Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary program that challenges the cultural, intellectual, social, and political assumptions about sex, gender, and sexuality systems. A unique field, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies draws on scholarship from multiple disciplines to develop its own theories, methods and epistemologies. The inextricable linkage of theory and practice forms the foundation of the field. Courses in the program critically engage issues of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality and other key components of identity, and the ways they intersect.
Students in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program will be able to:
- Identify intersecting systems of power; including race, class, ethnicity, gender, sex, and sexuality.
- Gain specialized knowledge and acquire proficiency in course content.
- Apply theories, methods, and epistemologies to course materials and lived experience.
- Analyze and critically evaluate the implications of specialized knowledge put into practice.
As an interdisciplinary program, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies offers a unique way to combine elements from other disciplines and bring them together in especially powerful ways: Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies encourages research and scholarship that integrate diverse ideas.
WGSS 1101 Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 3 Credits
Attributes: MSID Magis Core: Interdisciplinary, WSGF Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Gender Focused
This course serves as an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of women, gender, and sexuality. Students will explore the constructed nature of these categories and seek to place them in both historical and contemporary frameworks. By extension, this course will critically examine intersecting systems of power within a global and U.S. context. Topics will include politics and health, work and economics, media and culture, as well as religion and family.
WGSS 3980 Internship 3 Credits
Attributes: WSGF Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Gender Focused
The internship program allows students to gain on-site experience that can be related to the discipline of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Internship areas include health, publishing, communications, politics, and many other fields. Students consult the program director for a list of internship opportunities before registering for this course. Faculty supervision helps students integrate their experiences with the intellectual foundation acquired in their academic courses. Enrollment by permission only. Previously WS 0299.
WGSS 4990 Independent Study 1-3 Credits
Attributes: WSGF Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Gender Focused
By arrangement with Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies faculty, students may choose to work independently on special topics. Enrollment by permission only. Previously WS 0399.
WGSS 4999 Capstone Seminar 3 Credits
Attributes: MSID Magis Core: Interdisciplinary, PJST Peace and Justice Studies, WSGF Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Gender Focused
Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Students take this final course in the minor sequence in the senior year after completing the other five required courses. The course integrates feminist approaches across the disciplines, emphasizing the relationship between theory and practice. Previously WS 0301.