The Women and Gender Studies Option within the Liberal Arts major analyzes the category of gender and explores how gender shapes the lives of both women and men. Students in this option will become better equipped to analyze and respond to messages about masculinity and femininity, and perhaps even create new ones. Students will explore how women and men learn their gender roles, how they rebel against these roles, and how these roles intersect globally with race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and religion. Interdisciplinary in nature, this program will foster students’ analysis of gender by weaving together the tools of history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, and literary studies. Graduates of this Option can go on to major in Women and/or Gender Studies at four year institutions, they can major in a variety of other fields (Psychology, Sociology, English, Communications, etc.), or they can go directly into the workplace.

Graduates are able to:

• understand the relationship between gender and society, making them more competitive in a workplace
• think critically and communicate effectively, orally and in writing
• examine how gender impacts all aspects of our culture
• understand gender as it relates to race, class, and sexual orientation

Raritan Valley Community College Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS) degree programs are designed to comply with the New Jersey Community Colleges General Education Foundation which supports transfer of courses to NJ Public four-year colleges and universities.  Students who intend to transfer to a NJ college or university can further improve the transfer of courses by using the Recommended Transfer Program (RTP) feature in NJTransfer.org.