
Women's and Gender Studies
Welcome to the Women's and Gender Studies Program
The study of women's and gender studies focuses on the experiences and perspectives of women and considers how gender intersects with other factors, such as race and class, to shape all of our lives. Founded upon the integration of theory and practice, and of critique and imagination, women's and gender studies brings approaches from other disciplines and fields into conversation with each other and with critical theories about gender and power to address and improve the lives of women and, by extension, of children and men. Inspired by both feminist and Marianist traditions, the Women's and Gender Studies Program at the University of Dayton promotes:
- integration, collaboration, and personal engagement in learning;
- the development and dissemination of critical thinking for social justice;
- the appreciation and protection of human dignity and diversity
- and leadership through responsibility and service to community.
Betty Ann (Behringer) Perkins, a past faculty member in the department of history and a founder of the University’s women’s studies program, died Dec. 30. She was 95.
Read moreThe University of Dayton women's and gender studies program was first discussed during the 1960s when issues of gender were being raised on college campuses. The University formally launched a women's study program in 1978 with a social justice-oriented mission to make students aware that women and gender issues matter.
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