Download Proposal for Changes to Academic Program - Inside page.

Proposal for Academic Program Changes
Warren Wilson College
Instructions: Proposed program changes should be submitted electronically to Faculty Body
officers, who will pass the proposal on to the Academic Programs Committee for review.
Proposals should include this completed form and any relevant supporting documents.
Recommended Timeline: To allow time for proposed changes to be reviewed by the Academic
Programs Committee, presented to the Faculty Body and VPAA, and included in catalog
revisions, please submit in the fall semester, if possible, or early in Term 3. Please confer with
Faculty Body officers regarding questions about your timeline.
Department Name: Gender and Women’s Studies, Sociology and Anthropology
Date: October 9, 2009
Contact Person: Laura Vance or Siti Kusujiarti
Phone: X 5851/3703
1. Type of Change(s): (circle all that apply)
 New major/minor - _______________________________________________

Change to existing major/minor - Creation of concentrations in Archaeology, Cultural
Anthropology, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Sociology in the
Sociology/Anthropology major

Deletion of major/minor - Elimination of the Gender and Women’s Studies major

Other - __________________________________________________________
2. Current requirements: (Summarize or cite current catalog pages; attach pages if necessary.)
Current requirements for a major in Sociology and Anthropology:
Requirements: A minimum of 48 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 2.0 including
1.
2.
3.
The following core courses (20 credit hours):
1. ANT 200 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
2. SOC 100 Introduction to Sociology
3. SOC 317 Social Theory
4. SOC 402 Sociology/Anthropology Research Craft
5. SOC 410 Directed Research in Sociology/Anthropology
Breadth and Depth Requirement: At least 20 credit hours of Sociology and Anthropology
electives, including:
1. At least 8 credit hours of electives at the 300 or 400 level
2. At least 4 credit hours of Sociology electives (courses listed SOC)
3. At least 4 credit hours of Anthropology electives (courses listed ANT)
Breadth Requirement in a related area: at least 8 credit hours in one other supplementary area,
including at least 4 credit hours at the 300 or 400 level. Supplementary areas may include Art,
Asian Studies, Biology, Business and Economics, Chemistry, English, Environmental Studies,
Gender and Women's Studies, History, Language, Latin American Studies, Outdoor Leadership,
Peace and Justice Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Social
Work, Theatre, and any other area that supplements the student's focus in Sociology and
Anthropology. These courses may also be used to fulfill the requirements of a second major.
4.
Sociology and Anthropology majors are strongly encouraged to acquire fluency in a second
language.
3. Current total required credits: __48_
New total required credits after changes __48__
4. Summary of proposed change(s) with rationale: (Attach pages if necessary.)
Please see attached catalog description of revised requirements for Sociology and Anthropology and
lists of courses satisfying concentration requirements.
Rationale:
Gender and Women’s Studies was created as a major at Warren Wilson by a
member of the sociology and anthropology faculty, Lori Girshick, and has
never been a truly interdisciplinary major. Faculty in sociology and
anthropology teach all of the required courses in the major, with faculty from
other disciplines contributing elective courses. This proposal is designed to
recognize the connection between gender and women’s studies and sociology
and anthropology, and to strengthen and improve the long-term viability of
gender and women’s studies.
Specifically, the proposal calls for the creation of four concentrations within
the sociology and anthropology major—in archaeology, cultural anthropology,
gender and women’s studies, and sociology. The creation of the other three
concentrations does not substantively change the course requirements of the
sociology/anthropology major, or the courses that the department must offer.
However, this change will provide clarity and help to foster a sense purpose
for those students who strongly identify with one of those three subfields,
while allowing other students to continue to major in sociology/anthropology
without specifying concentration.
Significant changes include:


That students interested in gender and women’s studies would be able
to major in sociology and anthropology with a concentration in gender
and women’s studies, and would complete required courses for the
soc/anth major, including Introduction to Anthropology, Introduction to
Sociology, Social Theory, Research Craft, and Directed Research.
That the major in gender and women’s studies would be eliminated.
5. Do the proposed changes require new or reallocated resources: faculty (full-time, part-time or
adjunct), staff, budget, space, equipment, supplies, etc.? (Attach pages if necessary.)


No
Explanation:
The proposed changes would consolidate resources in order to strengthen both Gender
and Women’s Studies.
Yes
Explanation:
6. What are the potential impacts of the proposed change(s) on other departments or programs?
(Attach correspondence/endorsements from other departments that might be impacted by this
change.)
Faculty who teach courses in gender and women’s studies would continue to teach those courses and
those courses would continue (according to the Registrar) to be listed under the GDS prefix.
The faculty of the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies met on September 22, 2009 to discuss
this proposal. At that meeting all faculty members in attendance expressed support for the proposal (see
attached GDS Meeting Minutes, September 22, 2009).
Department faculty also met with three majors and one minor in gender and women’s studies at the
Garden Cabin on Thursday, October 1st. The most common sentiments at that meeting were that
students thought that the proposed changes “make sense,” and that students desire that a broad array of
gender and women’s studies courses continue to be offered. No student at that meeting expressed
opposition to the proposed change. Given the low attendance at the meeting, the Chair of gender and
women’s studies emailed all majors explaining the proposed changes. To date, no student has
responded to that email.
Approval Signatures (in order):
Dept/Pgm Chair____________________________________________ Date______________
Division Head____________________________________________
Date______________
Acad Pgm Comm Chair _____________________________________ Date _____________
Faculty Body _______________________________________________ Date _____________
VPAA _____________________________________________________ Date _____________
Copy to Registrar
To be housed in Office of Academic Affairs
Academic Programs Committee: January 28, 2008