Women's and Gender Studies department web site
The information on this page pertains to program requirements for students who matriculated in the 2024-2025 academic year. View requirements for previous catalog years here.
The Women's and Gender Studies program spans a wide range of disciplines to offer courses that focus on the analysis of gender as a category. Courses associated with the program pay particular attention to the social construction of gender identity and gender relations and to the intersection of gender with other categories, including race, class, and sexuality. The Women's and Gender Studies program values student engagement with feminist discourses and practices and seeks to help students understand representations and realities of gender in multicultural and global contexts.
All students who complete the Concentration in Women’s and Gender Studies engage in either an independent study or an internship, depending on their interests and needs. The Concentration in Women’s and Gender Studies is designed to complement majors and career goals in many different fields, including government, non-profit agencies, non-governmental organizations, education, human resources, social work, counseling, law, medicine, and the arts.
Students who complete a Concentration in Women's and Gender Studies choose from many disciplines to complete their requirements and are encouraged to explore gender through the lens of multiple academic fields. The concentration includes a practicum—either an internship or an independent study—to provide students with professional preparation and opportunities to explore specific interests in greater depth.
Students should work closely with their advisors to select courses that support their personal and professional aspirations and to determine what form of practicum best suits their educational and career objectives.
| Course | Credits |
| WGS 075/ENG 075/SCSS 075 - Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies | 3 |
| Four WGS core courses - choose from the following:* | 12 |
| ANTH 138 - Global Reproductive Politics | 3 |
| ANTH 143 - Transracial Adoption | 3 |
| ANTH 150 - Constructing Normal | 3 |
| ANTH 158 - Representing Race | 3 |
| ANTH 170 - Global Political Violence | 3 |
| ANTH 175 - Medical Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH 176 - Documenting Lives | 3 |
| ART 112 - Women and Renaissance Art | 3 |
| EDUC 164 - Perspectives in Race, Ethnicity, and Gender | 3 |
| ENG 040 - Renaissance Women | 3 |
| ENG 042 - Approaches to American Literature, Pre-1900 | 4 |
| ENG 066 - Reading Race and Ethnicity | 3 |
| ENG 068 - Rhetoric and Pop Culture | 3 |
| ENG 077 - Reading Gender | 3 |
| ENG 088 - Reading & Writing About Class | 4 |
| ENG 112 - Autobiography and Memoir | 3 |
| ENG 124 - Topics: Victorian Secrets | 3 |
| ENG 125 - Feminism in American Film and Fiction | 3 |
| ENG 135 - Adolescent Literature | 3 |
| ENG 137 - Gender and Horror | 3 |
| ENG 138 - Argumentation and Advocacy | 3 |
| ENG 151 - Salem Witch Trials | 3 |
| ENG 152 - 19th Century American Lit | 3 |
| ENG 158 – South African Literature | 3 |
| ENG 164 - Latino/a Literature | 3 |
| ENG 174 - Theories of Language and Discourse | 3 |
| HIST 099 - European Women's History | 3 |
| HIST 115 - Native America | 3 |
| HIST 156 - Sex, Power, and War in the Aztec Empire | 3 |
| HIST 172 - Women and Gender in Early America | 3 |
| HIST 173 - Women and Gender in Modern America | 3 |
| HIST 194 - History of Public Health and Medicine | 3 |
| HIST 194 - Race, Gender, and Politics in American Sports | 3 |
| HONR 191 - Women & Hebrew Scriptures | 3 |
| HONR 195 - Women and the Law | 3 |
| LPS 031 - Law and the Borders of Belonging | 3 |
| LPS 138 - Reproductive Law and Politics in the U.S. | 3 |
| LPS 147- Uncomfortable Transactions | 3 |
| PHIL 091 - Contemporary Ethical Problems | 3 |
| POLS 112 - Women in Politics | 3 |
| POLS 119 - Gender and Sexuality in American Politics | 3 |
| POLS 149 - Sites of Memory | 3 |
| POLS 154 - Human Trafficking | 3 |
| POLS 161 - Gender and International Relations | 3 |
| POLS 162 - Gender and War | 3 |
| PSY 137 - Psychology of Gender | 3 |
| SCSA 025 - Anthropology of Religion | 3 |
| SOC 050 - Sociology of the Family | 3 |
| SOC 150 - Women and Work | 3 |
| SOC 154 - Poverty and Society | 3 |
| SOC 161 - Race and Ethnicity | 3 |
| SOC 165 - The Art of the Interview | 3 |
| SOC 174 - Feminist Theories | 3 |
| SOC 175 - Theories of Inequality | 3 |
| SOC 177 - Gender and Violence | 3 |
| Practicum** | 3 |
| WGS 191 - Internship, or | 3 |
| WGS 192 - Independent Study | 1-3 |
| TOTAL | 18 |
*No more than six credits from any one discipline may count toward the completion of the WGS Core.
** Prerequisites for both internships and independent studies include a minimum of nine credits completed toward the concentration with a minimum 3.0 GPA, junior or senior status, and approval of a Women’s and Gender Studies faculty advisor.
The information in this catalog does not constitute a contract between the university and the student. The university reserves the right to make changes in curricula, admission policies and processes, tuition and financial aid, academic standards and guidelines, student services and any other regulations or policies set forth in this catalog without giving prior notice.