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Discover Women's Studies

By 1891, Women too were graduating from Bishop's and doing so even in Medicine. However, the study of topics of concern to and the contributions by women did not come until the "Second Wave" of feminism occurred throughout North America and Europe in the 1970s. Since 1981, we have offered an interdisciplinary Minor and Certificate Degrees in Women's Studies that do address these topics and concerns. In 1997 we expanded these programmes to a Major, which can stand alone as a liberal arts educational foundation for life generally, for graduate studies, and for a variety of new and traditional careers. We already have our first cohort of Majors in Women's Studies. Most of these have chosen to combine that Major with another one in a traditional field or department. Research and careers after the BA are truly wide-ranging. See our Careers section.

Why study Women's Studies at Bishop’s?

Students from all kinds of personal and disciplinary backgrounds find the Women's Studies linked courses and programmes provide a stimulating and interesting kaleidoscope optic on the world and on knowledge. Many take the courses without knowing it, or without thinking of doing a degree in the programmes per se. The fact that so many departments and fields of research or work have embraced and benefited from this renovating "wave" of critical thought speaks for the strength of this approach. Our programmes, underlying philosophy, and practice at Bishop's have always been inclusive rather than exclusive, integrated into other disciplines rather than a separate enclave. The courses and programmes are very popular, attracting women and men alike. They are particularly important in fostering competence, curiosity, critical and analytic thought about the self, about culture, about social problems and change. They help people approach their education critically, to question received theories and methods and their use in understanding the world and changing it. Today, "the politics of the personal" is, or can be, an actively engaged reality. That perspective and practice came from Women's Studies.