Student Profile
Melissa Spas
Stow, New York
Major: Women's Studies, Religious Studies
Minor: Values and Ethics in Social Action
”I love Allegheny—particularly the overarching emphasis
upon making connections and educating the whole person.”
Women’s Studies offers a meaningful perspective to study all manners
of ideas and realities,” says Melissa Spas. “It’s given
me the analytical tools to think critically about the status quo and
the courage to speak out about the intersecting oppressions and prejudices
in the world.”
Learn more about Melissa here.
The Women's Studies Program
Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts program
that uncovers, documents and validates the diverse realities of women's lives
examining the reasons for and consequences of the social distinctions between
men and women. It draws upon the disciplines of art, dance, communication
arts, economics, English, environmental studies, history, modern languages,
philosophy, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology
and anthropology.
Major and Minor Programs
Major
Women's studies draws upon the course offerings of communication
arts, economics, English, history, modern languages, philosophy, political
science, psychology, and religious studies.
The major leads to the bachelor of arts degree and requires
the completion of a minimum of 36 semester credit hours (typically eight
courses), including Introduction to Women's Studies, Feminist Theory and
Methods, the Junior Seminar, and the Senior Project.
In addition, five electives are chosen from course groupings
in the categories of Historical Perspectives, Representations and Images
of Women, Theoretical Perspectives, and Contemporary Issues. At least one
elective should be chosen from each of the four categories
Student-designed majors and double majors are possible.
Recent examples of double majors include women's studies and music, women's
studies and English, women's studies and environmental studies, and women's
studies and political science.
Minor
The minor requires the completion of 20 semester credit
hours (typically five courses), including Introduction to Women's Studies,
Feminist Theory and Methods, the Junior Seminar, and two electives chosen
from two of the four categories listed above.
