Women's Studies - Hamilton College Clinton

Women's Studies from Hamilton College Clinton is a Campus Bachelor Women's Studies degree that prepares you for a Liberal Arts career. WOMEN'S STUDIES AT HAMILTON is certainly not for women only. It is not even exclusively about women. Instead, women's studies provides a powerful perspective on culture and history by placing women at the center of its analysis. Who are we as individuals and as members of a society? Who shapes those identities, and how? How do gender, power, race and class affect the interactions of women and men? These are issues that every thoughtful person must address. Women's studies at Hamilton gives students the tools to address them with intellectual rigor in an inclusive, supportive environment. Women's studies majors consider and analyze issues of domination and privilege based not just on gender but on race, ethnicity, class, religion, sexual orientation and other factors. These points of reference help students think critically about the historical, societal, psychological, cultural and global forces that shape their lives. Women's studies challenges students to look at these forces from multiple viewpoints. It prepares them to make informed decisions about life at Hamilton College and beyond. RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES Women's studies combines theory and practice in creative, productive ways, so research is always central to the process of learning and applying knowledge. It may take the form of traditional scholarship, or it may involve less conventional forms of study and participation, but women's studies students at Hamilton are engaged students. They attend small classes and forge strong relationships with their teachers. They collaborate with one another and with faculty members on projects. And they use their growing command of written and spoken argument to take their place in a vibrant intellectual community. The interdisciplinary nature of women's studies also lends itself to creative combinations of academic interests. Women's studies courses often lead students to re-examine and re-evaluate the theories, assumptions and methods of traditional disciplines. Students can then create their own interdisciplinary major by combining courses in women's studies with courses in another discipline, culminating in an interdisciplinary senior thesis. One recent interdisciplinary major combined courses in women's studies , Spanish and creative writing, then wrote a senior thesis in the form of a novella composed in Spanish and English about the lives of Puerto Rican women. Other students choose to complete a double major by meeting the requirements of two distinct majors. Women's studies might be paired, for example, with government or physics or English, with students taking courses in one discipline that complement the other. THE SENIOR PROGRAM Seniors in women's studies pursue a one-semester senior project that can take the form of either a written thesis or some form of performance. Students work independently on the senior project, but they are supervised by one or more faculty members. The senior project represents a culmination of each student's undergraduate experience; it synthesizes coursework, discussion and personal reflection into a focused statement of intellectual growth and insight. RESOURCES The Jane Watson Irwin Chair is an endowed professorship that brings a noted teacher and scholar to campus each year to join the women's studies program. Recent visiting professors include Minnie Bruce Pratt, Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Gita Rajan. The larger Hamilton community provides many resources valuable to the women's studies program. The Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center provides students with opportunities for civic engagement through a Community Outreach Office, service learning projects, and faculty-student collaboration in community based research. Burke Library provides a growing range of books, journals and video related to women's studies; the library also houses Hamilton's Multimedia Presentation Center, a state-of-the-art media and computer facility that all students may use to develop presentations, performances and other projects. View more details on Hamilton College . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Women's Studies courses.