Women's and Gender Studies

Examining the role of women and gender in history, literature, society, science and culture using a variety of methodologies and feminist theoretical perspectives

www.bucknell.edu/womensstudies

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Career Paths

Women’s and gender studies offers a solid background for careers in fields such as journalism, law, international affairs, teaching, personnel management, public and private corporations and local and state agencies addressing the needs of girls and women. Recent alumni have secured the following positions:

  • Special education teacher, Teach For America
  • Assistant media buyer, Devito/Verdi
  • Marketing manager, Digitas
  • Clinical social worker, New York Presbyterian Hospital
  • Guidance Counselor, Council Rock School District (Bucks County, PA)
  • Paralegal for the Department of Justice Immigration Office

Undergraduate Research

Students can conduct independent, mentored scholarship alongside faculty members on and off campus. One recent honors project is:

  • "Missing from Medicine: A Feminist Critique of the Omission of Women from American Clinical Research," Honors Thesis by Carly P. Whitehead ’08

Internships

Women’s and gender studies majors can gain career experience through summer internships. Recently, students have interned at:

  • New York Law School
  • University of Massachusetts
  • Women-for-Women International

Additionally, the Lewisburg League of Women Voters provides an internship opportunity for students at Bucknell to sample the activities of the league and to contribute to its ongoing programs.

Grants & Awards

Women’s and gender studies faculty members have recently secured grants from:

  • Susan Reed: Universities of Michigan and Indiana, Bloomington (digital archive project on ritual and dance in Sri Lanka)
  • Coralynn Davis: Visiting Faculty, Harvard Divinity School
  • Coralynn Davis: Fulbright Senior Research Grant (for ethnographic research in Nepal)

Study Abroad

Women’s and gender studies majors often take advantage of study-abroad opportunities. Recently, students have studied in:

  • Brazil
  • Italy
  • Germany
  • Switzerland
  • The Netherlands

Quick Facts

Number of core faculty: 3

Average number of majors per class year: 6

Program Details

  • A central goal of the program is to strengthen critical thinking and inquiry through a focus on women’s experiences and gender in relation to race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, disability and age.
  • The study of femininity and masculinity, the relations between women and men and the differential power structures that create these social categories are of central importance to the curriculum.
  • The program frames questions of gender and feminisms in ways that connect the local to the global and promote an understanding of relations of power in multiple contexts.
  • The program gives students a better understanding of concepts — gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality and age — in the past and in the contemporary world, there by achieving an understanding of the complexity of human experience.
  • Women’s and gender studies students at Bucknell are encouraged to perform service work in the community of Lewisburg and surrounding areas.
  • Women's and gender studies students are encouraged to participate in a presentation series sponsored by the program where they present topics of interest.  These presentations can be, but are not limited to, current research projects, study abroad experiences, and internship experiences.

Faculty

Faculty members are drawn from many departments across campus. As recognized scholars, they are frequent authors of books and articles on gender and participate regularly in professional conferences on women's and gender studies. Drawing on these scholarly activities, faculty expose students to issues in the field. A core group of faculty directs the program.

Coralynn Davis
Ph.D. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Scholarly interests: feminist theory, gender, anthropology, folklore, international development, South Asia, oral narratives.

Susan A. Reed
Ph.D. Brown University
Scholarly interests: cultural anthropology; gender, performance and dance; ethnicity and nationalism; religion; South Asia; Sri Lanka

A coordinating committee consists of faculty members from multiple disciplines. Associated faculty represent the breadth of Bucknell’s liberal arts curriculum.

Selected Faculty Publications

Women’s and gender studies faculty members’ scholarship has recently appeared in the following publications:

  • Dance and the Nation: Performance, Ritual and Politics in Sri Lanka (Susan Reed, author; with DVD)
  • Romantic Generations (Ghislaine McDayter, editor)
  • Byromania and the Birth of Celebrity Culture (Ghislaine McDayter, author)
  • Untrodden Regions of the Mind: Romanticism and Psychoanalysis (Ghislaine McDayter, author)
  • Journal of American Folklore
  • Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture
  • Tourist Studies

Facilities & Resources

Women’s and gender studies students have access to an array of on-campus resources, including:

  • Women’s Resource Center
  • Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Awareness
  • Multicultural Student Services
  • Writing Center

In addition to these campus resources, other academic departments routinely offer lectures, film series and workshops related to women’s and gender studies.

Off campus, students can take a class at the State Correctional Institution – Muncy (women’s prison) and participate in a number of service learning opportunities with organizations such as Clear Vision and the Heiter Center, a local community center.

Courses Offered

In addition to the women’s and gender studies courses below, the program has approved a selection of courses in art, anthropology, classics, comparative humanities, economics, education, English, French, geography, history, political science, psychology, religion, sociology and Spanish to be taken toward the major and minor.

Dance and Culture
Gender and Sexuality in South Asia
Honors in Women’s and Gender Studies
Independent Study
Introduction to Feminist Thought
Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies
Topics in Feminist Theory
Transnational Queer: Genders, Sexualities, Identities
Women and Development
Women Writing Culture
Women’s Studies Capstone

Graduate and Professional School

Some women’s and gender studies majors choose to pursue their academic interests in graduate school after Bucknell. Recently, alumni of the program have gone on to:

  • University of Pennsylvania , M.S. Ed. in psychological studies
  • Temple University for a doctorate in education
  • University of Pittsburgh Medical School
  • Yale Law School
  • Northwestern University
  • University of Massachusetts for a Ph.D. in economics
  • University of Illinois Veterinary School