Overview

Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) invites students to challenge prevailing notions of gender and sexualities, and to learn about gender relations as they have been constructed culturally, globally, historically, and institutionally. Through theoretical and practical investigation, students develop the critical knowledge and skills to explore the intersections of gender, sex, race, class, sexuality, (dis)ability, colonialism, imperialism, citizenship, and transnational identity while paying attention to power, oppression, and resistance. Students engage in dialogue about such topics as: feminist and queer activisms, transnational poverty and precarity, diverse masculinities, popular culture and media, reproductive justice, racial politics across borders, and war and violence.

Special Features

• The program is interdisciplinary – we draw on courses and disciplines across the Faculty of Arts and beyond. There are many interesting core and cross-listed courses from which to choose.

• The program is enriched by the Margaret Laurence Endowment Fund that provides funding for scholarships, visiting speakers, library resources, and grants to local feminist and women’s resource organizations.

• Gender and Women’s Studies houses a Canadian Research Chair in Queer Theory focusing on questions of men and masculinities.

• The program includes a practicum course where students gain valuable hands-on experience within local organizations.

• You can get involved in campus culture – there is a Gender Studies undergraduate association in development, and members of GWS lead the Positive Space and Yes Means Yes! campaigns, and support the Women’s Collective and the LGBTTQ* Collective.

• You can get involved in the community– members of GWS help organize Take Back the Night, Transgender Day of Remembrance, National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, and International Women’s Day.

Sample of Available Courses

Introduction to Gender Studies
Introduction to Feminism
Transnationalism and Women’s Lived Experiences
Critical Readings in Gender
Indigenous Feminism
Women in Politics
Between Men: Literature and Masculinity
Aboriginal Women’s Writers
History of Sexuality in Canada
Art of Aboriginal Women in North America
Sex and the Sacred
Women in Music
The Sociology of Sexuality
Trauma Across Gender and Social Context
Queer/ing Literature
Race, Representation, and Reproductive Justice
Women’s International Movements

Possible Careers

Front-line Advocacy, Community Development, Counseling and Psychotherapy, Government, Health Services, Journalism, Law, Media & Communications, Politics, Public Administration, Sexuality Education, Social Work, Graduate School.

Contact Information

Program Coordinator, Dr. Lisa Robson
Email: gws@brandonu.ca

Gender & Women’s Studies Program
Brandon University
Faculty of Arts