Women's and Gender Studies
The goal of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department is to develop students’ skills in conducting interdisciplinary critical analyses of how gender — in relation to race, class, citizenship status, ability, age, and sexuality — structures our world.
About the Major
Women’s and gender studies at Hamilton provides students with a powerful perspective on cultural and world history by putting women at the center of its analysis. The curriculum certainly is not for women only. It is not even exclusively about women. 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. Above all, women’s studies is about personal and intellectual growth.
Students Will Learn To:
- Explain the connections between the pedagogy of feminism to the methodology and varying practices of the subject
- Demonstrate the connections between the history of feminism to contemporary theory, practice and activism
- Critique the use of contemporary theories of intersectionality, interdisciplinarity and transnationality in feminist studies
- Apply a range of feminist methodologies and theories in research and writing
- Demonstrate knowledge of theories in academic feminism with the social orders and structures in which we live
Meet Our Faculty
Margaret Gentry
Chair, Margaret Bundy Scott Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
women and aging; widowhood; caregiving of elderly; psychology of women/gender; household division of labor
women’s studies; race, class, gender, sexuality and nation; comparative literature and theories of composition and rhetoric; sexuality studies; welfare reform, education and public policy
Careers After Hamilton
Hamilton graduates who concentrated in women's studies are pursuing careers in a variety of fields, including:
- Director of Operations, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston
- Program Officer, Building Movements, Ms. Foundation for Women
- Nurse Midwife, URMC Midwifery Group
- 4th Grade Teacher, The IDEAL School of Manhattan
- Attorney, Laskoff & Associates
- Mental Health Counselor/Play Therapist, Integrative Counseling Services
- Physician, Rhode Island Hospital
Explore Hamilton Stories
Step inside a totally renovated and modernized Root Hall, complete with accessible and sustainable spaces where students and faculty can study, teach, and collaborate.
Whitney Museum Intern Casey ’23 Learns the Art of Storytelling
Caroline Casey ’23 has spent the summer working as an intern at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. She tells what led her to this position and how it’s helped solidify her career goals.
Bristol Fellows Navigate the World to Explore Artistic Expression, Lacrosse
Every year, Hamilton selects project proposals from members of the senior class that exhibit a “spirit of inquisitiveness and a seriousness of purpose” worthy of $30,000. Hamilton’s Bristol Fellowship awards this generous funding for worldwide research projects that will encourage both “discovery of self and the world.” This year’s recipients, Abigail Moone ’23 and Charlie Ratner ’23 hope to make those same discoveries.
Contact
Department Name
Women's and Gender Studies Department
Contact Name
Margaret Gentry, Chair
Clinton, NY 13323
