About Us

What is Gender Studies?

The Gender Studies minor draws on a variety of academic perspectives to research and study gendered experiences in the United States and around the world.

The interdisciplinary program, housed in ECU’s Harriot College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Sociology, is an outgrowth of the university’s Women’s Studies Program, which was established in 1985. Its mission remains to educate students about gender issues and to encourage scholarship about the many facets of gender and society.

As part of ECU’s commitment to enhancing students’ understanding of America’s multicultural heritage and global inter-connectedness, the Gender Studies Program provides a broad range of courses that examine the intersectionality of gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, class, political and economic structures, and social systems across disciplinary boundaries. Students are encouraged to study causes of and to seek solutions to social problems.