Women's Studies (BA Program)

Karin Beeler, Professor and Coordinator
Jacqueline Holler, Professor
Maryna Romanets, Professor
Theresa Healy, Adjunct Professor
Dawn Hemingway, Adjunct Professor


Website:  www.unbc.ca/gender-studies
Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to studying the historical, cultural, literary, and societal role of women and gender. UNBC’s program has strengths in areas such as women’s and gender history; gender, literature, and literary theory; gender, colonialism, and postcolonialism; gender and globalization; feminism, justice, and ethics; gender and health; and gender and international studies.
The Women’s Studies program offers majors and minors in Women’s Studies and, in cooperation with other programs, four joint majors. At the graduate level, the program offers a Master’s degree in Gender Studies.


Major in Women's Studies (BA)
Joint Major in English and Women's Studies (BA)
Joint Major in First Nations Studies and Women's Studies (BA)
Joint Major in History and Women's Studies (BA)
Joint Major in Political Science and Women's Studies (BA)
Minor in Women's Studies

Major in Women's Studies

A major in Women’s Studies requires students to take 48 credit hours of Women’s Studies (16 courses), at least 36 credit hours of which must be upper-division courses either in Women’s Studies or from the gender-and/or women related offerings of other programs.
The minimum requirement for completion of a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Women’s Studies is 120 credit hours.
Program Requirements
Lower-Division Requirement

WMST 100-3 Introduction to Women's Studies
Three additional Women's Studies courses at the 100 or 200 level.

Upper-Division Requirement

WMST 302-3 Women and the Contemporary World
WMST 307-3 Qualitative Research Methods

Three of the following: 

WMST 306-3/FNST 306-3

Indigenous Women: Perspectives 

WMST 311-3/HIST 311-3

History of Feminism

WMST 312-3/HIST 312-3

An Introduction to the History of Gender

WMST 413 (3-6)/FNST 413 (3-6)

Topics in Aboriginal Women's Studies

WMST 420-3/ENGL 410-3

Contemporary Women's Literature

Additional Requirement
Seven courses (21 credit hours) selected from the following:

ANTH 401-3

Anthropological Perspectives on Inequality

ANTH 406-3 Feminist Perspectives in Anthropology
ECON 301-3 Women and the Economy
ENVS 309-3 Gender, Environment and Sustainability

FNST 407-3

First Nations Perspectives on Race, Class, Gender and Power 

HIST 309-3 Women in Canada
HIST 453-(3-6) Topics in the History of Gender
HIST 454-(3-6) Topics in Women's History
INTS 308-3 Gender and International Studies

NURS 412-3

Women and Health

WMST 303-3

Lesbian and Bisexual Lives

WMST 411-3

Contemporary Feminist Theories

WMST 498-(3-6)

Selected Topics in Women's Studies

Alternative courses related to women and/or gender may be substituted with the written permission of the Program Coordinator.


Elective and Academic Breadth

Electives to ensure completion of a minimum of 120 credit hours, including any additional credits necessary to meet the Academic Breadth requirement of the University (see Academic Regulation on Academic Breadth).

Joint Major in English and Women's Studies (BA)

See Calendar entry under English.


Joint Major in First Nations Studies and Women's Studies (BA)

See Calendar entry under First Nations Studies.


Joint Major in History and Women's Studies (BA)

See Calendar entry under History.


Joint Major in Political Science and Women's Studies (BA)

See Calendar entry under Political Science.

Minor in Women's Studies

In conjunction with a major in another program, students may pursue a minor in Women’s Studies. A minor in Women’s Studies requires 18 credit hours of Women’s Studies courses, 12 of which must be upper-division courses. Courses used to fulfill program requirements for a major (or another minor) may not be used toward a minor in Women’s Studies.


Updated: July 12, 2023