Mar 29, 2024  
2003-2004 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2003-2004 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Women’s Studies


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The Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary program offered by the Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program with faculty on loan from a variety of academic units or hired part time for their particular expertise. Students who major in Women’s Studies are employed in social service work, health services occupations, business, law, education, and government at all levels. They find employment in public policy fields, working with women specifically or with people in general.

Women’s Studies majors will gain a more complete understanding of how the social construction of gender has influenced the roles, contributions, and experiences of women in many different cultures, now and in the past. Such awareness can help them better understand our contemporary world with its changing roles for women and men alike. They will bring to the gender analysis of any situation knowledge of the complexity of its interaction with race, social class, and other forms of diversity. They will be able to recognize the connection between Women’s Studies scholarship and the scholarship of other disciplines. Students will develop an appreciation for the connections between Women’s Studies scholarship, activism, and social change, historically and in the present. They will develop the critical intellectual capacity and necessary communication skills to work to value and improve the position of all women in whatever public or private spheres they choose. The major consists of at least 36 credits structured this way.

Distribution Requirements, 9 credits, one course from each category:


Society and Public Policy


Health, Science and the Environment


Note:


The remaining 9 credits can be taken from among the courses listed above, additional approved departmental electives or Women’s Studies topics courses, internships, independent study courses, or courses taken at other universities in the U. S. or abroad. Indeed internships, study abroad and national student exchange opportunities are strongly encouraged.

At least 18 credits, including the senior seminar, must be taken at the University of Maine. Students must have a C average (2.0) overall in the courses taken for the major.

The courses listed above are given at least once a year, but in recent years there has also been a wealth of additional topics courses offered both in Women’s Studies and in departments. Lists of interdisciplinary and departmental courses available in Women’s Studies are published every semester during pre-registration periods. They are also available on our website: http://www.umaine.edu/wic/.

Suggested curriculum for a B.A. in Women’s Studies


Because the Women’s Studies major is new and is intended to be highly individualized for each student, no sample curriculum is offered. Students interested in the major should take WST 101 as soon as possible, because it is a prerequisite for all the other WST courses and can be an alternate prerequisite for many of the departmental electives. WST 410 is usually taken in the junior year and WST 480 in the senior year. Student majors should also consult with the director early and frequently to plan an appropriate plan of study for themselves.

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