New Men’s Studies Major Differs From History Major By One Class

Photo (with edits) by TheDigitalArtist / CC0

By BECKY MOLINOFF October 1, 2018 at 8:17 am

Newsflash, my dudes! Men’s rights are finally being brought to the table at Penn. After years of the powerful and exclusive Woman’s Club dominating the scene, men are rising up from the ashes to put the (M)enn back in Penn. You heard us ladies: your estrogen party is officially OVER. Say goodbye to public spaces that are dominated by women’s paraphernalia and hello to graffiti dicks on every flat surface around campus. Because at long last, the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies major at Penn has been joined by its partner, Penn Men’s Studies (PMS).

The new Men’s Studies major will feature current professors from several fields at the University that have been historically dominated by men, including Anthropology, Architecture, Biochemistry, Biological Basis of Behavior, Biology, Biophysics, Chemistry, Cinema and Media Studies, Classical Studies, Cognitive Science, Communications, Comparative Literature and Theory, Criminology, Earth Science, East Asian Area Studies, Economics, Engineering Majors, English, Environmental Studies, Fine Arts, French and Francophone Studies, Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, German, Health and Societies, Hispanic Studies, History, History of Art, Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, International Relations, Italian Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Linguistics, Logic, Information and Computation, Mathematical Economics, Mathematics, Modern Middle Eastern Studies, Music, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Nutrition Science, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Physics and Astronomy, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Russian and East European Studies, Science, Technology and Society, Sociology, South Asia Studies, Theatre Arts, Urban Studies, Visual Studies, and all Wharton concentrations.

The new major will actually be quite similar to one particular current major at Penn—History. The Men’s Studies major will differ from the History major by just one added requirement: PMS 153–Men and Adversity in the Modern Era. The two also differ in some of the upper level seminar options. For example, HIST 418–Witchcraft and Possession will not count toward the major due to its focus on women.

The administration anticipates that the major will be quite popular among students of all genders and ethnicities. A representative for President Gutmann reported her expectation that “meninists from every faction of campus will find a home in the Penn Men’s Studies major. We’re excited for the great work PMS majors will do in the future of the school.”