Welcome to the Women's Studies Department at Cal State San Marcos!

Women's Studies explores the roles of women and men in societies around the world.  Our majors include both male and female students.  The field of Women's Studies also seeks to understand how gender is related to ethnicity, race, culture, class, sexuality, and other factors that have shaped women's and men's lives.  Students in our courses receive a quality liberal arts education.  They learn about a wide range of academic approaches that have arisen from such diverse areas as sociology, literature, psychology, economics, history, anthropology, the arts, communication, the sciences, and many others.  Women's Studies majors pursue careers and graduate education in many different fields.

Women's Studies students develop important skills in:
-Leadership
-Analytical thinking and problem-solving
-Writing proficiency and expertise
-Applied learning
-Community involvement
-Public speaking
-Collaborative work with others
-Appreciation of diverse perspectives and cultural backgrounds

Women's Studies prepares students to meet the challenges of the 21st century and to become leaders in many different occupations, from business to education, community organizations to government agencies.  Our students have launched successful careers as lawyers, teachers, artists, community leaders, elected officials, business managers, and other professionals.

Programs Offered:
-Bachelor of Arts in Women's Studies (View the Major Requirements Worksheet Here)
-Minor in Women's Studies (View the Minor Requirements Worksheet Here)

The field of Women's Studies has become an important part of university education in the last three decades.  Women's Studies focuses on the social construction of gender and explores the roles and contributions of women and men in societies around the world, past and present.  Women's Studies also seeks to understand how gender is related to other aspects of social identity and stratification, including race, ethnicity, culture, social class, sexuality, nationality, religion, ability, and other factors that have dramatically shaped women's and men's lives.

Current Catalog Courses:

WMST 101 (3)
Introduction to Women's Studies
An introduction to the scholarship, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary, on women with an emphasis on critical thinking.  Explores works by and about women, gender roles, and contemporary issues around the world, and analyzes arguments surrounding women's status.

WMST 180 (3)
Introductory Topics in Women's Studies
Introductory special topics in Women's Studies.  This course title and description will vary by offering.  May be repeated for credit as topics change, for a total of six (6) units.

WMST 205 (3)
Gender and Identity in Pop Culture and the Media
Examines the ways in which gender and social identity have been portrayed in popular culture and the media, as well as the economic, political, and historical conditions that affect and inform these images.  Focuses special attention on the economic, political, and historical conditions that have shaped representation of gender, race, class, and sexual identity in popular culture.

WMST 300 (3)
Topics in Women's Studies
Special topics in Women's Studies.  The course title and description will vary by offering.  May be repeated for credit as topics change, for a total of six (6) units.

WMST 301 (3)
Gender and Race in Contemporary Society
Explores the intersection of gender and race in the modern world.  Themes include the expression of gender and race in arts and humanities, the structures of discrimination, theories about race and gender, the lively debate across cultural and ethnic lines concerning these issues.

WMST 303 (4)
Education, Gender, and Race
Explores the relationships between education, gender, and race/ethnicity.  Course content will include such issues as identity development in girls and boys, controversies about gender, race, and education, feminist theories about learning and teaching, social stratification in schools, and pedagogical methods designed to empower all students through education.  Using contemporary case studies, students will examine multiple dimensions of school life--such as formal and informal curricula, student-teacher relationships, and the social construction of teaching--for their gendered and radicalized components.

WMST 320 (3)
Introduction to Feminist Pedagogies
Focuses on the study of feminist approaches to university learning.  Special emphasis on feminist theories of student-centered learning, innovative teaching methods in higher education, and social change through higher education.  Designed for students who are preparing to serve as Peer Discussion Leaders in WMST 101.

WMST 321 (4)
Feminist Pedagogies in Practice
Feminist theory is used to reflect upon classroom leadership and experience.  Designed for students who are serving as Peer Discussion Leaders in WMST 101, under faculty supervision.  May be repeated for a total of eight (8) units.

WMST 323 (3)
Women in Performance: Choreographics of Resistance
Explores issues of power, representation, and access in relation to the female body in dance, performance art, body art and the staging of political empowerment.  Examines crucial historical figures and moments when the body in a motion ruptures or destabilizes normalized expectations.

