Undergraduate Certificate in Gender-Based Violence

Undergraduate students at Tulane can earn a certificate in Gender-Based Violence through the School of Liberal Arts.

Many students already dedicate time to working on the issue outside of class through service as members of Sexual Aggression Peer Hotline and Education (SAPHE) or as Peer Health Educators (TUPHEs), as members of the All In student coalition, or as interns in the Title IX office, or at The Well. This certificate offers a curricular complement to that work.

Those in human resources, law, counseling, and medical professions (nurses, doctors, physical therapists, dentists) all engage with victims/survivors of gender-based violence and could benefit from this certificate program.

Speak to your academic advisor about declaring your intent to pursue the certificate.

Certificate Requirements

To receive a certificate in gender-based violence, students must complete 12 credits from an established list of eligible courses. Students must take one course from Tier One, one course from Tier Two, and two courses from Tier Three.

Tier One: One of the following two courses

• GESS 1900: Sex, Power, and Culture
• SOCI 1010: Sexualities and Society

Tier Two: One of the following three courses

•   SPHU 3500: Public Health Approach to Sexual Violence*
•   POLS 4200: The Politics of Rape*
•   HISU 6350: History of Gender-Based Violence in the United States

*pre-reqs for these classes can be waived for students pursuing the certificate. Contact the faculty member to ask for a waiver to allow registration.

Tier Three: two of the following sixteen courses

•   AFRS 3200    Sexual Politics in South Africa
•   COMM 3310    Communication for Feminist Activism
•   HISU 2400   Women & Gender in the U.S. to 1864
•   HISU 2410   Women & Gender in the U.S. since 1861
•   HISU 2500    Gender, Sexuality, and the Law
•   HISU 6260    New Directions in Women’s History
•   HISU 6350    History of Gender Violence in the U.S.*
•   MUSC 2164    Women Die in Opera
•   PSDV 3010   Gender and Development
•   PSDV 4330    Post-Conflict Development
•   PSDV 4200    Women and Development in Africa
•   POLI 4010    Women and War
•   POLS 4200   The Politics of Rape*
•   SOWK 1000    Trauma! A Survey Course
•   SOWK 2100    Family Trauma: A Survey Course
•   SOWK 2510    Making Meaning of Trauma
•   SPHU 3500   Public Health Approach to Sexual Violence*
•   THEA 4420    Theatre as Preventative to Address Toxicity and Promote Social Change on Campus

*These classes can count for tier three only if not used to count for tier two. For example, if you take POLS 4200 for the Tier 2 requirment, you can then take SPHU 3500 for the Tier 3 requirement

Each semester we will produce a listing of special topics courses that would count towards the certificate. Those courses will be approved for elective credit on a case-by-case basis. In order for a course to count towards the certificate, it must include at least 2 weeks/6 hours of content about gender-based violence. Other courses may be approved for elective credit on a case-by-case basis by submitting a Degree Audit Substitution request form to Program Administrator, Laura Wolford, lwolford@tulane.edu.

View the Certificate Requirements Checklist.

Other courses may be approved for elective credit on a case-by-case basis by submitting a Degree Audit Substitution request form to Program Administrator, Laura Wolford, lwolford@tulane.edu.

We recommend, where appropriate, that students also complete an honors thesis, independent study research paper, internship, and/or Center for Public Service (CPS) service-learning project on gender-based violence to strengthen their portfolio.

Goals and Learning Outcomes

The Gender-Based Violence Certificate has three tiers of course requirements. Each tier layers onto a goal and a related learning outcome.

Tier One

Goal: To provide an intellectual foundation for the study of gender-based violence by introducing students to a social science of gender and sexuality.
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to describe the phenomenon of gender-based violence in light of social scientific theories of gender and sexuality.
Required Course: One of the two Tier One courses.

Tier Two

Goal: To ground students’ understanding of gender-based violence in one discipline’s academic tradition.
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of one discipline’s approach to understanding gender-based violence.
Required Course: One of the three Tier Two courses.

Tier Three

Goal: To provide students an opportunity to learn how gender-based violence manifests in specific social contexts.
Learning Outcome: Students will be able to explain why and how gender-based violence emerges and develops in real-life situations.
Required Courses: Two of the Tier Three courses.

Program Directors

Lisa Wade, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Sociology, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Newcomb Institute

Gretchen Clum, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Advisory Committee

Sally J. Kenney, Ph.D., Professor, Political Science

Karissa Haugeberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History

Participating Faculty

Sally J. Kenney, Ph.D., Professor, Political Science

Laura Rosanne Adderley, Ph.D., Associate Professor, History

Aaron Armelie, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Angela Breidenstine, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry

Amy Chaffee, MFA, Assistant Professor, Theatre

Claudia Chavez Arguelles, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Anthropology

Krystal Cleary, Professor of Practice, Communication and Gender and Sexuality Studies

Gretchen Clum, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Julia Fleckman, Ph.D., Research Professor, Department of Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

Samantha Francois, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Catherine Hancock, JD, Geoffrey C. Bible & Murray H. Bring Professor of Constitutional Law

Karissa Haugeberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History

Z'étoile Imma, Ph.D., Michael S. Field Assistant Professor of English and Africana Studies

Mike Kuczynski, Ph.D., Professor of English

Nghana Lewis, Ph.D., Professor of English and Africana Studies

Jana Lipman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History

Laura Helen Marks, Ph.D., Professor of the Practice, English

Adeline Masquilier, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology

Kathy Oquelí McGraw, Ph.D., MPH, LCSW-BACS, LAC, LPP, Director of Field Education & Clinical Assistant Professor

Catherine McKinley, Ph.D., LMSW, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Jenny Mercein, MFA, Assistant Professor, Theatre

Ebony Perro, Ph.D., Professor of the Practice, English

Denese Shervington, MD, Ph.D., School of Medicine

Selamawit D. Terrefe, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, English

Red Tremmel, Senior Professor of Practice, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Lisa Wade, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Sociology, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Newcomb Institute

Maeve Wallace, Ph.D. MPH, Assistant Professor, Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Associate Director, Mary Amelia Center for Women’s Health Equity Research

Ashley Weir, LCSW-BACS, ACSW, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Forensic Sexual Behavior Program, School of Medicine

For more information:

Program Administrator: Laura Wolford, lwolford@tulane.edu

Faculty Directors:

Lisa Wade, Ph.D., lwade3@tulane.edu

Gretchen Clum, gclum@tulane.edu