Why Study Gender?
We are excited that you'd like to learn more about Gender Studies! So, why Gender
Studies you ask?
Gender Studies offers interdisciplinary courses that explore the making and meaning
of gender - femininity and masculinity - across cultures and social formations, past
and present.
Gender influences human options, conditions, and experiences. Legal, political, economic,
cultural and kinship systems are all profoundly gendered. Deep understanding of gender
patterns, dynamics and biases can enhance the accuracy and scope of work in many fields.
Gender awareness benefits individuals, communities and organizations.
Our professors are collectively engaged in original, cutting-edge research which they
often discuss in class. This makes any course you take well worth it.
- Questions Gender Studies investigates
Some questions Gender Studies investigates include:
- What is 'gender'?
- When and why was the concept first used?
- How is gender different from sex?
- Are human gender divisions the product of biology, cultural construction, both, or
neither?
- How does gender interact with other "identity markers", such as ethnicity, sexuality,
class, and culture?
- How does popular culture shape experiences of gender?
- How do gender concepts influence mass media?
- How has gender influenced the development of technology, science, research, and medicine?
- How are concepts of beauty, sexuality, and pornography shaped by gender prescriptions?
- How have gender and debates about it varied historically and cross-culturally?
- Pairing Gender Studies with UNC majors
Recently, minors have paired their study of gender with a variety of majors, including:
- Business
- Theater
- Art Education
- History
- Communication
- Anthropology
- Philosophy
- Sociology
- Psychology
- Nursing
- Music Education
- Economics
- Political Science
- Asian Studies
- English
- International Studies
- Africana Studies
- Non-profit Administration
- Recent Alumni Careers
Here is a list of positions currently occupied by recent Gender Studies alumni:
- Outcome Specialist at Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in Denver
- Physician Residency at Creighton U
- Peer Support Specialist for Wings, a women's addiction program at Northrange
- Executive Assistant to Senior Leadership Team, Integrated Marketing, Paramount Pictures
- Pursuing a degree at U or Oregon Law School
- Employed at Clark Field Archive and Library at UNM
- Academic Success Coach. Also attending CSU Pueblo for a Masters in Social Work
- Intership with OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)
- House Manager at Recovered Humans Recovery Homes
- Pursuing a degree in the University of the Cumberlands Psych Program
- In graduate school at Northwestern's philosophy program
