About the Women's and Gender Studies Program

Welcome to the Women's and Gender Studies Program. We are a multidisciplinary program in the College of Arts and Sciences that offers a well-established undergraduate major and minor, graduate specialization and minor, as well as an undergraduate minor in LGBTQ/Sexuality Studies. Central to our program is the study of women, in all their diversity and through a variety of disciplinary lenses, including Art, Ethnic Studies, English, History, Law, Psychology and Sociology, to name just a few. To that end, we study women's contributions as writers and scholars, artists and activists, public figures and private citizens, both in the past and in the present. Yet, like other academic disciplines, the program has evolved to include the study of gender more broadly, which means we analyze the construction of feminine and masculine identities (across time and cultures) and assess in turn the ways in which gender signifies what one scholar has described as "relationships of power." Women's and Gender Studies, therefore, introduces students to exciting ideas, dynamic professors and classmates, as well as feminist thought and perspectives in small, collaborative communities of learning.

Women's and Gender Studies also encourages learning experiences outside the classroom. Each year our Colloquium Series features six different events, which have included such speakers as Mona Domash, Angela P. Harris, Darlene Clark Hine, and Lourdes Portillo, as well as hands-on workshops in which participants can learn, for example, how to conduct research on transgender issues. We also participate in No Limits, an academic conference we sponsor with the Women's Studies programs at University of Nebraska - Omaha and University of Nebraska - Kearney , which features student scholarly work and creative activity. There is as well SAGE (Students Advocating Gender Equity), a student group that combines the social with the political by sponsoring fundraising drives for the Women's Center and Friendship Home, political rallies like "Take Back the Night," and "Shakespeare's Sister," a day-long celebration of women's voices. SAGE can be found on Facebook, or can be contacted by email. And finally, because we are committed to combining academic inquiry with community service, we encourage students to participate in a variety of internship programs with such organizations as the American Civil Liberties Union, Friendship Home, the League of Women Voters, PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), Planned Parenthood and UNL's Women's Center. We invite you to explore our website and to contact us directly should you wish to know more.