Women and Gender Studies combines the substance and methodologies of many disciplines as we study women and gender.

Students in UIS’ Women & Gender Studies minor explore the construction, experience, and questioning of gender and sexuality as key facets of human identity. Students investigate history, culture, society, psychology, science, communication, or art to see how human activities are produced, experienced, and interpreted by gendered subjects of different races, classes, nationalities, sexual orientations, religions, generations, and historical periods. Our goal is to introduce students to the basic approaches of this study in a variety of fields so that they will be prepared for the challenges of leadership in the 21st century.

"The WGS program is amazing, and it changed my life. There are a lot of classes that are a part of the program that should be required for everyone to take. I'm really glad UIS has this program."

WGS minor

In the classroom, WGS faculty are committed to creating a collaborative, inclusive, and diverse learning environment. Students are encouraged to make connections between thought and action, the academy and the community, and theory and practice. The department provides interested students with opportunities for
internships, community-based projects, and research. Our focus is on student-centered and cooperative learning. We emphasize inclusion, respect, acceptance, and critical thinking.

Besides academic study, our program has close ties with other services on campus. If you want to learn more, please visit:

Women’s Center

Gender and Sexuality Student Services Office

Studying Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

Women & Gender Studies courses and faculty are diverse, but united in their study of some aspect of sex, gender, and sexuality. By ‘sex’ we mean aspects of the body that allow us to be categorized as female or male; ‘gender’ is the meaning given to these sex differences—the stereotypes, assumptions, and expectations society attaches to difference. ‘Sexuality’ refers to sexual behaviors, identities, desires, discourses, and representations in their social, cultural, and historically specific contexts. We know, however, that each of these alone cannot explain all of human experience, so we study other factors such as race, class, ethnicity, nationality, physical ability, culture, and power as they combine with what anthropologist Gayle Rubin termed “the sex/gender system.”

Teaching and Learning

In the classroom, WGS faculty are committed to creating positive and participatory learning environments. We emphasize student-centered and cooperative learning, critical thinking, openness to ideas and discussion, and respect for others. We encourage students to make connections between thought and action, theory and practice, and the academy and the community, and we provide interested students with opportunities for internships, applied study terms, community-based projects, and research.

"Every professor I had for any WGS class was almost always my favorite of the semester!"

WGS Student

"My WGS courses were the most rigorous and challenging courses I took at UIS, as well as the most memorable and influential. WGS courses should be a requirement for all students."

WGS Student