Women's Studies

UNB's interdisciplinary Women's Studies Program, established in 1986, offers students the opportunity to study the experiences and achievements of women, with a view to gaining a more complete and balanced understanding of women's and men's lives, both historically and in contemporary society.

WS2003

New course offered this summer. Click on poster for details.

What is Women's Studies?

Women's Studies examines gender‑based aspects of human experience and women's roles in society. Women's Studies includes a wide variety of academic disciplines and professions.

The main goals of Women's Studies are to ensure that women's contributions are fairly represented in university courses and research, to examine critically some basic assumptions underlying the academic disciplines, to promote scholarship which recognizes and reflects the diversity of women's lives, and to link up with community organizations working for women's equality and social justice.

How is this useful in university?

Women's Studies offers new perspectives on the traditional academic disciplines. It provides information about gender roles and women's contributions to society, and it focuses on research by, for, and about women. It opens up new areas of interest. An undergraduate degree in WS prepares a student well for graduate work in fields such as Interdisciplinary Studies, Gender Studies, Women's Studies, and Critical Studies in Education.

How is Women's Studies useful at work?

The ability to understand women's experiences and to do gender analysis is useful to people in education, law, business, health care, labour relations, personnel management, counselling, engineering, politics, and many other fields.

Women's Studies courses provide perspectives on women's lives and women's work, both paid and unpaid, and on intersections of gender, class, racialization, sexuality, and ability, which will be useful to anyone trying to understand women's realities in the world today. Employers in the private sector, government, and non‑government organizations hire people who have expertise in gender, equity, and human rights issues.

Who may take Women's Studies courses?

Two interdisciplinary courses in Women's Studies, WS 2003 and WS 4004, may be taken by full‑ or part‑time students in any faculty, by non‑degree students, and by students taking courses on an occasional basis. It is not necessary to be enrolled in Women's Studies to take these two courses, but they should be taken in sequence. Only Women's Studies Joint Honours students may take WS 4900.

Why do a degree in Women's Studies?

Women's Studies gives students an opportunity to explore gender issues in an interdisciplinary context, and it offers a useful complement to other fields. The required courses provide a framework for understanding the gender‑based aspects of knowledge, power, and society.

Eligibility

Admission to the introductory Women's Studies course is open to students in all faculties and all years. Students in any faculty may select a Minor in WS; however, only students in Arts may take the Double Major or Joint Honours in WS. Normally students declare their Major or apply for admission to the Honours program after successfully completing 45 credit hours. The Coordinator serves as academic advisor for students in Women's Studies.

How do I enroll in Women's Studies?

See Enrollment Page.

Updated February 27, 2013