Its more than just gender.

West Virginia Universitys Center for Womens Studies is holding an open house this month so studentsmale and femalecan see what the programs all about.

The event will be from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, at E. Moore Hall on the Downtown Campus.

Dr. Barbara Howe, who directs the center, said the open house is an opportunity to sweep away those preconceived notions about feminism and womens studies that have persisted for generations.

It goes beyond biology, Howe said. Society and culture help shape notions of femininity and masculinityand gender also interacts in different ways with race, ethnicity, class and sexuality.

WVU s womens studies has offerings for both undergraduate and graduate studies address those issues and more, Howe said, both in the classroom and through the outreach work of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance and Iota Iota Iota Womens Honorary.

Both those groups will also have representatives at the open house, Howe said.

The Center for Womens Studies is housed in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, which is providing support for the event with the Womens Studies Program Development Fund.

For more information, contact Howe at barbara.howe@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-2339.