This page is to be used as a planning tool. Your degree audit is the official record of degree requirements. Updated August 2022.

Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Requirements

Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) is an interdisciplinary field that promotes social justice and full citizenship by asking when and how gender intersects with sexuality, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, globalization, and physical ability in ways that can exclude and oppress but that also can enrich cultures and expand opportunities. GWSS trains students to investigate how gender and sexuality shape challenges people face in areas such as the environment, culture and the media, education, health, violence, and the economy. Critical thinking and analysis and development of expertise in writing, research, and presentation provide the program's graduates with the professional skills they will need to pursue careers or graduate study in a wide variety of fields or academic disciplines.

Undergraduate Core (3 courses, 9 s.h.)
All of these:

GWSS:1001 Intro to Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies
GWSS:1002 Diversity & Power in the U.S.
GWSS:3005 GWSS Practicum
Distribution Requirements (4 courses, 12 s.h.)
Theory
One of these:

GWSS:3100 LGBTQ/Queer Studies
GWSS:3200 Theories for GWSS
Transnational Theory
One of these:

GWSS:3010 Transnational Sexualities
GWSS:3326 The Politics of Progress: NGOs, Development, Sexuality
GWSS:3350 Transnational Feminism

As well as:

One GWSS course with a global/comparative focus
One GWSS course with a race/ethnicity in the U.S. focus
Electives (4 courses, 12 s.h.)
Students must complete at least four electives (minimum of 12 s.h.), earning at least 6 s.h. in courses numbered 3000 or above.
Capstone (2 courses, 6 s.h.)

Option A:

  • GWSS:3900 Creative & Critical Practice (fall)
  • GWSS:4090 Senior Research Seminar (spring)

Option B:

  • GWSS:3400 Advocacy & Engagement Colloquium (fall)
  • GWSS:4080 Advocacy & Engagement Capstone (spring)
Students pursing a degree in Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies complete at total of 39 s.h. of coursework for the major.