WMST 330 (4)
Women as Leaders
Internationally, women contribute to a growing share of public activity, the labor market, and civic leadership.  Based on recent feminist research on leadership development, this course will address the challenges of an opportunities for leadership as the affect women from different cultural backgrounds.  Subjects include cultural perceptions of leadership, traditional stereotypes of femininity, and the evaluation of leadership and coaching skills.  Biographies of women leaders will be used to explore some of the key factors that have shaped women's success.

WMST 341 (4)
Men and Masculinity
Focuses on various meanings of male identity and the effects that notions of masculinity have had on both men and women.  Examines cultural beliefs, values, and representations of masculinity and male identities.  Explores distinct perspectives on the meanings of masculinity--past, present, and future--in relation to socialization, work, family, race and ethnicity, class culture, sexuality, and technological change.  Focuses primarily on the United States, with cross cultural comparisons to the construction of masculinity in other countries.

WMST 350 (4)
Chicana/Latina Feminism
Introduces students to foundational writings in Chicana/Latina feminist theory.  Close attention will be given to how race, class, gender, and sexuality affect Chicana/Latina lives.  Subjects include, but are not limited to: triple oppressions theory, identity politics, mestiza consciousness, Chicana subjectivity (agency), and lesbian identities.  In addition to the lecture and readings the fourth unit will be dedicated to instructional activity related to media analysis.  This course will feature in its framework films and documentary that relates to the course material.

WMST 375 (3)
Women Changing Our World
Explores women's international movement, giving attention to the relationship between U.S. women's movements for social change and global feminist struggles.  Interdisciplinary readings, including fiction and feminist theory, focus on women's activism in various countries and regions of the world.

WMST 398 (3)
Independent Study
Directed readings under the guidance of an instructor.  Several short analytical papers required.  Prerequisites: Consent of instructor and Coordinator of Women's Studies.

WMST 401 (3)
Seminar in Women's Studies
Topic announced each semester prior to registration.  Explores readings in feminist theory and scholarship.  Includes a cross-cultural or cross-national perspective.

WMST 407 (3)
Women United, Women Divided
Examines the social construction of categories of sexual orientation (like heterosexual, lesbian, or bisexual), the resulting social coercion of behavior, and the role that coercion plays in dividing and disempowering women cross-culturally.  Subject matter includes the history of romantic relationships between women, contributions made to culture and social institutions, the development of sexual identity in social context, related political movements, and the psycho-social impact of heterosexism in society.

WMST 424 (3)
Women and Health
An exploration of women and health.  Analysis of women's health maintenance and disease prevention; gender bias in medical treatment; medicalization of "natural" processes; women and the health system, medical-legal system, and bio-medical research.  Subject matter may include, but is not limited to: eating disorders, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, fertility from pregnancy to birthing, stress and mental illness, menopause, breast cancer, alternative and traditional healing systems.  Issues of social class, nationality, race, culture, and sexual preference are emphasized throughout.

WMST 445 (3)
Gender and Development
Gender analysis remains in the peripheries of development theory and practice despite evidence which suggests that "modernization" results in disparate outcomes for similarly situated men and women.  To bridge this analytical gap in development studies, the course explores the gender dimensions of the dramatic structural changes taking place in the world economy.

WMST 450 (3)
Cinema and Gender
Investigates the power of film and the film industry in representing and shaping gendered positions in a variety of cultural settings.  Explores dominant and alternative practices of gendering cinematic characters and viewers.  May employ particular thematic frameworks (e.g. mothers and daughters, gender and European cinema, women and the silents, or gender and documentary film).

WMST 490 (3)
Feminist Perspectives: Theories and Research
Examines major schools of feminist theory and feminist approaches to research on women and gender across an array of academic disciplines.  The application of feminist perspectives and reassessments of social theory in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences may be included.  Student research projects may include bibliographies, archival research, ethnographic, survey, literary analysis or other formats.

WMST 495 (3)
Internship in Women's Studies
Combines readings with placement in an appropriate women's advocacy organization.  May be repeated for a total of nine (9) units.

WMST 499 (3)
Independent Research in Women's Studies
In consultation with a faculty advisor, students develop an extended research project using primary and/or secondary sources.  May be repeated for a total of six (6) units.  Prerequisites: Consent of instructor.