Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary area that examines the history and politics of gender relations.

The Women’s Studies major is primarily engaged in the history of ideas of gender, intersections with race, class and sexuality, and the operations of social power.

It is highly relevant to contemporary life while producing valuable social debate and historical context. It is therefore grounded in the everyday practices and cultural texts of students’ lives, and also serves as a reminder of the forms of dominant thinking and dissent on sexuality and identity in the past.

An online journal, Outskirts: feminisms along the edge, is published by the School twice a year.

Courses

The major consists of four units from Women’s Studies and four units drawn from neighbouring disciplines such as English, History, Asian Studies, Anthropology and the Practicum.

Career skills

The Women’s Studies major promotes generic life skills such as collaboration, teamwork, leadership, group dynamics and literacy in screen and print cultures.

While some graduates have gone on to specialise in gender-related areas such as equity and diversity, policy development, social justice and workplace relations, most apply their skills in the broader fields of communications, education, public service, research occupations and professional practice.

Based on studies of graduate outcomes, students with majors in Women’s Studies value the adaptable and transferable skills they gain in the critical analysis of power and the capacity to question existing frameworks and research alternatives.

Research

Academics are engaged in a range of scholarly research activities around the history and politics of gender relations, sexualities, cinema, maternity, witchcraft, masculinities, activism, intersections of race, class and gender, feminist theory and the body.