WHO WE ARE
WOMEN'S & GENDER STUDIES at Vanderbilt is an interdisciplinary program that examines gender as a socio-cultural construct that orders human perceptions and practices but is also historically variable. We are the intellectual face of feminism on campus and in the broader community.

Women's & Gender Studies teaches its students to reexamine traditional beliefs, to recognize that race, class, ethnicity, age, sexuality, and nationality are crucial aspects of identity and can be understood primarily in their intersections, and to bring such critical perspectives to new research and activism.


WHAT WE DO
Our intellectual goal is to transform traditional ways of knowing—in and out of the classroom—by reaching across epistemological and methodological divisions to foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives on gender, sexuality, and identity in everyday lives.

Currently, we offer a Major, a Minor, an Honors Program, and a Graduate Certificate. Our undergraduates can select from six thematic concentrations within Women’s & Gender Studies. More than 90 faculty members across disciplines and schools are affiliated with our program. Most are involved with teaching, student advising, and social and intellectual events.

The program has grown tremendously since 1988 when it was formally instituted, in terms of its course offerings, faculty involvement, and visibility on campus and in the Nashville community. The program is staffed by a Director, an Associate Director, several Senior Lecturers, and an Office Director.