The courses included in the concentration in Politics, Justice and Policy are drawn mainly from the social sciences, in particular, Economics, Sociology and Political Science. This concentration allows students to understand how our socioeconomic and political worlds are gendered and to examine the effects of this on women’s lives in both the public sphere and in the home. Women continue to be clustered into low-paying, low-status “women’s” jobs and to be socialized into traditional roles. In spite of gains, women’s presence in political institutions also continues to be quite small. In addition to many other economic, social and political phenomena relevant to gender, students are encouraged to explore connections among these areas of life. For example, does women’s persistent under-representation in politics help to account for recent policies that have been economically and socially detrimental to women (and children)? Along these lines, women’s modest numeric gains in politics give rise to additional areas of inquiry. What happens when women enter conventional political arenas? Do they become socialized to existing norms and procedures that are inevitably masculine, so that feminist perspectives are doomed? Alternatively, where there is a critical mass of women, do they move their male colleagues, decision-making processes and ultimately policy developments in a feminist direction?

The following courses will form the area of concentration in Politics, Justice and Policy. In some cases a course may count in two areas of concentration, but may only be taken for credit in one.

100-level Courses:

• WMS 103 (ECO 103): Cities, Minorities, and Poverty
• WMS 111 (ECO 111): Jobs and Discrimination

200-level Courses:

• WMS 200: Special Topics in Women’s Studies
• WMS 207 (NUR 207): Women’s Health Issues
• WMS 208: Global Perspectives of Women 
• WMS 206 (PSC 206): Politics of Welfare Reform

300-level Courses:

• WMS 300: Topics in Women’s Studies
• WMS 302: Global Feminism (when not taken as core) (3)
• WMS 306: Third Wave Feminism (when not taken as core)
• WMS 305: Contemporary Feminist Theory and Practice (when not taken as core)
• WMS 307: Ecofeminism: Philosophy and Practice (when not taken as core)
• WMS 310 (HST 310): America’s Working Women
• WMS 324 (SOC/ANT 324): Women in Contemporary Society
• WMS 332 (PSC 332): Sex Roles and Politics
• WMS 336 (SOC/ANT 336): Women and Social Policy
• WMS 339 (PSC 339): Women and Public Policy
• WMS 343: Teaching and Learning About Women (1)
• WMS 350 (SOC/ANT 350): Readings in Sociological and Anthropological literature I
• WMS 365 (SOC/CJS 365): Female Crime and Deviance
• WMS 399: Internship in Women's Studies

400-level Courses:

• WMS 408 (SOC 408): Social Service Internship
• WMS 490: Advanced Special Topic in Women’s Studies
• WMS 495: Independent Study

(1) May also be taken for the concentration in Gender Studies
(3) May also be taken for the concentration in Cross-Cultural Inquiry