Women’s Studies Program

The mission of the women’s studies program at Hamline University is to provide students with tools and experience to guide them in understanding the situation of women nationally and globally. The program encourages development of cultural and political awareness, as well as confidence and ability to identify and challenge systems of oppression that limit the freedom and potential of all people.

The women’s studies program strives to:

provide students the opportunity to explore the impact of gender, sexuality, race, class, and ability on women’s experience;
develop awareness of cultural diversity and the process of social transformation; and
introduce students to research on the situation of women nationally and globally.

Women’s studies program director: Kristin Mapel-Bloomberg.

Opportunities for Nonmajors

All women’s studies courses are open to nonmajors, except the senior seminar and courses where prerequisites or other limits are set by the departments with which they are cross-listed or by the other ACTC campuses.

Honors in Women’s Studies

Honors projects are student-initiated and culminate in the production of professional quality research projects. Honors projects offer an opportunity in the junior and senior year for students to work closely with a faculty member on a significant project designed to explore more deeply a particular focus within women’s studies. The student should initiate the project by discussing possible topics with a potential advisor and the director of women’s studies. Students wishing to be considered for departmental honors in women’s studies should review the detailed information and application forms available from their academic advisor or the director of women’s studies early in their junior year. Those who successfully defend the honors projects will be awarded honors at graduation, and their accomplishment will be recognized on their academic transcript.

The women’s studies academic honor society is Iota Iota Iota. Qualifying students may apply for membership by contacting the women’s studies director.

Internship

Each student majoring in women’s studies must complete an internship related to women’s studies. The internship may be taken for academic credit, and/or LEAD credit if desired. Guidelines for requirements for the internship are available from the women’s studies director.

Postgraduate Opportunities

Women’s studies prepares students to think critically, analyze ideas and policies skillfully, manage diversity in and out of the workplace, apply social justice concerns, and work toward social transformation. This liberal arts field leads to an array of career choices, in areas such as public service, business, and education. Women’s studies majors interested in attending graduate school should discuss securing recommendations and obtaining information on graduate programs and entrance exams with the program director during their junior year.

Cross-Listed Courses

Cross-listed courses are offered in a variety of departments, and have included topics relating to women in philosophy, politics, religion, history, literature, gender and sexuality, and biology of women. Students should consult Piperline each term for current cross-listings in women’s studies or contact the women’s studies program director.

Faculty

Colleen Bell, professor. BS 1975, Iowa State University; MS 1979, University of Wisconsin-Madison; PhD 1986, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Women’s studies, social conflict, social justice, youth activism.

Leila DeVriese, assistant professor. MA 1996, University of Toronto; PhD 2002, Concordia University, Montreal. She also teaches in Global Studies, Social Justice, and Conflict Studies.

Kristin Mapel-Bloomberg, director, associate professor. Hamline University Endowed Chair in the Humanities. BA 1990, Hamline University; MA 1992, St. Cloud State University; PhD 1998, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Author of Tracing Arachne’s Web: Myth and Feminist Fiction. Women’s studies, feminist theory, late19th- and early 20th-century American women’s history, literature, and culture.