History of Women and Gender

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Course Descriptions

The Department of History at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has eighteen scholars who teach and specialize in women's and gender history. This makes the history department one of the strongest faculties in the United States for research and study in this field. The program emphasizes the comparative study of women and gender, with strengths in social, cultural, and transnational history and the histories of reproduction and the body, the family, and material culture. Many other faculty on campus are engaged with issues of women and gender, and welcome students who wish to pursue an interdisciplinary approach to the field. As the fourth largest university library in the U.S., the Graduate Library offers extraordinary resources and personnel to support graduate research.

A lively community of graduate students and faculty work together to pursue mutual interests and engage in learning outside of the classroom. The Workshop on Gender History brings together our community to discuss scholarship in the field and work in progress. In 2006-2007 graduate students in the department are organizing the eighth annual conference on Women's and Gender History in conjunction with women's history month.

In July, 2004, the Journal of Women's History relocated to the University of Illinois, co-edited by Jean Allman and Antoinette Burton. With their colleagues in the History Department and Gender and Women's Studies, they are building upon the journal's impressive legacy of feminist historical inquiry. The journal at UIUC is generously supported by the Department of History, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Vice-Chancellor for Research. Included in that support are two new research assistantships for graduate students who will serve as Managing Editors of the journal.

Program of Study

Students may elect to prepare either a major or minor field in the history of women and gender. The field is structured as a comparative one. Students normally select two major geographic areas and/or periods (e.g., United States and Europe; India and Britain). Preliminary examinations are tailored to students' individualized programs of study.

To incorporate women's studies scholarship more fully into their research, students in History may, in addition, choose to complete a graduate minor in Women's Studies. The minor consists of three courses, including one in feminist theory and one outside the student's home discipline. Doctoral minors in Women's Studies are encouraged to design dissertation topics around issues of women and/or gender.