GWS at U of I is a vibrant interdisciplinary academic program coordinating research, teaching and public service activities emphasizing intersectional approaches. GWS offers a major, GWS and LGBTQ minors, and a grad minor.
The Department of Gender and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary academic department that coordinates a wide range of feminist research, teaching, and public service with emphases on intersectional approaches to the study of gender, race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality in national and transnational contexts.
Gender and Women’s Studies seeks to:
* Situate the academic and intellectual concerns of gender and sexuality at the nexus of the interconnected missions of the University—research, teaching, and service. GWS provides an intellectual resource and supportive community for faculty, students, and scholars interested in interdisciplinary feminist and queer scholarship.
* Encourage the intellectual and ethical preparation of students entering fields in which critical analysis and civic engagement are integral.
* Foster institutional change within and outside the university by integrating work by and about women and gender into existing academic disciplines, providing individuals with the means to integrate feminist theory and practice into their professional work and everyday lives, and supporting social and cultural changes that improve the lives of women and men.
* Develop knowledge and skills to enable students to continue their academic and professional development, civic engagement, and critical analysis of pressing social issues such as globalization, diversity in American institutions, and the relationship among technology, the arts, and the humanities. We are committed to teaching respect for diversity, as well as developing research that highlights the contributions of racial, ethnic, gendered, and sexual communities and peoples. GWS provides rigorous education in disciplines associated with gender and sexuality studies, as well as educates students and faculty to push disciplinary boundaries in order to explore the significance of women and gender in science and technology, as well as social science and the humanities.
* Make manifest the connections among the activities of teaching, research, and public service on the campus and relevant activities and endeavors in the State of Illinois and beyond;
* Sponsor an interdisciplinary undergraduate major and minor at the graduate and undergraduate levels that integrate offerings in Gender and Women’s Studies from the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and other related disciplines; and to
* Develop graduate programs at the masters and doctoral levels that encourage interdisciplinary scholarship and collaboration while maintaining teaching excellence and high student achievement.
