Our courses explore the making and meaning of gender across cultures and social formations. We analyze gender in institutions, practices, representations, and knowledge, across a wide range of cultural frameworks. We also question the intersections between gender and systemic forms of oppression and/or difference, including those based on race, aboriginality, ethnicity, class, and sexual identity and desire.

In achieving a scholarly understanding of the options and situations of both women and men—in the past as well as the present—our students are often encouraged to devise and execute original research projects. We help you acquire the vocabulary needed for a far-reaching understanding of gender as a fundamental category of cultural analysis.

Gender has a profound influence on human options, conditions, and experiences. Legal, political, economic, and cultural systems are all deeply gendered. An informed understanding of gender patterns, dynamics, and biases can enhance the accuracy and scope of work in many fields. Gender awareness benefits individuals, communities, and organizations.