Are you interested in learning the stories of women from around the globe? How about studying cultural assumptions about gender, race, and class? The women’s and gender studies minor at Goshen College enables all students to gain a new perspective on their experiences in a gendered society.
The women’s and gender studies minor is open to any student at Goshen College, regardless of their major. Women’s and gender studies offers a critical perspective on our world, with the goal of improving the lives of everyone, especially women and other marginalized groups.
In our women’s and gender studies courses, you will learn about gender in conjunction with other social categories such as race, class, sexuality, and nationality. Women’s and gender studies is an interdisciplinary field, which means that you will have the opportunity to take courses in various departments such as sociology, psychology, English, and history.
Courses in the women’s and gender studies minor explore topics such as:
Through these courses, you can engage with diverse perspectives, learn about other cultures, and challenge your assumptions about the world.
This program will equip you with the tools to identify factors that constrain women’s lives. By pursuing the women’s and gender studies minor, you will gain the ability to:
You can also join the Goshen Student Women’s Association (GSWA), a student-run club whose mission is to build community and create a safe space to discuss women’s issues and other concerns.
When entering the job market, organizations will value your unique, informed perspectives on contemporary issues related to gender and sexuality. A women’s and gender studies minor will prepare you for many different careers, including:
Completing your women’s and gender studies minors will also give you an edge in graduate school in fields such as women’s studies, sociology, anthropology, psychology, public health, law, and more.
Frenchye Magee ‘01 will return to Goshen College on April 10, 2024, to help the Women’s and Gender Studies program celebrate 40 years since the graduation of its first minor, alumna Karen Krabill Yoder in 1984 (Social Work and Women’s Studies).
Dr. Beth Martin Birky, associate academic dean and Title IX coordinator and long-time professor of English and Women's & Gender Studies, is set to retire in April after a distinguished career spanning over three decades in Goshen.
Prevention Intervention Network (PIN) is made up of Goshen College students who offer peer-led bystander education training. Since the program began in 2015, 83 students have gone through this training.
Sam Carlson was a peace, justice and conflict studies major with a minor in women’s and gender studies who takes his PJCS studies seriously. In the summer of 2014, he served at a conflict resolution center in Palestine.
Sam's storyBecca Yoder, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, graduated in 2013. She is a singer, a Spanish interpreter, a volunteer and a peacemaker who came to Goshen College to study social work, Spanish and women's studies.
Becca's storyHannah, from Harrisonburg, Virginia, graduated from Goshen College with a nursing major. As a student, she was a gardener, an environmental educator, an activist and a peacemaker.
Hannah's storyKendra Yoder
Co-Director -- Global Engagement Office -- SST (Study Service Term) Professor of Sociology
Women's & Gender Studies
Regina Shands Stoltzfus
Professor of Peace Justice & Conflict Studies
Director of PJCS
