Women, Gender, and Sexuality

Women, Gender, and Sexuality

Professors: Anderson, Berthel, Boatwright, Boyer Lewis, Einspahr, Elman, Garriga-Lopez, Grant, Griffin, Heinritz, Petrey, Smith, Werner

The concentration in Women, Gender and Sexuality offers an interdisciplinary approach designed for students wishing to pursue these interests systematically in their academic programs. The concentration is strongly recommended for those considering graduate work in women's, gender, and/or sexuality studies, but is intended to enrich the liberal arts experience of any student through concerted study of a significant dimensions of human experience. The concentration aims to include the widest possible spectrum of issues affecting women and GLBTQ individuals; concentrators are encouraged to select courses that will acquaint them with a variety of perspectives. Those considering the concentration are encouraged to consult with the director as early as possible in order to make the most of the opportunities available.

Requirements for the Concentration in Women, Gender, and Sexuality

Number of Units
Six units are required.

Required Courses
The following three courses are required of all Women, Gender, and Sexuality concentrators:
POLS 265 Feminist Political Theories
WGS 101 Women, Gender, and Sexuality
WGS 490 Seminar in Women, Gender, and Sexuality

Elective Courses
Four elective courses chosen from the following:
AFST/HIST 294 Gender Relations in Africa
ANSO 220 The Family
ANSO 225 Sex and Sexualities
ANSO 260 Women in Cross-Cultural Perspective
ARTX 290 Art and Gender
ENGL 224 Early Modern Women's Literature: Shakespeare's Sisters
ENGL 225 19th Century Women's Literature: The Epic Age
ENGL 226 Women’s Literature 1900-Present: Modern Voices
HIST 220 American Women's History to 1870
HIST 221 American Women's History Since 1870
HIST 237 Women in Europe
HIST 238 Gender and Sexuality in Pre-Modern Europe
HIST/RELG 267 Women and Judaism
HIST 281 Family, Women, and Marriage in Chinese History
POLS 310 Women, States, and NGO's
PSYC 270 Feminist Psychology of Women
RELG 235 Sex and the Bible
RELG 230 Same-Sex, Gender, and Religion
RELG 259 Feminist Studies in Religion

Required courses are designed to introduce students to fundamental concepts and issues in Women, Gender, and Sexuality through the lens of disciplines representing the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences. Through this core, students should begin to see parallels between disciplines, to develop a basic vocabulary in the field of WGS, and to become familiar with major works, thinkers, and directions in the field.

WGS 490, the required capstone seminar, should be taken in the junior or senior year. This course assumes knowledge of the material in the core courses and affords the chance to bring together core course work, experiential education in women's studies, and individual interests. Women, Gender, and Sexuality should be taken before senior year. Sophomore standing is required to take POLS-265.

Other, one-time course offerings may be counted as a core course only with the approval of the director. Courses taken overseas and at other U.S. colleges may meet concentration requirements with the approval of the director.

Senior Individualized Project (SIP)

The SIP in Women, Gender, and Sexuality is encouraged but not required. Any faculty member regularly teaching in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality program may direct a SIP in Women, Gender, and Sexuality.

Experiential Education and Off-Campus Programs

Women, Gender, and Sexuality, as a field, strives to unite the academic and the experiential, so concentrators are strongly encouraged to integrate their academic work in women's studies with their experiences outside the classroom, on and off campus. Internships directly related to women's studies are many and varied: domestic and sexual assault programs, women's health agencies, feminist activist organizations, research libraries on women, etc. The study abroad experience is an invaluable opportunity to study women's lives in a cross-cultural context. Concentrators are encouraged to take every opportunity before departure to educate themselves about the history, culture, and position of women in the country where they will study and to explore, through the individualized cultural research project (ICRP), the experience of women and the dynamics of gender while they are abroad.

Women, Gender & Sexuality courses