College of Arts & Sciences 

Our Purpose: The purpose of the Gender Studies program is to involve students in this intellectually challenging and engaging way of examining our world. Gender studies courses examine how social structures including race, class, sexuality, and other factors impact the lived experiences of men and women. Gender studies courses may apply recent ideas in feminist theory to issues in literature, art, psychology, sociology, or business. Gender as a social construction acts as an organizing principal for all Gender Studies courses offered by faculty throughout the university. In addition, implicit in Gender Studies is one of the basic tenets of feminist scholarship—that academic work connects to activist work outside of the academy. The Gender Studies program encourages its minors to pursue this connection through internships, independent studies, and service-learning experiences that connect academic inquiry to social justice work in community agencies or non-profit organizations.

Extracurricular benefits—Gender studies students are involved in many activities outside of the classroom including the Women’s Group, REPP (Rape Education and Prevention Program), and STOP (Students for Tolerance, Openness, and Pride).

Students have also completed internships at organizations such as Victims Services of Montgomery County, Women Against Abuse, the GESU school, various other elementary and high schools, and various nonprofit organizations.

Students are encouraged, but not required, to take GEN 2951 Selected Topics in Gender Studies as one of the six courses. GEN 2951 can also include an internship component that connects the study of gender to real world applications in a nonprofit, school, or other organization.

For further information about the Gender Studies Program, please contact:

Catherine Murray, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
315 Post Hall | 610-660-1805 | cmurray@sju.edu