists
CCS 4063 20th Century Women Writers

ENGL 2903 Literature of the Abyss

ENGL 3583 Women Novelists of Britain, 1900 to Today
ENGL 3585 The Body in Modern British Literature

ENGL 3813 Literatures of Africa, the Caribbean & South Asia
FR 3534 Ecrits de femmes
FR 3834 Écrivaines québécoises contemporaines

FVI 2001 Introduction to Family Violence Issues
﷟FVI 3006 Intervention Strategies and Programs for People who Batter
FVI 3007 Religion and Family Violence
HIST 2603 The Caribbean, Part I

HIST 2604 The Caribbean, Part II

HIST 3326 Gender, Health, and Medicine
HIST 3625 Disability History
HIST 3326 Gender, Health, and Medicine
HIST 4001 Heretic and Witches in Europe (1350-1650)
HIST 4003 Women in the Early Modern Atlantic World
HIST 4313 History of Women in Canadian Society
HIST 4625 Gender & Slavery in the Atlantic World

PHIL 3315 20^th century Women Philosophers
POLS 3441 Women Political Thinkers
POLS 3443 Feminist Issues in Political Thought
POLS 4722  Women, Gender, and Development
PSYC 3383 Women and Mental Health

SOCI 2303 Sociology of Families
SOCI 3006 Intervention Strategies and Programs for People who Batter
SOCI 3007 Religion and Family Violence
SOCI 3335 Religion, Gender and Society
SOCI 4336 Families, Law, and Social Policy
SOCI 4337 Legal Responses to Family Violence

ARTS 3000, Internship in Arts, when the placement is with an organization working on gender and women's issues, will count for credit in Gender and Women's Studies.

In addition, some departments offer honours seminars that may be pertinent. Please consult the relevant department for more details. Please consult the Co-ordinator of Gender and Women's Studies for the most recent list of core courses. Because Minors are subject to University-wide regulations,  arts students seeking credit for Gender and Women's Studies courses outside their Faculty must ensure that they have Arts Faculty approval before they register for such courses.