Women and Gender Studies
This is an archived copy of the 2022-23 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.ndsu.edu.
The North Dakota State University (NDSU) Women and Gender Studies (WGS) program is an interdisciplinary academic program that focuses on women and gender issues in society, while integrating the teaching, research, and service goals of our land grant university. The program offers a graduate certificate in Women and Gender Studies that is open to students enrolled in graduate degree programs at NDSU as well as professionals who are not currently pursuing a masters or doctorate.
To begin your certificate studies in the WGS program, contact the Director, Dr. Ashley Baggett, at ashley.baggett@ndsu.edu.
Career Opportunities
Graduate students completing the Women and Gender Studies certificate enrich the study of their discipline by receiving additional instruction in the way in which gender and sexuality functions. The perspectives and application of feminist theory deeps research in their respective field.
Increasingly, employers seek candidates who understand and support diversity and inclusiveness, which is a foundational principle in the Women and Gender Studies program. The Women and Gender Studies certificate provides the valuable expertise to advance professionals in the workplace. Educators can gain graduate credit hours necessary to increase their salary. Doctoral scholars improve their marketability by demonstrating versatility in their research and are eligible to seek positions with dual appointments in their home field and in Women and Gender Studies.
The Curriculum
Women and Gender Studies certificate students complete 5 credit hours in core courses. These include WGS 793: Professional Development, WGS 797S: Research, and WGS 793: Community Outreach. The Professional Development credit hour is an independent study for engagement with the field through activities such as conference presentations or event organizing. The Research credit hour is for the development of an original research paper on a gender-related topic. Lastly, the Community Outreach independent study is the capstone. As a field committed to fostering justice for all, students complete a capstone that places feminist theory into practice.
In addition to the core courses, Women and Gender Studies certificate students explore issues of gender and sexuality through completion of 9 elective credits. These are tailored towards their individual field and include Education, Sociology, Public Health, History, and others.
To be admitted to the WGS Certificate Program, the applicant must be a current degree-seeking student in a graduate program at an educational institution of recognized standing, with a 3.0 GPA or higher. Submit a short statement of purpose (no more than two double-spaced pages) indicating 1) reasons for pursuing a graduate certificate in WGS, 2) the experiences you’ve had (e.g., informal, academic, professional, volunteer) that are related to this graduate certificate, and 3) your professional goals and how this graduate certificate program will help you accomplish those goals.
To apply, please go to the Admission Information page. Decisions will be made on an ongoing, rolling basis.
Course requirements for the graduate certificate in WGS will build upon existing graduate curriculum, most of which are accessible to all disciplines. This program requires 9 credit hours of coursework (may be combined with coursework for your primary degree program); 1 credit hour of professional development; a research component worth 1 credit hour; and a community project or grant application worth 3 credit hours, for a total of 14 credit hours.
Current List of Graduate Courses that are suggested by WGS (list is not all-inclusive, and some programs are restricted to their enrolled students):
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Choose 9 credits from the following (contact adviser for approval to take a course not listed) | 9 | |
| ANTH 642 | Feminist Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH 645 | Archaeology of Native North America | 3 |
| ANTH 646 | Anthropology of Latin America | 3 |
| ANTH 655 | Language and Expressive Culture | 3 |
| ANTH 658 | Indigenous Peoples and Cultures of the Upper Midwest | 3 |
| ANTH 664 | Disaster and Culture | 3 |
| ANTH 679 | Community-Based and Indigenous Archaeologies | 3 |
| CED 725 | Wellness in Native Communities | 1 |
| CED 726 | Youth Development in Native Communities | 1 |
| CED 763 | Immigrants and Communities | 3 |
| CJ 665 | Gender, Race and Ethnicity in Criminal Justice | 3 |
| CJ 750 | Violence | 3 |
| CJ 760 | Police and Race Issues | 3 |
| CJ 768 | Gender and Justice | 3 |
| CNED 716 | Social and Cultural Foundtions of Counseling | 3 |
| CNED 732 | Family Counseling | 3 |
| CNED 733 | Marital Counseling | 3 |
| COMM 704 | Qualitative Research Methods in Communication | 3 |
| COMM 750 | Advanced Issues in Communication | 3 |
| EDUC 576 | Culturl Counslg Issues | |
| EDUC 652 | Assessment and Testing of Culturally Diverse Students | 2 |
| EDUC 655 | Socio-Psycho-Linguistics for Teachers of English Language Learners | 3 |
