Elmira College offers a Minor degree in Women's Studies. A number of faculty teach in the program. Required courses for the Minor include the introductory course, Women and Society (offered every Winter), and the capstone seminar, Feminist Theory and Issues (offered every second Winter term). The remaining courses are electives from a number of different disciplines. While we do not have a Major in Women's Studies, some students create their own Specialized Major in Feminist Issues. If you are interested in learning more about the Minor or the Specialized Major, contact Dr. Martha Easton or Dr. Alexa Yesukevich, the current Coordinator of Women's Studies at Elmira College.
Students Against Sexism and Stereotypes (SASS) organized the annual Take Back the Night event on May 22, 2019. Sydney Turer'22 presented the first reading at the archway of Tompkins Hall. Other readings were held at the Mark Twain Study, the Fountain and other campus spots before ending the event with an emotionally moving candelight vigil.
This photo of some of our WAGS minors was taken at the 2018 Julia Reinstein Symposium keynote speech "Finding Your Voice" by Michelle Johnson, YWCA CEO.
Site of the Seneca Falls Convention (1848) where Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and others called for political rights for women. Students in the capstone Feminist Issues and Theory Seminar rewrote Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments to reflect their modern-day issues. Find a copy of their modern version here.
THE ACADEMIC GOALS OF THE WOMEN'S AND GENDER STUDIES MINOR:
1. Students will demonstrate a recognition and understanding of the theories, history, and practice of feminism.
2. Students will understand that Women's Studies is an academic discipline that generates new knowledge about women and gender, reconsiders other disciplines through feminist perspectives, and is committed to social action and social change.
3. Students will be able to express an understanding of the way gender is related to the experiences of people in the United States and globally.
4. Students will be able to describe and analyze the ways in which concepts of gender shape discourses in at least one discipline from a liberal arts field, such as literature, art, history, political science, anthropology, languages, and sociology.
5. Students will demonstrate an ability to apply a broad range of feminist perspectives and theories to their personal experiences, professional work, and to their understanding of society.