In the spring of 2000, AASU approved the creation of an undergraduate minor and certificate and a graduate certificate in Women's Studies, renamed Gender and Women Studies in 2004 to reflect the growing curricular and theoretical changes in the discipline. In the fall of 2005, a GWST track was added to the Master of Arts in Liberal and Professional Studies, and in the fall of 2007, AASU began to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in Gender and Women's Studies.
This degree offers a sustained course of study that draws upon various perspectives of human experience in areas as diverse as literature, history, art, political science, sociology, and psychology. The core of the degree includes three introductory level Gender and Women's Studies courses, a foreign language requirement, and several upper-level courses including Feminist Theory and History of American Women. GWST students will be required to have upper-level classes in both the Arts and Humanities and in the Social/Behavioral Sciences and Health Professions. Students will also complete a Junior/Senior Seminar and a separate minor field of study. The program of study is designed to offer a well-rounded undergraduate education alone, or function as a double major with many of the university's other areas of study.
The need for graduates with a background in the study of gender and women's issues is growing. Professionals must develop, assess, and implement programs designed to address problems of violence against women, illiteracy, and inadequate healthcare, among many others; often, these problems are impacted by gender and racial or ethnic differences. Traditional academic disciplines sometimes address these issues though "adding-on" discipline-specific units or courses, but approaches to gender and diversity are now so complex and the body of gender-related research is so substantial that this kind of additive approach is no longer sufficient.
A major in Gender and Women's Studies addresses these societal and academic needs in a way that creates a breadth of focus not available in many traditional undergraduate degrees. These attributes make Gender and Women's Studies students valuable candidates for jobs in many fields. Some of the potential career options for GWST students include those in the areas of the arts, business, social work and psychology, media, politics and law, sports, education, and health care.
