Welcome

Dear students,

In order to stay connected and share our creative and intellectual engagement, we created this blog. We think it is particularly important during this pandemic to hear each other’s thoughts and to have conversations about the injustices this public health crisis has revealed and exacerbated. If you would like to contribute a message, artwork, video, or any other content related to the majors (Women’s and Gender Studies; Peace and Justice Studies) or minors (Queer Studies; Nonprofit Studies), please send to ykamel@pace.edu and mnayak@pace.edu. Thank you!

Stay healthy and in solidarity,

Dr. Nayak, Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies Department

Chair’s Welcome

I am absolutely thrilled to be the Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies department at Pace University, New York City.  We offer bachelor of arts degrees in Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) and Peace and Justice Studies (PJS), along with four minors: WGS, PJS, Queer Studies, and Nonprofit Studies.

We have a unique department, particularly when you compare us with other Women’s and Gender Studies departments around the country and world. We are proud of how PJS (directed by Emily Welty, PhD) and WGS share a commitment to changing the world for the better. Our distinctive constellation of programs and opportunities will enable you to learn perspectives and skills that will help you grow, prepare you for the professional world, and encourage you to contribute to your community.

This is the right time in our collective history and politics for you to be (nonviolently) armed with the skills, tools, and critical thinking abilities to positively transform our world. This is what you will learn with us:

  1. The Politics of Knowledge Production: you will learn about the interdisciplinary nature of WGS and PJS, which will equip you to question, challenge, and transform dominant systems of power and privilege that are based on gender, race, class, sexuality, and other constructs.
  2. Social Justice: You will learn theories and methodologies that will help you build a skills set to create change in the world.
  3. Intersectionality: You will learn how different types of oppression (such as sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, and other forms of privilege) intersect, and why we have to understand all the various facets of how power and domination work.
  4. Transnational Analysis: You will figure out how to understand the above concepts in historical and contemporary U.S. and global contexts. You will learn about inequality around the world, particularly the impact of colonialism, imperialism, and neoliberalism.

We are inspired by our students every day. We watch our students work with our organizational partners (such as nongovernmental organizations affiliated with the United Nations, immigration advocacy groups, the Legal Aid Society, Pride for Youth, and more). Our students have earned Fulbright scholarships, as well as opportunities to work on women’s empowerment, domestic violence prevention, trans* rights, and the rights of marginalized communities. They are also flourishing in graduate schools and in their careers.

So, please stop by our offices to tell us your stories, challenges, and dreams, to tell us about your new internship or job offer, to ask us to collaborate on research or an advocacy project, or to hang out in the WGS suite, where you can find a space that celebrates those who support feminism and social justice.

Thank you!
Dr. Meghana Nayak
Professor of Political Science
Chair of Women’s and Gender Studies
Co-Director, Women’s Leadership Initiative
Room 511H
mnayak@pace.edu