About

Information about the Women's and Gender Studies department at Denison University.

Empower Yourself to Participate in Social Change

The Women's & Gender Studies Program offers a variety of interdisciplinary courses for students to learn about gender, social politics, theory, methods of inquiry, and practice, as well as to empower themselves to participate in social change.

Women's & Gender Studies scholars have introduced new theoretical insights and new understanding of basic concepts such as work, art, politics, literature, and history. The Women's & Gender Studies Program aims to:

engage students in the intellectual content of the discipline: women's issues, the role of gender, and the relationship between gender and other politicized aspects of “identity,” including race, class, age, religion, sexuality etc.
instill in students an appreciation of the holistic character of women's studies. Women's & Gender Studies scholarship is not just a question of content, but also of method - methods that are inflected by the interdisciplinarity of Women's & Gender Studies. Students:
explore how Women's & Gender Studies treats women's issues in different disciplines, such as literature studies, political science, sociology, communications, philosophy, biology etc.
develop their understanding of these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective (i.e., one that takes into account and sees the interconnections between this array of disciplines).
show our students the real-life implications of their academic engagement. That is, we challenge students to see the relationship between theory and practice: to see how the academic study of women's issues and gender is informed by and has the power to transform real lives - both others' and their own.

The Women's & Gender Studies Program sponsors regular symposia on gender issues that include presentations by Women's & Gender Studies faculty as well as scholars from throughout the United States. With the support of the Laura C. Harris endowment, the Women's & Gender Studies Program has recently hosted internationally-renowned scholars such as bell hooks, Cynthia Enloe, Carol Cohn, and Spike Peterson. Program members also participate in the Great Lakes Colleges Association, which provides conferences for women's studies students and faculty.

Many students double major and find that the other major is enhanced by Women's & Gender Studies.

Student Research

Students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of internships located throughout the country that acquaint them with women’s issues. Students are encouraged to develop leadership skills by taking an active part in campus life, including projects developed by the program. Recent projects include a national grant application, a campus-wide study on violence and a benefit concert.

Denison’s Women’s & Gender Studies faculty are dedicated to helping students develop rigorous analyses and creative leadership skills. Outstanding student research in Women’s & Gender Studies is recognized through the Nan Nowik Memorial Awards given for work in feminist scholarship, creative expression, and political service and activism. Students participate in collaborative research with faculty, campus symposia, and the biennial Great Lakes College Association’s Women’s Studies Conference, as well as other intellectual activities.

What do Women’s and Gender Studies Majors and Minors do After Denison?

Women’s and Gender Studies majors and minors have become successful in human resources, personnel, community organization, government, social services and in nonprofit organizational work. Majors and minors find positions in various businesses that make use of their special knowledge of gender issues. Women’s and Gender Studies is a valuable liberal arts major that prepares students to take leadership positions in the corporate world as well as to participate in today's changing society.

Some of our students do graduate work in Women’s and Gender Studies to prepare for college teaching, public policy research, social services or public administration; others enter medical school, law school, business school or pursue other advanced degrees.

Mission Statement

The Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Denison University takes its mission to be three-fold: to foster a critical awareness of, and intellectual sensitivity to, content, method and real-life implications of the field.

First, we aim to engage students in the intellectual content of the discipline: women’s issues, the role of gender, and the intersections of gender and other politicized aspects of “identity,” including race, class, age, religion, disability, and sexuality.

Second, we strive to instill in students an appreciation of the holistic and interdisciplinary character of Women’s and Gender Studies. This is not just a question of content but also of method; Women’s and Gender Studies scholarship uses methods that are inflected by interdisciplinarity and transnationalism. Students explore how Women’s and Gender Studies treats gender issues from the perspectives of different disciplines, such as anthropology and sociology, art, biology, Black studies, communication, global health, international studies, music, philosophy, politics and public affairs, religion, etc. and how these issues manifest differently in different national and transnational contexts. Students thus develop their understanding of these issues by taking into account the intersections among this array of disciplines and sociocultural and geographic locations.

Third, we aim to show students the real-life and everyday implications of their academic engagement. That is, we challenge students to see the relationship between theory and practice: to see how the academic study of race, class, and gender locally and globally is informed by and has the power to transform real lives, both others’ and our own.