| EDUC 661 | Introduction to Special Education | 3 |
| EDUC 663 | Inclusive Instructional Planning Across the K-12 Setting | 3 |
| EDUC 686 | Classroom Management for Diverse Learners | 3 |
| EDUC 689 | Teaching Students of Diverse Backgrounds | 3 |
| EDUC 712 | Social, Cultural and Political Dimensions of Schools | 3 |
| EDUC 726 | Diagnosis/Learning Disabilities | |
| EDUC 758 | Social & Cultural Found/Couns | |
| EDUC 759 | Sexual Funct/Abuse Issues/Couns | |
| EDUC 768 | Counseling Children & Adoles | |
| EDUC 769 | Politics and Policy Analysis in Education | 2 |
| EDUC 773 | Family Counseling | |
| EDUC 789 | School Community Relations | 2 |
| EDUC 807 | Diversity and Educational Policy | 3 |
| EDUC 806 | International and Comparative Education | 3 |
| ENGL 635 | Young Adult Literature in a Multicultural World | 3 |
| ENGL 653 | Social and Regional Varieties of English | 3 |
| ENGL 654 | Language Bias | 3 |
| ENGL 656 | Literacy, Culture and Identity | 3 |
| ENGL 659 | Researching and Writing Grants and Proposal | 3 |
| ENGL 674 | Native American Literature | 3 |
| HDFS 713 | Adolescents and Their Families | 3 |
| HDFS 715 | Youth Culture | 3 |
| HDFS 750 | Culture and Aging: Global and Multicultural Perspectives | 3 |
| HDFS 811 | Developmental Concepts and Theories | 3 |
| HDFS 813 | Social and Emotional Development Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| HDFS 830 | Issues and Theories in Family Science | 3 |
| HDFS 854 | Advanced Quantitative Methods in Developmental Science | 3 |
| HDFS 874 | Contemporary Grant Writing | 3 |
| HIST 622 | American Civil War and Reconstruction | 3 |
| HIST 623 | The Gilded Age and Progressive America | 3 |
| HIST 626 | Women in American History | 3 |
| HIST 677 | Slavery in the Atlantic World | 3 |
| HNES 642 | Community Health and Nutrition Education | 3 |
| HNES 740 | Maternal and Child Nutrition | 3 |
| HNES 741 | International Nutrition | 3 |
| HNES 742 | Nutrition: A Focus on Life Stages | 3 |
| MGMT 671 | Leading Social Entrepreneurship and Nonprofit Organizations | 3 |
| HNES 746 | Nutrition and Health Disparities | 3 |
| PH 704 | Public Health Management and Policy | 3 |
| PH 705 | Global Health | 3 |
| PH 741 | Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health | 3 |
| PH 745 | Community Health Leadership | 3 |
| PH 765 | Cultural Competence in Health Professions | 3 |
| PH 772 | American Indian Health Equity | 3 |
| PH 781 | Foundations of Maternal and Child Health | 3 |
| PH 775 | Case Studies in Indian Health | 3 |
| PSYC 663 | Experimental Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 673 | Child Psychopathology and Therapy | 3 |
| PSYC 674 | Behavior Analysis in Developmental Disabilities | |
| PSYC 771 | Advanced Topics in Social Psychology | 3 |
| PSYC 787 | Advanced Topics in Health Psychology | 3 |
| SOC 605 | Community Development | 3 |
| SOC 610 | Social Inequality | 3 |
| SOC 612 | Sociology of Gender | 3 |
| SOC 617 | Sociology Of The Family | 3 |
| SOC 624 | Feminist Theory and Discourse | 3 |
| SOC 625 | Sociology of Culture | 3 |
| SOC 639 | Social Change | 3 |
| WGS 793 | (Professional Development) | 1 |
| WGS 797S | (Research Component) | 1 |
| WGS 793 | (Community Project or Grant Application) | 3 |
Ashley Baggett, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Director of WGS
Louisiana State University, 2014
Research Interests: Women’s History/Gender Studies, 19th Century U.S., Southern History
Alison Bertolini, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, English and Women and Gender Studies
Louisiana State University, 2009
Research Interests: Contemporary American Literature, Gender Studies, Ethnic Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Women’s Studies
Dena Wyum, M.S.
Lecturer, Human Development and Family Science
North Dakota State University, 2008
Allied Faculty
Kelly Cameron, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer, English
Texas Christian University, 2012
Research Interests: Feminist Approaches to Rhetoric and Cultural Rhetorics
Kristen Fellows, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
University of Pennsylvania, 2013
Research Interests: Feminist Archaeology and Anthropology, Ethnohistory and Oral Histories
Holly Hassel, Ph.D.
Professor, English
University of Nebraska, 2002
Research Interests: Feminist Pedagogy
Christi McGeorge, Ph.D.
Professor, Human Development and Family Science
University of Minnesota, 2005
Research Interests: Influence of Heterosexism and Homophobia on Clinical Practice and Training, Gender Equity in Therapy, Gender Equity in Higher Education
Carrie Anne Platt, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Communication
University of Southern California, 2008
Research interests: Rhetorical Approaches to Emerging Technologies and Identity in Public Culture As Well as Digital Media and Communication Pedagogy
Christina Weber, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology
State University of New York (Buffalo), 2005
Research Interests: The Sociology of Memory and Trauma, Photography’s Impact of the Historical Understanding of the Great Depression, Women and the Dust Bowl