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"So what exactly
do you DO in Women's Studies?"
This is the most frequently asked question, which every student must answer
for herself.
Since 1982, Women's Studies at Wellesley has been committed to teaching
at the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and difference.
Women's Studies examines how the lives of individual women and men are
shaped by broader structural forces in both historical and contemporary
contexts, for e.g., nation-building, globalization, economic developments,
and the legal system. Women's Studies continues to reflect in its curriculum
and faculty research the constantly changing directions that multiple
first and third world feminisms are taking today.
Here are some of the things recent Women's Studies students have said
they have learned in our classes:
- "For me, the most important part of this course was learning
to question assumptions that I make on a regular basis. I also learned
that to most accurately understand a situation, it is essential that
you try to see it through the view of the person being affected and
try to put away your own norms and values."
- "In Women's Studies I learned to question the gendered
structure of the world. I learned that both women and men have their
own specific problems depending on where they live, how they view
themselves, how others view them, etc."
- "What is the norm in one culture may not be the norm in another.
Just because we are women doesn't mean we're all the same!
- "We learn about different perspectives on women's rights."
- "Women's Studies focuses on breaking down the binary system
that is prevalent in most societies worldwide. It focuses on gendered
stereotypes and how to look past them."
- "You study how political situations affect women and people's
view of women, how history affects the view of women, how nationality
affects the view of women."
- "You learn about the struggles and achievements of women
throughout history and around the world."
- "Women's studies examines the institutions that have shaped
societies' viewpoints . . . Women's studies looks at feminism and
other social change that has affected women."
- "To me, Women's Studies provides a venue in which to explore-from
myriad perspectives-the complex social realities that leads one to
value the environment a women's college can offer. The department
brings together students with backgrounds in history, philosophy,
political science, economics, and the physical sciences, creating
a classroom dynamic unlike any other at Wellesley. Issues of women's
employment, healthcare, and social roles are considered from the angles
offered by each of these different disciplines. In many ways, the
Women's Studies Department encapsulates the liberal arts ideal, providing
a classroom environment in which we can critically analyze the world
in which we live. In true liberal arts fashion, Women's Studies does
this with deference to the important learning that occurs at the intersection
of academic disciplines."
So, what can you "do" with a B.A. in Women's Studies?
Here is a partial list of the kinds of things our graduates have gone
on to do:
publishing/editing
political lobbying
naval service
public relations
filmmaking
psychology
divinity school
medicine |
law and social
work
business
sales/retail
nursing
technical writing
journalism
education administration
investment banking |
substance abuse
counseling
yacht club director
software engineering
public health/public policy
public policy/politics
graduate school in Women's Studies
consulting
international NGO's |
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