Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies encourages students to ask critical questions about how gender operates within the cultures of the world. Required courses explore the making and meaning of gender across cultures and social formations and analyze gender in institutions, practices, representations, and knowledge across a range of cultural frameworks. They may also interrogate the intersections between gender and systemic forms of oppression and/or difference, including those based on race, ethnicity, class, and sexual identity and desire. Students achieve a scholarly understanding of the options and situations of both women and men, in the past as well as the present. They are often encouraged to devise and execute original research projects.
Requirements
- Gender, Culture, and Society. One (1) course:
- GNDR-G 101 Gender, Culture, and Society
- Gender Studies: Core Concepts and Key Debates. One (1) course:
- GNDR-G 300 Gender Studies: Core Concepts and Key Debates
- Core electives. Three (3) courses:
- GNDR-G 206 Gay Histories, Queer Cultures
- GNDR-G 215 Sex and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
- GNDR-G 225 Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture
- GNDR-G 250 Race, Sexuality, and Culture (Intersections)
- GNDR-G 290 History of Feminist Thought and Practice
- GNDR-G 310 Representation and the Body
- GNDR-G 335 Explaining Sex/Gender Differences
- GNDR-G 410 International Feminist Debates
- 200–299 Level Requirement. At least three (3) credit hours:
- Any GNDR-G 200–299
- 400–499 Level Requirement. At least nine (9) credit hours:
- Any GNDR-G 400–499 except GNDR-X 474
- Electives. Additional credit hours, as needed, to fulfill remaining requirements:
- Any GNDR-G 100–499 except GNDR-G 101; GNDR-G 300
- Any GNDR-X 100–499 except GNDR-X 474
- International/non-Western emphasis. One (1) course:
- GNDR-G 102 Sexual Politics
- GNDR-G 215 Sex and Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
- GNDR-G 320 Sexual Violence: Transcultural Perspectives
- GNDR-G 410 International Feminist Debates
- Major GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
- Major GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
- Major Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
- Major Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
- Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
- College Breadth. At least 58 credit hours must be completed in courses from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines outside of the major area.
Major Area Courses
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Unless otherwise noted below, the following courses are considered in the academic program and will count toward academic program requirements as appropriate:
- Any course at the 100–499 level with the
GNDRsubject area prefix—as well as any other subject areas that are deemed functionally equivalent - Any course contained on the course lists for the academic program requirements at the time the course is taken—as well as any other courses that are deemed functionally equivalent—except for those listed only under Addenda Requirements
- Any course directed to a non-Addenda requirement through an approved exception
- Any course at the 100–499 level with the
Exclusions
The following courses cannot be applied toward major requirements or the College Breadth requirement:
- GNDR-X 474 Internship in Gender Studies
This program of study cannot be combined with the following:
- Minor in Gender Studies (GNDRMIN)
The Bachelor of Arts degree requires at least 120 credit hours, to include the following:
- College of Arts and Sciences Credit Hours. At least 100 credit hours must come from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines.
- Upper Division Courses. At least 42 credit hours (of the 120) must be at the 300–499 level.
- College Residency. Following completion of the 60th credit hour toward degree, at least 36 credit hours of College of Arts and Sciences coursework must be completed through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
- College GPA. A College grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.000 is required.
- CASE Requirements. The following College of Arts and Sciences Education (CASE) requirements must be completed:
- CASE Foundations
- CASE Breadth of Inquiry
- CASE Culture Studies
- CASE Critical Approaches: 1 course
- CASE Foreign Language: Proficiency in a single foreign language through the second semester of the second year of college-level coursework
- CASE Intensive Writing: 1 course
- CASE Public Oral Communication: 1 course
- Major. Completion of the major as outlined in the Major Requirements section above.
Most students must also successfully complete the Indiana University Bloomington General Education program.
Fundamental objectives of the major pursued through each of its interdisciplinary courses are to:
- Train students to think critically about how gender has been formed and altered in different cultures, contexts, and historical eras.
- Equip students to identify and analyze assumptions about gender built into the varying approaches of disciplines and areas of knowledge, and to evaluate the effects of such assumptions on research, teaching, and professional profiles of the disciplines.
- Provide students with a solid understanding of ways in which "gender issues" involve not only the study of women, but, as centrally, the study of men, families, workplaces, organizations, nations, economies, science, industry, laws, sexual behavior and identities, customs, mass media, sports, leisure, religion, and many other subject areas relevant to future careers of graduates.
- Develop students' skills in undertaking research, critical analysis, and written and verbal presentations of their findings, and encourage a fully professional approach to the subject matter and content of the courses of the major.
Graduates will be prepared to enter the full range of graduate and professional education. Some will become specialized researchers and scholars. In addition, the gender studies major provides a sound background relevant to employment in a variety of occupations within the private sector, the professions, government, and the nonprofit sector. Graduates can pursue occupations in public relations, advertising, or the media. Others may become lawyers, doctors, journalists, social workers, or psychologists. Still others will work in education, social services, the arts, public administration, and international aid and social justice organizations.