Women's & Gender Studies
Women's & Gender Studies (WST) is a multi-disciplinary program that explores topics concerning gender differences, identities, and issues as analyzed by the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Scholarship is inclusive and explores the varying racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds of women. Women's & Gender Studies analyzes the experiences of all people with respect to sociocultural, social psychological, and biological factors that influence the construction and representation of gender.
Women's & Gender Studies courses often involve the investigation of materials previously neglected by scholars, and new methodological and critical approaches to materials customarily treated in other ways. Such courses may thus propose revisions in the content, methods, assumptions, and theories of particular disciplines in light of feminist and intersectional scholarship.
Undergraduate Programs and Minors
Graduate Degrees and Certificates
Dr. Misty L. Knight, Director of the Women’s & Gender Studies Program
Dr. Knight began working with women’s and gender issues as an undergraduate student and throughout her graduate programs taking related courses and conducting research on gender issues such as sexual harassment, intimidation tactics, women in politics, and so on.
Among other publications, conference presentations, and projects, her research includes a collaborative project examining feminist perspectives of the Masters of the Universe: Revelation franchise; supporting youth gender concerns as part of the 2022 Annual Leadership and Education in Adolescent Health at the Penn State College of Medicine; and the performance of transgender identity in popular film and television.
As a member of the National Communication Association, Knight belongs to the Feminist and Gender Studies Division, the Activism and Social Justice Division, and the Women’s Caucus. She is also a member of the Women’s Studies Association, the National Workplace Bullying Coalition, and the Society for Mother Studies.
Knight has presented gender-related workshops and training sessions for Meritus Health of Hagerstown, MD; the Cumberland Valley Women’s Conference; and the Franklin County Women’s Consortium. She has spoken at Shippensburg University for the Worldwide Teach-In for Climate Justice; a symposium for PLS 324: Women in American Politics; “Celebrating the Legacy of RBG” by the Department of Political Science; the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance of Shippensburg University; and the SU Women’s and Gender Studies Faculty Colloquium.