Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies has a rich history at Rutgers University. Inaugurated as a department in 2001, Women's & Gender Studies has grown from offering a few courses at the University in 1973 to becoming one of the strongest interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate programs in the United States.
At the Undergraduate level, we offer a Major (Women’s and Gender Studies) and Four Minors (Women’s and Gender Studies, Critical Sexualities, Social Justice, and Gender and Media). We have developed each of these minors to introduce path-breaking research that address concerns of particular interdisciplinary constituencies.
Reflecting the fundamental commitments of feminist pedagogy, our major and minors provide students with critical tools to engage the challenges of contemporary life and to work toward social transformation and social justice. Annually we teach approximately 4,000 undergraduate students and over 200 graduate students enrolled in courses offered by the Department.
For more info visit our Undergraduate Program page.
We also offer an innovative online Certificate Program in Women's Global Health Leadership in collaboration with the Institute for Women's Leadership (IWL) and National Nurses United (NNU), the largest nurses’ union in the United States. This certificate program capitalizes on the expertise of the Women's and Gender Studies faculty in the science and health studies, and the commitment of the IWL Consortium to foster women's leadership in all aspects of human endeavor, to provide a series of courses that addresses some of the most pressing issues on the global agenda. The certificate program also draws on the expertise of National Nurses United, which has been at the forefront in championing a comprehensive approach to women's health and preparing nurses in the United States to serve the health needs of women, families, and communities in all regions of the world. For more info visit http://womensglobalhealthleadership.org/
For the Graduate level, we offer one of the strongest Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs in the United States. With students working in the areas of philosophy, critical race and ethnic studies, sexuality, economics and political economy, film studies, health and disability, literature, transnational politics, labor and globalization, activism, ecology, and many more. We currently have approximately 33 students in the Ph.D. program and 21 students in the M.A. program. For more info visit our Graduate Program page.
Women’s & Gender Studies offers a Graduate Certificate program that allows students enrolled in other Rutgers University graduate degree programs to earn a Certificate in Women's & Gender Studies. Many students find the Certificate useful for expansion of career options and thesis preparation. It prepares students in any discipline to teach courses and conduct research in women’s studies, to develop courses with a focus on gender, and to expand the scope of their professional activity to include gender issues and debates. For more info visit our Graduate Certificate page.
Department Faculty include 31 core, 102 graduate, and 70 affiliate members whose expertise in women's and gender studies is enriched by specializations in the arts, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, political science, and comparative literatures in English, French, and Spanish.
