Who We Are

Established in 1976, the Women's and Gender Studies Program at MSU is an interdisciplinary program with a dual purpose: to study women's experiences and contributions to communities, cultures, and nations; and to explore the multiple systems and discourses that construct our understandings of gender and sexuality. The program—which is comprised of a major and two minors—emphasizes critical thinking in addressing the intersectionality of sex, gender, class, race, sexuality, ethnicity, and culture and their impact on social, political, and creative endeavors. With the inclusion of gender studies in our mandate, we study both dominant forms of gender and alternative manifestations of femininities and masculinities, while also investigating the ramifications of adhering to these very categories of identity.

Women's and Gender Studies is a dynamic field of study. Our faculty are active feminist and GLBTQ scholars in areas such as American politics, cultural studies, educational theory and pedagogy, European and American history, family and child studies, feminist theology, justice studies, global and U.S. sexuality studies, sociolinguistics, sociology, and transnational literary study. Their research enriches the scope and depth of the course offerings available to our majors and minors.

The specific goals of the Women's and Gender Studies Program are

• to impart a knowledge of the history and evolution of feminist theory and practice;
• to provide a nuanced understanding of the diverse feminist debates that occur within and across disciplines;
• to advance an understanding of how gender is inflected by such components of identity as race, class, culture, and sexuality;
• to study the diverse and diffuse systems of power that impact gender and sexuality;
• to examine the complex relations between local and transnational feminisms in this era of globalization;
• to explore the material and theoretical connections between personal and political concerns;
• to encourage students to use their knowledge to create a community-based agenda aimed at social change.

In order to achieve these goals the Women's and Gender Studies Program offers students core courses in Women's and Gender Studies (WMGS) with electives offered in conjunction with 19 different departments and programs on campus.

Learn more about us through our Women's Studies Timeline.

Contact Details
Dickson 120 Telephone: 973-655-7911
Montclair State University FAX: 973-655-6802
1 Normal Ave. email: wmst@mail.montclair.edu
Montclair, NJ 07043

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