Women's and Gender Studies, BA

Renée Sentilles (renee.sentilles@case.edu) and Justine Howe (justine.howe@case.edu), Co-Directors 


Degree: Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Major: Women's and Gender Studies


Program Overview

The goal of the Women's and Gender Studies Program is to educate students in interdisciplinary approaches to feminist and queer theories of gender, sexuality, culture, and society. The program is committed to the study of women, the LGBTQ+ community, and sexuality. Students are exposed to a variety of forms of critical thinking in relation to:

  1. the social construction of knowledge and philosophy
  2. intersections of race/ethnicity, social class, gender, and sexuality in social systems of power and privilege
  3. historicized and cross-cultural accounts of gender and gender inequality
  4. literary criticism
  5. approaches to science and medicine informed by "feminist empiricism" and "feminist standpoint" theories
  6. contemporary theories of art, performance, language, jurisprudence, social science, and religion in the context of women's experience
  7. studies of the body as a focal point for theorizing relations among the arts and sciences
  8. social justice and activism as it pertains to women and gender both locally and globally

Women's and Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary program that prepares students to think critically and creatively within a framework employing gender as a central category of analysis. The program is set up to test and challenge the technologies and limitations of gender roles in a multitude of cultural and historical settings. It is designed to familiarize students with the analytical and hermeneutic tools of research and interpretation, and to create awareness of the ethical, political, and aesthetic dimensions of gender in history and culture.

Undergraduate Policies

For undergraduate policies and procedures, please review the Undergraduate Academics section of the General Bulletin.

Accelerated Master's Programs

Undergraduate students may participate in accelerated programs toward graduate or professional degrees. For more information and details of the policies and procedures related to accelerated studies, please visit the Undergraduate Academics section of the General Bulletin.

Program Faculty

Renee M. Sentilles, PhD
Henry Eldridge Bourne Professor of History, Department of History; Co-Director, Women's and Gender Studies Program

Justine Howe, PhD
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Religious Studies; Co-Director, Women's and Gender Studies Program

Katia Almeida, PhD
Senior Instructor, Department of Anthropology

Karen Beckwith, PhD
Flora Stone Mather Professor, Department of Political Science

Elizabeth S. Bolman, PhD
Elsie B. Smith Chair in the Liberal Arts; Professor and Chair, Department of Art History and Art

Joy Bostic, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies; Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

Susan S. Case, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Organizational Behavior, Weatherhead School of Management

Gabriela Copertari, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Margaretmary Daley, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Ananya Dasgupta, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of History

Gilbert Doho, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures; Director, Ethnic Studies Program

Elina Gertsman, PhD
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor in Catholic Studies II, Department of Art History and Art

Laura E. Hengehold, PhD
Professor, Department of Philosophy

Susan W. Hinze, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology

Megan Swihart Jewell, PhD
Senior Instructor, Department of English

Jacqueline C. Nanfito, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

Gabrielle Parkin, PhD
Full-time Lecturer, Department of English

Lihong Shi, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology


Affiliated faculty

Mary Grimm, MA
Associate Professor, Department of English