Women's Studies Home

Personnel

Services

Policies and  Procedures

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Academic Affairs Division

WS Courses -Schedules

Calendar

WS Minor Info

WS Faculty

Books for Girls

Office Hours: 8:00-noon, 1:00-4:30 
Monday through Friday EST/DST

What is the purpose of higher education for women? Is there any information or material in the curriculum that describes or responds to women's lives?  Where in the curriculum are women?

Women's studies scholars raised these questions, and women studies courses are the answer to these questions. The discovery of knowledge about women has been cited as the most important and most exciting academic frontier of the century. This explosion of new information has been generated and disseminated primarily within women's studies. Women's studies is an area of study that addresses the experiences and contributions of women from multidisciplinary perspectives.

Women's studies nationally and at IUP is committed to working for an educational environment that is conducive to the personal and academic development of female students, staff and faculty.

IUP offers a minor in Women's Studies. As a minor course of study, Women's Studies is designed to examine the status and experiences of women from a multidisciplinary perspective. The courses use a variety of methods and disciplinary perspectives to explore the impact of gender. Students are encouraged to challenge traditional theories and research regarding women and to develop a critical, multidisciplinary, multicultural, and gendered view of the world. Courses in women's studies address social equity issues and encourage students to perceive themselves as capable of transforming society.