Women's Studies (Minor)
Women’s Studies is an international discipline that focuses on gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, nation, and language as a means of understanding social systems and making meaningful contributions to a range of fields. Through a feminist perspective, women’s studies looks at how gender organizes and divides the world, and how individuals can make a difference for women and girls, and wider human rights and environmental causes. As a minor, students can combine a range of other focus areas to develop specializations in a range of academic and professional areas.
Women's Studies (Minor)
Description
What is Women's Studies at ODU like?
Women’s Studies is an international discipline that focuses on gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, nation, and language as a means of understanding social systems and making meaningful contributions to a range of fields. Through a feminist perspective, women’s studies looks at how gender organizes and divides the world, and how individuals can make a difference for women and girls, and wider human rights and environmental causes. As a minor, students can combine a range of other focus areas to develop specializations in a range of academic and professional areas.
Program Highlights
What makes Women's Studies at ODU unique?
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Women’s Studies prepares students to contribute to a variety of fields—as advocates for justice, human rights, and equality. We offer distinct opportunities to get involved in organizations through internships, service-learning, and professional development series. Our department is supported by an active Friends of Women’s Studies organization that provides three scholarships, a range of events, and networking opportunities. Women’s Studies graduates work in a range of fields—from social work, to law, to education, and international development. This department allows students to learn theories of social justice and apply them to benefit not only women and girls, yet a range of contexts where graduates can promote equality and human rights.
Courses
What are some courses offered in Women's Studies at ODU?
WMST 303:
Queer Studies
This course is an interdisciplinary study of LGBTQ |lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) experiences. It introduces students to personal, cultural, and political aspects of queer life while examining social forces such as heteronormativity, the social construction of gender, and homophobia and their impact on queer lives. Prerequisites: WMST 201S or instructor approval.
WMST 405:
Gender and Media
This course examines media-based sites of knowledge production using a feminist approach, in order to imagine new and more complex ways to think about media rhetorics; celebrity culture; digital media; and the politics of representation. Key questions will be: What roles do media play in shaping social movements? What are the promises and pitfalls of activist interventions in the realm of commercial culture? In what ways might we complicate narratives of co-optation or selling out? The class explores these questions using an intersectional lens attentive to the complex interconnections of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Case studies will include national, international, and transnational media events. Prerequisite: WMST 201S, WMST 390T, or instructor approval.
WMST 306:
Women, the Environment, and Climate Change
This course will examine ways that women have been actively involved in environmental issues from earliest history through today. Students will assess their own connection to place and examine and access ecofeminist theory and national and global environmental justice movements, along with briefly reviewing gender and farming practices. Finally, the course will examine how climate change issues are affecting lives around the globe, including ours, and question how gender-, race-, and class-sensitive responses to the environmental challenges facing our planet can be created. Prerequisite: ENGL 110C.
Requirements
What are the requirements to apply for Women's Studies at ODU?
Students entering the Minor program in Women's Studies should meet the minimum university admission requirements (Undergraduate Admission)
To declare a Women's Studies minor, students must see an advisor in the Women's Studies Department.
Students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 in all courses specified as a requirement for the minor exclusive of lower-level courses and prerequisite courses and complete a minimum of six hours in upper-level courses in the minor through courses offered by Old Dominion University. Completion of the undergraduate Women's Studies minor will fulfill the upper-division General Education requirements.
Cost
Tuition and Fees
Estimated rates for the 2022-23 academic year. Rates are subject to change. Anyone that is not a current Virginia resident will be charged non-resident rates. That includes international students.
Virginia Resident
Per Credit:
$ 374
Non-Resident
Per Credit:
$ 1,039
Active Duty Military Rate
Per Credit:
$ 250
Technology Delivered Courses Outside Virginia and/or the United States
Per Credit:
$ 407
Ways to Save
Here are a few ways for you to save on the cost of attending ODU. For more information visit University Student Financial aid
Scholarships
- Carolyn Rhodes Undergraduate Scholarship in Women’s Studies
- Anita Clair Fellman Service-Learning Scholarship
Next Steps
I like this program. What are the next steps?
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Contact
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PROFESSOR
Name:
Jennifer Fish
Location:
3044 BATTEN ARTS & LETTERS, NORFOLK, VA, 23529
Email:
Office:
757-683-4908
Undergraduate Admissions
Location:
1004 Rollins Hall, Norfolk, VA 23529
Phone Office:
757-683-3685
Fax:
757-683-3255
Email:
admissions@odu.edu
International Admissions
Location:
2101 Dragas Hall, Norfolk, VA 23529
Phone Office:
757-683-3701
Fax:
757-683-3651
Email:
intladm@odu.edu
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