Women's and Gender Studies Major Requirements

All majors are required to take WGS 330: Feminist Thought, which introduces them to some of the major debates and intellectual conversations in the field of feminist theory. The seminar is organized around a set of texts that are engaged with questions about race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, (trans)nationalism or globalization, with an acute attention to the historical construction of their ideologies and practices, and to their relevance to individual and collective experience.

The practicum ensures that majors gain exposure to and participate in hands-on research or community service internships in which feminist approaches are materially relevant.

Students choose one of the following to fulfull this requirement:

• WGS 310: Health, Gender, and Performance    
• WGS 350: Nonprofit Management, Community Engagement & Feminist Practice
• WGS 351: Leading Feminism
• WGS 353 Helping Hands: The Science of Doulas
• WGS 404: Gender Based Violence: From Theory to Practice
• Research course related to gender and sexuality, by approval of WGS advisor

Students are required to take at least one course from each of the following four areas. Only one course may count toward two areas. If such a course is double-counted, an additional elective must be chosen to reach the required 27 credits of Women's and Gender Studies classes (see more on electives below). 

Please consult the links to the right for information about which courses count towards each area.

LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) and Sexuality Studies

These courses offer an interdisciplinary approach to sexuality that includes topics such as religious beliefs, legal codes, medical constructions, and social movements, and recognizes them as historically variable and culturally specific. With the contributions of empirical research, feminist scholarship, and queer theory, courses in this area acquaint students with the history of sexuality and understanding the formation of sexual identities and sexuality. 

Gender, Race and Ethnicity in the United States 

These courses examine the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity in order to consider differences among women and men, as well as the impact of multiple categories of identity on experience and on the formation and contestation of gender itself. Interracial and interethnic relations, the mutual influence of social movements, and racialized genders are also explored. Although the U.S. is the primary focus of these courses, consideration of various diasporas encourages analysis of the links between communities across national borders.

Gender, Culture, and Representation 

These courses explore ways in which meanings about women and gender are produced through cultural images, artifacts, and performances. They position students as readers, viewers, and interpreters of culture, as well as creators of it, especially in the domains of literature, the visual and performing arts, mass media (including film), and their histories. Courses introduce students to feminist analyses of culture and encourage them to consider processes of viewing, writing, and producing knowledge.

Gender in a Global Context

These courses offer a comparative cross-cultural perspective on the construction and meaning of gender, race, class, and sexuality. They examine current forces of globalization and empire, the histories of imperialism and colonialism, and postcolonial resistance and theory. Courses decenter the U.S. while placing it in a geopolitical context, including global feminisms.

Electives include any Women's and Gender Studies course at the 200 level or above, and will be used to bring the total credits of Women's and Gender Studies classes to 27 (excluding WGS 240 and the cognates.)

At least 25 credits must be at the 300 or above. This means you can take up to two 200 level Women's and Gender Studies courses in addition to WGS 240 Intro. to Women's Studies.

Students are required to take two courses at the 300 or 400 level that are neither in Women's and Gender Studies nor cross-listed, but provide supporting skills or contexts for the study of women and gender. These courses should not, however, focus primarily on women. In order to ensure that the interdisciplinary Women's and GenderStudies major is complemented by training in a single discipline, these courses will normally be in the same department. Cognate courses may be in a second major. 

Please consult with a Women's Studies advisor if you have questions about courses that will fulfill the cognate requirement.