Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts, one of the oldest programs in the country, is at the cutting edge of contemporary feminist work. We are committed to an integrative analysis – where the study of women and gender is multifaceted, diverse, and embedded in a matrix of power relations including race, class, sexuality, and nationality. Both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, women, gender, sexuality scholarship, teaching, and activism develops new feminist approaches as well as engages and transforms the analytical tools of a wide variety of areas of study. While centrally committed to an excellence in teaching, research, and service, we are engaged in developing and maintaining a critical feminist discourse on campus, fostering a community, and working for social justice on and off campus.
Our undergraduate curriculum includes a rich set of core courses and electives that present students with the vibrant field of feminist scholarship today. The courses challenge students to critically examine the complexities of the categories of “women” and “gender,” appreciate the rich and multiple histories of feminisms, feminist movements, and feminist theories, and develop critical analyses on the politics of knowledge. By gaining an understanding of the structural bases of power, the processes of social construction, the interaction and reflexivity of social formations, students come to appreciate the importance of disciplinary as well as multi/interdisciplinary analyses, and praxis. We also emphasize the development of research, written and oral communication skills, collaborative and active learning, conveying to students the importance of critical reflection and engaged, political citizenship. The graduate program in Advanced Feminist Studies introduces graduate students to historic and contemporary feminist scholarship – its theories, methodologies, debates and controversies. This training enables graduate students to critically examine their disciplinary locations and pursue a coherent, integrated curriculum in women, gender, sexuality studies.
As part of our mission to foster critical feminist discourse on campus we regularly teach a large general education course; sponsor conferences, lectures, panels, roundtables, often in collaboration with other departments as well as non academic units on campus and in the Five Colleges; encourage faculty across campus to teach women, gender, sexuality studies courses and to become involved in womthe program's activities; and work collaboratively with other groups to advocate for progressive change in the campus and community.