Bachelor of Arts in Gender and Womens Studies Shorelight Group - University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

The Gender and Women's Studies Program at University of Illinois Chicago is an interdisciplinary unit dedicated to investigating the relationships between gender (including transgender), sexuality, feminism, and social justice. The program starts from the assumption that gender matters and insists that gender and sexuality must be understood through their intersections with race, class, age, nation, citizenship, and ability. We conceptualize how these interconnected categories inform and structure social life, culture, politics, social movements, and knowledge production. In a world where women’s and men’s roles have been changing rapidly, studying the impact of gender both on everyday experience and society’s institutions will help students make more informed choices about their own lives. Through a sustained engagement with local, national, and transnational communities, faculty equip students to meet the challenges of contemporary society.

Grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, Gender and Women’s Studies, as both a major field of study and a minor, pays special attention to developing the ability of students to think critically, evaluate evidence, construct logical arguments, engage in moral reasoning, and write well. Graduates of Gender and Women’s Studies programs have found employment in such diverse fields as social services, criminal justice, publishing, teaching, educational administration, health services, and public policy advocacy. Both the major and the minor in Gender and Women’s Studies provide a good basis from which to apply to graduate school as well as to professional schools like law and journalism.

In addition to the BA with a Major in Gender and Women's Studies and a Minor in Gender and Women's Studies, the Gender and Women's Studies Program offers the Minor in Social Justice.