Women’s Studies (A.A., Purdue only)

Program: A.A.
Women’s Studies Program
College of Arts and Sciences

Liberal Arts Building 35F ~ 260-481-6711 ~ ipfw.edu/wost

The student learning outcomes for the degree are as follows:

• The major concepts of feminist critical analysis, including gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality, ability, and age, and the complexities of their intersections
• How gender is socially and historically constructed, how it relates to systems of power, privilege, and oppression, and how it impacts women’s lives
• The history and importance of feminist thought and activism in the U.S. and around the globe
• Ability to demonstrate effective reading, speaking, writing, and critical thinking skills through the work they complete in women’s studies courses
• Ability to apply feminist perspectives to a range of issues
• Ability to apply feminist perspectives across disciplines

Women’s studies is based on the premise that the study of women’s experiences, concerns, social roles, and creativity is essential to our knowledge of humankind and society. Feminist scholarship and theory provide the knowledge and analytical tools necessary for a gender-balanced perspective on our world, both past and present. The Women’s Studies Program affords you the opportunity to pursue feminist scholarship on women and gender through a variety of interdisciplinary courses. 

If you plan to continue for a bachelor’s degree with a major in women’s studies (see Part 5 ), you should take the second-year foreign-language courses as electives for the A.A.