A Degree that Makes a Difference
Gender and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary program that examines how systems of power and knowledge operate within society, identity, and culture. Supported by dedicated faculty and a growing network of community partners, you will explore gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, (dis)ability, socio-economic status, and citizenship as fundamental categories of analysis. Through this lens, you will examine how local and global transformations in work, technology, politics, and popular culture shape our lives, bodies, and beliefs.
TWO ACADEMIC PATHWAYS with GWS
Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) Major
The GWS Major offers an interdisciplinary study of how power, identity, and culture shape society. You’ll learn to examine gender alongside race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexuality, and ability, preparing you to analyze complex issues and advocate across legal, healthcare, media, corporate, and non-profit sectors.
- 36 Total Credits: 8 courses + 1 guaranteed 4-credit internship
- Hands-on internship (GWS 399) aligned with your career goals
- Core foundational and capstone seminars alongside two specialized theory courses
- Upper-level 300-level coursework tailored to your specific passions
Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) Minor
Adding a GWS minor allows you to explore how gender intersects with your primary academic interests. The 24-credit sequence fits smoothly alongside majors across the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, helping you broaden your research perspective and prepare for work in diverse, collaborative environments.
- 24 Total Credits: 5 targeted courses + 1 guaranteed 4-credit internship
- Build a customized 2-course elective track tailored to your primary major
Experiential learning and Study Abroad
Study Abroad in Kenya
The Public Health and Gender & Women’s Studies departments at Hollins University partner with Kenyatta University to bring our students to Nairobi, Kenya for a unique educational opportunity. Students immerse themselves in Kenyan history and culture to discover how social categories—gender, sexuality, indigeneity, economic status, and race/ethnicity—influence public health needs, access to care, and the practice of medicine locally and globally.
Meet our GWS Faculty
Learn more about our Gender and Women’s Studies professors. Reach out to ask about our major and minor as well as to learn more about our experiential learning opportunities.
Lindsey Breitwieser
Chair, Department of Critical Cultural and Leadership Studies; Program Director of Gender & Women’s Studies; Assistant Professor
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Rachel Nuñez
Chair, Humanities and Global Studies ; Associate Professor; Batten Chair in Leadership; Director of Core Curriculum and First-Year Foundations
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LeeRay Costa
Executive Director of Leadership Studies and the Batten Leadership Institute
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Honors Theses
Your thesis is not just a time to show what you know — it’s also a time to be creative. Here are some examples:
- Renegotiating Liminal Spaces: Catholic Nuns as Spiritual and Feminist Activists
- On Becoming: Tracing a Lineage of Feminist Knowledge through the Creation of the Feminist Self
- Who Are You Protecting?: A Feminist Analysis of Gay and Trans Panic Defense Bans, How They Are Defined, and Who They Protect
- Food Activism: Localizing Struggles Against Globalization
- Childbirth and the Internal Colonization of Women’s Bodies
- Deconstructing “African AIDS”: a Feminist Redress
- The Politics of the Reception of Women’s Sexualities in Women’s Writing
- The Grove Ladder: an Experiment in Feminist/Creative Research
- Re-imagining Rape Awareness: Feminist Perspectives on the Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN) Legislative Agenda
- The Bound Yet Persistently Moving Critical Distance Between My Body and ‘Woman’
- NGOs and Sexuality in Nepal
GWS Grads: Where Are They Now?
- Graduate and professional school in medicine, law, international development, nursing, women’s health, social work, educational and cultural studies, and women’s studies
- Nonprofit organizations such as Planned Parenthood, Teach for America, United Way, Catholic Relief Services, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Armenian Volunteer Corps, Virginia Supportive Housing
- A variety of for-profit and educational organizations, including Apple Computer, The Roanoke Times, Etsy, University of Chicago, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, BOMB Magazine.