Gender Studies Minor

Semester Hours: 17-18

This 17-18 credit interdisciplinary minor uses gender as a primary category of analysis. Students select course offerings ranging from history, sociology, literature, and theology to popular culture and the arts. An emphasis on the experiences of women brings out voices often neglected in the academy; theories of gender, masculinities, and intersections with race and class also contribute to the curriculum.

This minor will expose how contemporary constructions of gender offer constricted models of identity, calling, and Christian discipleship; explore how historical and modern Anabaptist beliefs and practices may have produced gender constructions that both vary from and mimic the dominant culture; embrace gender equality as an essential component in promoting social justice and peacebuilding; and equip students planning to serve in the global context with sensitivities to gender realities in different cultures and societies around the world.

Gender Theory Foundation (3 SH)

Choose at least one of the following courses:

  • CCSSC 386 Cross-Cultural Social Science: Multicultural History of D.C. (Washington Community Scholars' Center) - 
  • *HIST 352 History of Women - 3 
  • *HUM 330-335 Topics in Humanities (when appropriate) - 3-4 
  • *HUM 420-425 Tutorial in Humanities (when appropriate) - 3-4 
  • SOWK 360 Race and Gender - 3 
  • Seminar by the Sea (Summer session offered by Eastern University in Maine every other spring with the next one scheduled for 2021. Credit offered in psychology or English within a gender identity framework. Students create an individual research project and work closely with a faculty member.) - 3

Electives (14-15 SH)

Choose additional courses from the gender theory foundation list above or from the list below to complete the minor. In some courses a gender-related theme must be chosen for a significant paper/project in order for the course to apply.

  • CHST 260 Teaching, Ministry and Healthy Sexuality - 
  • *CHST/HIST 435 Martyrs, Merchants, and Mendicants - 
  • CORE 401 Senior Seminar: Faith, Sexuality and Vocation - 2 
  • *ENGL 346 Rooms of Their Own - 3 
  • *ENGL 348 American Manhood - 3 
  • PXD 485 Theories of Global Development - 3 
  • *REL 312 Topics in Religion: Women and the Bible - 
  • SOC 330 Family in the Social Context - 3 
  • THEO 323 Biblical Theology of Peace and Justice - 
  • VACA 381 Cinema and Visual Theory - 2 
  • Departmental internships or practica as appropriate.

Additional courses as appropriate and approved on an individual basis, such as intensive writing or other courses where a student chooses a gender topic for a major project.