Master’s degree in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies the first of its kind

The University of St. Thomas Houston (UST Houston) is offering a new online Master of Arts in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies, school officials announced Thursday, May 2nd. According to the school website, the program “will bring the depths of the Catholic intellectual tradition to bear in examining the effects secular feminist theories have had on women’s health care practices, law, education, family policy, and the culture at large.” From a Catholic perspective, students “will learn to cut through modern ideologies, to identify good arguments, and to craft pastoral and policy strategies to promote the full flourishing of men, women and children.”

Students in the program will study elements of the Catholic intellectual tradition, including Scripture, writings of the saints—including Pope St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body”—and contemporary Catholic philosophers and theologians. The program will highlight “the importance of the physical body, the biological reality of sex, and the body’s role in revealing deep spiritual truths about human identity.”

The University of St. Thomas Houston is a Catholic institution of higher learning founded by the Basilian Fathers in 1947. Today, it serves more than 3,600 students.

CWR spoke to program manager Leah A. Jacobson about the new Master of Arts program.

CWR: Can you first tell us a bit about UST Houston?

Leah A. Jacobson: I live in the diocese of Duluth in northeastern Minnesota, and, until two years ago, the only UST with which I had been familiar was UST Minnesota. While UST Minnesota has some good professors and elements, it is a liberal school, and I had assumed UST Houston was as well.

So, when I heard UST Houston was going to start a women’s program, I was suspicious and believed it would be a “woke” program. But I looked into it, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that UST Houston is an entirely different organization than UST Minnesota. UST Houston is listed in The Newman Guide of faithful Catholic colleges, is very much in line with Church teaching and takes the Catholic formation of its instructors and students seriously.

CWR: What are some key features and details about UST Houston’s Master of Arts degree in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies?

Jacobson: It is a virtual program and does not meet on the UST Houston campus, except for a five-day capstone gathering at the end of the program. Our first such gathering will be in January 2026. It is a five-day intensive discussion in which participants present their final projects. A person interested in policy, for example, might present recommendations for policies in one’s place of work.

Our instructors are located all over the country, and we hope to recruit 30 students for the first class this fall.

There are three areas of concentration; participants can receive a certificate in any one area or, if they take all three, they earn the master’s degree. Some might like to take one, and then consider moving on to a second certificate. Each course is three credits, and it takes 30 credits to earn the masters.

The first is a Graduate Certificate in Catholic Feminism, which we hope will attract a wide range of people: intellectuals, working people, moms caring for children at home. We’re pretty broad in our assessment of who would benefit from this certificate.

The second is a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Health and Wellness, which we think would especially be of benefit to those working in the medical profession: doctors, nurses, technicians, etc., who need formation in bioethics.

The third is a Graduate Certificate in Gender and Family Policy, which will be for those interested in law and advocacy, and how laws shape our nation and either hurt or hinder human flourishing.

We also have a fourth Graduate Certificate in Sexuality and Gender, which is a “sampler platter” of all course work; it will be especially beneficial to pastoral staff, diocesan employees, and people looking for a quick history and framework of Catholic feminism.

Classes start August 19, 2024, and we’d like interested persons to apply by July 1, 2024. The cost of the program is $600 per credit, or $18,000 for the entire master’s degree. We are anticipating that many of our students will be full-time employees, so we’ll begin by offering one course per semester. We’ll add to this as the program grows.

CWR: Who are some professors in the program?

Jacobson: We have many outstanding professors. Erika Bachiochi, for example, is a lawyer who has written extensively on Catholic feminism. She has done much research on the women’s movement, feminism, and the core ideologies that have brought us to our current place of gender ideology.

We also have Pia de Solenni, a moral theologian and ethicist, who has written much about women’s roles in the Church. She has worked with many dioceses around the country.

And we have Dr. Marguerite Duane, a medical doctor who lives in the DC area. She has produced much peer-reviewed research on women’s health issues, and is a pioneer in pushing medical professionals forward on their knowledge of how women’s bodies work. She is a shining example of someone using her medical knowledge and vocational training to bring truth to the world.

If you visit our website, you can see a complete list of our instructors and lecturers. I think you’ll find they are people who can articulate knowledge in a faithful and attractive way.

CWR: Why did the UST Houston decide to offer this degree?

Jacobson: The executive leadership of UST Houston thought this was an area not adequately addressed by the leading Catholic colleges in the U.S. There was a hunger and desire for it among many students. Dr. Chris Evans, vice president for academic affairs at UST Houston, was especially outspoken in advocating for this program.

CWR: Are men welcome to earn the Master of Arts in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies?

Jacobson: Yes! It would be helpful for them, too. I particularly hope some of our priests would consider being part of the program. And, while most of our instructors are women, we do have one male instructor, Dr. Kevin Stuart, who will teach policy classes.

CWR: How will this program differ from one at a secular college or liberal religious institution?

Jacobson: I think women’s and gender studies programs at such institutions fail to consider the Catholic anthropology of the human person, that we were created by a loving God, that He has a purpose for our lives and He doesn’t make mistakes that we need to correct. We don’t need classes in creating our identity, but in discovering the identity that God has given us. We need to cooperate with His law and divine will. Ours is a different pathway than that of liberal institutions; we seek to understand and cooperate with God’s natural design.

CWR: What have been some mistakes made by secular feminists in the United States?

Jacobson: They lacked a Christian anthropology of the human person and a correct understanding of what brings happiness and human flourishing. They were seeking happiness, but their solutions were hollow, as they were opposed to human nature. They may have been trying to create something good, but lacked adherence or obedience to a true framework.

There were different waves of feminism; many in the first wave may have been seeking legitimate freedoms and rights that had been withheld from them, such as the right to vote. But the second wave went off track as feminists began seeking such things as no fault divorce and abortion.

The Catholic feminist sees the correct model of a woman in the Virgin Mary whose life was an act of submission to God. Mary’s fiat, or let it be done according to Thy word, was one of submission. The Catholic feminist is so different from the secular feminist in that she acknowledges that women are vulnerable, that she does have sexual differences from men, and she doesn’t assume her role is to be like men.

• Click here for additional information on UST Houston’s new Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies masters degree and here to read the university’s press announcement about the new program.