Women's Studies Curriculum Committee
Course Adoption Criteria

Courses in Women's Studies explore issues of race, class, sexual orientation, and gender in a variety of cultural contexts. They draw on feminist scholarship to question androcentric assumptions in traditional methodologies, theories, and research, and to offer alternative paradigms. Women's Studies courses also foster a climate of mutual inquiry in the classroom, exchange of ideas among faculty and students in group discussions, and offer an opportunity for writing as an integral part of the ongoing process of learning and self-expression.  

Upper Level Women's Studies designation. To be given the “Upper Level Women's Studies course” designation, your course must:

•  assume that students have familiarity with the basic concepts and terminology in Women's Studies;

•  have prerequisites, which may include but are not limited to one or more of the following: ID26, another Women's Studies course, other relevant prerequisites, or the instructor's permission;

•  be designed so that students can engage each other and the course material at a high level of feminist analysis; ideally, such a course is designed as a seminar and focuses on discussion.