Departmental Mission Statements and Student Learning Goals

Department of Gender and Women's Studies

Gender and Women's Studies Assessment Plan

Mission Statement

The Gender and Women's Studies minor offers an interdisciplinary program of study that examines the social, cultural, and biological constructions of gender and sexuality. The program is founded on close collaboration between academic departments, enabling students and faculty to utilize the perspectives and methodologies of gender and women's studies across traditional disciplines. It is based on a pluralism of theoretical approaches, emphasizing the intersections between gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, and nationality. The minor supports the coordinate mission by promoting an integrated liberal arts education, leading students to a better understanding of the complexities and diversity of the human condition, and fostering the personal growth of women and men.

Goals

1. Students completing the Gender and Women's Studies (GWST) minor will be able to:

a. apply inter- and multi-disciplinary frameworks to understand issues in gender and women's studies;

b. evaluate perspectives, methodologies, and evidence bearing on those issues;

c. communicate effectively the results of their analyses of those issues.

2. The GWST program is committed to:

a. stimulating student interest in and knowledge of gender and women's studies;

b. improving the faculty's professional knowledge of gender and women's studies;

c. creating a learning environment among faculty across disciplines, both at CSB/SJU and from other institutions, to improve understanding of the complexities and diversity of the human condition as well as foster the personal growth of women and men.

Underlying Objectives:

I. Students completing the Gender and Women's Studies minor will be able to:

A. apply inter- and multi-disciplinary frameworks to understand issues in gender and women's studies by:

1. exploring the social construction of gender and sexuality and how they relate to power;

2. situating gender within the categories of race, class, ethnicity, nationality, and sexuality;

3. examining the gendered aspects of women's and men's economic, political, social, cultural, epistemological and communicative roles and institutions.

B. evaluate perspectives, methodologies, and evidence bearing on those issues by:

1. exploring how different disciplines analyze issues of gender and sex;

2. considering what disciplinary and categorical intersections might be necessary for complete analyses of gender; and

3. integrating academic findings with their own experiences to understand how their own gender and sexuality affect their personal lives and the lives of others.

C. communicate effectively the results of their analyses of those issues through:

1. clear writing, appropriately supported and documented;

2. effective participation in discussion; and

3. self-assessment of their work completed for the minor.

II. The GWST program is committed to:

A. stimulating student interest in and knowledge of the study of gender and women's studies by:

1. employing effective pedagogies that encourage such strategies as active learning, experiential learning, or collaborative projects; and

2. promoting out-of-class interactions and activities among students, faculty, and the community at large.

B. improving the faculty's professional knowledge of gender and women's studies by

1. maintaining a commitment to continual professional development as teachers and scholars;

2. obtaining institutional resources and support for faculty professional travel to inter- and multi-disciplinary activities.

C. creating a learning environment among faculty across disciplines, both at CSB/SJU and from other institutions, to improve understanding of the complexities and diversity of the human condition as well as foster the personal growth of women and men by

1. meeting with other members of the minor's faculty; and 

2. attending conferences and other activities relevant to the study of gender and sexuality within and outside of the CSB/SJU community.