Women's and Gender Studies

Women's Studies on EAP

Summary

Program Options

EAP provides unique opportunities to observe how fundamental issues of sex and gender play out in other countries. You will gain direct experience with another culture’s gender norms and valuable insights into the way others, particularly those in non-Western countries, regard the US women’s movement and modes of feminist scholarship. At the same time, you can broaden your perspective on transnational feminist movements and the role of women in development. Any perspective on gender will be enhanced by study abroad on EAP.

Imagine the possibilities when the world is your campus...

Analyze the role of women in development in South Africa
Consider feminist perspectives on global culture in the Netherlands
Contrast Eastern and Western feminism in Hong Kong
Discover how women in Egypt interpret the Qur’an
Explore the politics of reproduction in Chile
Find out how the high level of women’s political representation in New Zealand or Sweden impacts gender (in)equality
Study gender roles, marriage, and family in Japan

These are only a few of the opportunities available to you on EAP!

“It would be virtually impossible to study abroad and not experience a fascinating diversity of perspectives on women and gender. Even one’s own society and culture come into new focus when seen from points elsewhere. As a scholar of gender, media, and culture—and two-time EAP participant—I enthusiastically recommend this program as a way of engaging with the multiple, changing relationships among gender, sexuality, and media in an increasingly transnational world.”

—Professor Janet Walker
Women’s Studies Program and
Department of Film and Media Studies
UC Santa Barbara

Program Options

Women's Studies courses are available at many of EAP’s partner universities worldwide. You can choose from a wide variety of short-term and year programs taught in English or in a foreign language.

Use the following resources to find the right programs for you:

Review information provided by Your Department about study abroad.
View a chart of which EAP programs offer women's studies courses.
Browse the EAP Course Catalog for women's studies courses previously taken by EAP students. Additional courses may be available and not all courses may still be offered.
For additional course information, check the Academic Focus section found on all the program summary pages for each country.

Your Department

Many departments provide information specifically for their students interested in study abroad. Where available, these resources are linked below.

Berkeley

Department of Gender and Women's Studies
- EAP: Departmental Advisor Questionnaire

Davis

Women and Gender Studies Program
- Major and Minor (scroll down)

Irvine

Women's Studies Program
- EAP: Academic Planning

Los Angeles

Department of Women's Studies
- Student Information (scroll down)
- EAP: Policies and Pre-approved Courses

Riverside

Department of Women's Studies
- Academic Programs: EAP

Santa Barbara

Women's Studies Program
- EAP: Major Advising Page

Internships & Research

While on EAP, you can extend your education beyond the classroom through an internship or research project focused on your specific interests. Below are some examples. Check the main Internships, Research, & Independent Study page for EAP's policies governing academic credit for such activities.

Sample Internships
Sample Research or Independent Study Projects

Sample Internships

Internship opportunities vary term to term and placements CANNOT be guaranteed or arranged prior to arrival at your program site. The following are past examples only and do not indicate future availability.

MEMCh (mobilidad y pro-emancipación de mujeres chilenas), an organization concerned with the rights of women in Chile, especially those pertaining to health, education, family, and livelihood. Duties included participating in developmental seminars and presentations, teaching basic computer skills to women in the community, and helping to organize a campaign for the national day of women’s health. (Chile)
The Latin American & Caribbean Women’s Health Network. Duties included translating news and articles regarding women’s health issues for the organization’s webpage, such as a paper on the sex trafficking of Latin American & Caribbean women. (Chile)

Sample Research or Independent Study Projects

Ghana’s 2005 Domestic Violence Act. Research topics included the bill and its implications, the controversy surrounding the bill, and the role women and women's issues play in Ghana's government. This project involved interviews with members of Parliament. (Ghana)
Beauty pageants in Ghana. Research topics included the representation of Western versus African standards of beauty in the pageants, women’s use of the pageants as a means to power, and the consequences of winning pageants. (Ghana)
Trokosi (“the wife of the Gods”), a practice of ritual servitude for women in areas of West Africa. The project took the form of a video documentary on the history of this practice. Research topics included Ghana’s gender dynamics, the role and conflicts of chieftaincy and democracy in Trokosi, and Ghanaian women’s health. (Ghana)
Migration and new gender roles in rural Oaxaca. Research focused on the effects of the mostly male migration to the United States on the sending communities, specifically on the women who are left behind. Topics included how these women reconstruct their economic, social, and political roles as members of transnational families. (Mexico)
African feminist theory on a global feminist movement. Research topics included the relationship of feminism to post-modern and post-colonial theory, the budding feminist movement in South Africa and its critical dialogue with Western feminism, and the possibility of a global feminism. (South Africa)

Student Comments

"My internship was with a distinguished women’s organization in Chile, which not only gave me a chance to talk with women involved in politics and in promoting women’s rights, but also gave me the opportunity to see some of the problems facing the women’s movement in Chile."
—Meghan Lowe, Chile

"Studying abroad was an amazing opportunity that gave me a new perspective on life. My internship experience abroad opened the door to the possibility of a global career working with women of the world."
—Amara Allenstein, Chile

"In feminist studies classes we learn so much about 'other' women—it's great to have an opportunity to actually live with those women, learn about what issues they're facing, and see how they feel about American feminist 'help.' I interned for the Sex Workers Advocacy Network division of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. It opened my eyes to human trafficking in the United States and abroad. I also took a class about gender issues in Eastern Europe and learned how communism affected women there."
—Erin Pressman, Hungary

"Study abroad challenged me to face directly the powers and privileges of being a ‘first
world’ feminist. It brought life to the importance of transnational feminism, which is a large part of the curricula at my home campus. I also conducted a field research project in Oaxaca about how ideologies attached to gender roles might impact the skewed migration rate of Mexicans to the United States. I am now bilingual and have a level of cultural understanding that I could never have achieved without study abroad."
—Nikiko Masumoto, Mexico

"I took a class titled Scandinavian Models of Equality that looked at the gender relations in Sweden. I was able to see how gender theories played out in a more gender-equal society and get a new persepective on the issue as a whole. Studying abroad really is a once-in-a-lifetime chance."
—Elaine Li, Sweden