Gender Studies Minor
Gender is a fundamental aspect of our existence and part of our social, psychological and political identity. The Gender Studies Minor at UNC aims to develop critical thinking around gender and gender dynamics—a skill that will prove valuable for any career you choose in life.
You’ll explore topics such as gender roles in society; local and global representations of men, women and other genders; explore issues of sexuality and sexual orientation; and the relationship between gender and sexuality, race, class, nation, religion, age and ability. A gender studies minor will also allow you to gain a deeper understanding of gender equality, racial equality and social justice, while learning to work effectively with diverse people.
Diverse Options, Rewarding Mentorship
Classes include rich student-faculty interaction, and there are rewarding internship opportunities available both on and off campus. These internships will situate your classroom learning into practice and allow you to envision how a Gender studies minor fits with and enhances your job prospects.
Minor Option
Gender Studies Minor
To complete the Gender Studies minor, you’ll need 18 credit hours, which includes three core courses, one upper-division Gender Studies elective and six elective credit hours you may work with your advisor to choose from a variety of departments and programs. You’ll be encouraged to complete an on- or off-campus internship as a part of your elective credits.
Student Testimonals
Your Future in Gender Studies
One of the great advantages of choosing a program in Gender Studies is that it helps you think more globally, developing your ability to work with diverse people. This vital skill in today’s workplace is increasingly sought by employers. At UNC, you’ll find the resources, opportunities and close mentorship you need to develop these critical skills and apply them in your career and daily life.
Consider UNC’s Gender Studies Minor if you:
- Have an interest in gender and social justice
- Want to work with diverse people
- Prefer a collaborative learning environment with close faculty mentorship
You’ll learn:
- Why gender matters on a cultural, personal and institutional level
- How gender relates to other social identities, such as race, class, sexuality, nationality, age, religion and ability
- How other cultures understand gender
- Critical thinking, communication and research skills
Sample courses:
- Gender and Society
- Gender, Race, Class and Sexuality
- Queer Studies
- Feminist Theories
- Gender in Popular Culture
- Masculinities
Learn through experience while helping others
Our Gender Studies program offers many different opportunities for experiential learning. You can work on campus at UNC’s Women’s Resource Center, Gender and Sexuality Resource Center or with our Assault Survivors Advocacy Program. Many of our students also work in the community, with a wide range of organizations including A Woman’s Place, Greeley’s intimate partner violence shelter and The Center, which helps to engage and advance the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community of Colorado.
Beyond the Classroom
Your minor in Gender Studies provides foundational learning and analytical skills that apply to all types of careers. The program’s flexibility complements almost any major area of study. Some popular major options to pair with the Gender Studies Minor include anthropology, history, political science, sociology, nursing, communications and international studies.
Where can your minor take you?
More and more, people with expertise in gender studies are working as consultants in industry, higher education and state and federal government agencies. Training in gender relations is increasingly in demand, and opportunities exist for employment with various types of organizations, including public, private, government and non-profit. The Gender Studies program is also excellent preparation for graduate study.
Current Research in Gender Studies
In addition to being caring, dedicated educators, our professors are collectively engaged in original, cutting-edge research which they often discuss in class. Current research in our department includes:
Motherhood and Post-Partum Depression
Harmony Newman, Ph.D.
Professor and Program Coordinator
Despite ongoing efforts, limited progress has been made to improve gender and racial equity in STEM. Feeling like one belongs may lead to persisting in or leaving a particular field, with gendered or racialized sense of belonging (SB) shaped by the intersection of other marginalized identities (e.g., social class, ability). She has articles published in Journal of Geoscience Education, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Journal of Gender Studies, Sociology Compass, and Journal of Gender, Science, and Technology.
Gender, Militarization, and Women’s Activism in Kashmir
Ather Zia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Gender Studies and Anthropology
Ather Zia has a doctorate degree from the Department of Anthropology at the University of California at Irvine. She also has two master's degrees; one in Communication from California State University Fullerton and another in Journalism from Kashmir University. Ather is currently finishing her book, which is to be published by Washington University Press (Book Series on Decolonizing Feminisms: Antiracist and Transnational Praxis). Her ethnography is based on her doctoral research on enforced disappearances, militarization, gender and human rights abuses in the Indian administered Kashmir. She recently received a grant from the Wenner Gren foundation to conduct an engaged anthropology project with her host community. Ather’s other major writing projects include co-editing a reader on Kashmir titled “They Gave Us Blood': Narratives of Normalcy, Sacrifice, and Terror in Kashmir," a non-fiction anthology based on ethnographic narratives of politics in Kashmir with Harper Collins; and an anthology of ethnographic poetry based on her fieldwork in Kashmir titled, Field In-verse.
Gender and Sexuality amongst the Mormons
Christine Talbot, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Gender Studies
Chris Talbot has a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Michigan. Talbot’s research interests include gender and sexuality in U.S. history, focusing especially on Mormon history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her recent book, A Foreign Kingdom: Mormons and Polygamy in American Political Culture, 1852-1890 (University of Illinois Press, 2013) examined the gendered aspects of the national controversy over the Mormon practice of plural marriage in the nineteenth century. Her forthcoming article, “Mormons, Gender, and the New Commercial Entertainments” (The Journal of the Gilded age and Progressive Era, October 2017) examines the LDS Church’s gendered response to newly emerging urban entertainments such as movie theaters, amusement parks and dance halls. She is currently working on two projects: a book chapter comparing gendered elements of anti-polygamy and anti-slavery rhetoric and book project that examines sex, sexuality and the body among the Mormons throughout their history.
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