Gender is political. It's cultural. It's complex. Whether we recognize it or not, we experience, reinforce and disrupt social expectations about masculinity, femininity, sex, sexuality, and sexual identities every day. A host of other identity categories (age, race, ability and disability, size, ethnicity, and class, among others) also contribute to how we experience "gender."

SRU offers a major and minor in Gender Studies that explores all of these intersections and which recognizes the messy but also fascinating concepts of gender.  Both are interdisciplinary, pulling from courses and departments from across the university, and thus complements and enriches every major and minor. One question we're asked often is whether or not men can or should adopt the major or the minor. Absolutely. As noted above, we're all affected by gender norms, and critical inquiry into how and why those norms are created and maintained can enrich everyone.  In fact, we recently changed the name of the minor and program from "Women's Studies" to "Gender Studies" to reflect the breadth and inclusivity of our curriculum and our programmatic scope. 

SRU has a Gender Studies committee, which meets three times a semester and includes faculty, staff, administrators and students. If you are interested in participating, send an email to cindy.lacom@sru.edu. We'd love to have you join us and to benefit from your input and perspective.

SRU also has a Gender Studies Program that hosts events through the academic year. Check out our Programming- Past and Present link as well as our CORE page for more information about upcoming programming. 

Information about the major can be found here, as can information about the minor. 

Our office has moved. We are now located in 203H Spotts World Culture Building.

Click here to read the 5th Issue of Intersections, the Gender Studies Newsletter! 

Women and Allies of Distinction Mentoring Dinner Call for Nominations

• If you are interested in nominating a woman and/or an ally for the Woman and Ally of Distinction Awards, please visit this link to nominate them by February 24th: https://sru.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6zD5ig6MKQzViv4
•  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the President’s Commission on Women co-chairs, Emily Dolan (Emily.dolan@sru.edu) or Andrea Miller Grady (andrea.miller@sru.edu)