Students interested in issues related to women, gender roles, gender identity, and issues around sexual orientation might pursue a mentorship in gender or queer studies. Such mentorships turn a critical eye to the world we live in, unpacking existing modes of thinking to examine how we might move towards a more just future. 

In a gender studies mentorship, students can tackle the relationship of power and gender as it manifests in the home and family, the workplace, religious institutions, education, government, and media. They can home in on one specific issue, such as underrepresentation of women in Congress, or take on an interdisciplinary research question that looks at how women’s roles vary across cultures. Such research encourages students to think about their own assumptions and how their beliefs shape their perceptions of the world, helping empower them with a sense of agency to take an active role in creating the change they hope to see in society. It will ground students with a strong critical foundation, preparing them to successfully engage in numerous fields, whether history, sociology, literature, politics, or psychology.