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Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies

Overview

The Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) minor is an interdisciplinary program that encourages the study of gender construction and identities, the lives of women, and the range of sexualities, in local and global contexts.

There is no monolithic approach to the study of gender, women, and sexuality, as demonstrated by the wide range of departments across campus that offer related courses. The study of these concepts involves multiple layers of complexity and various disciplinary paradigms. The GWSS minor offers students the opportunity to engage in dialogue with learners across the curriculum as they study the power of critically analyzing gender, women, and sexuality from a multitude of disciplinary perspectives and philosophical positions.

Minor Requirements

The GWSS minor is a five-course program consisting of one required core class and four electives. No more than three courses from one department can be counted toward the minor.

All students minoring in GWSS must take at least one of the following courses:

All of the courses below examine gender, women, and sexuality, and approach these concepts from an intersectional perspective, emphasizing their interconnections with different bases of identity and multiple systems of oppression, including race and class.

AMST 265/WRD 265	Feminist Rhetorics and Social Change	4 units
CTSJ 140	Critical Theories of Sexuality	4 units
CTSJ 220	Intersectionality: Mapping Social Injustice in the United States	4 units
DWA 230	Gender and International Human Rights	4 units
HIST 237	Changing Views of Gender, Women, and Sexualities	4 units
POLS 321	Gender and Politics in the Global South	4 units
SOC 265	Gender and Society	4 units

Electives

In addition to completing one core course, students will take four additional courses from the list below to fulfill the minor.

AMST 233	American Queer Novel	4 units
AMST 256/BLST 256	Race Women: African American Women's Protest Culture	4 units
AMST 265/WRD 265	Feminist Rhetorics and Social Change	4 units
AMST 268/BLST 268	Style Politics: Beauty and Fashion in Black Women's History	4 units
ARTH 360	Women in Art in East Asia	4 units
ARTH 365	Gender and Art in Japan	4 units
CSLC 270	Tales of Sexuality from the Couch, the Court, and the Confessional	4 units
CTSJ 160	Introduction to Feminist Studies	4 units
CTSJ 204	Torture, Sex, and Metaphysics: Dehumanization Before Abu Ghraib and After	4 units
CTSJ 210	Mother Goose to Mash-Ups: Children's Literature and Popular Texts	4 units
CTSJ 213	Women's Work	4 units
CTSJ 219	Triumphs and Tribulations of Title IX	4 units
CTSJ 220	Intersectionality: Mapping Social Injustice in the United States	4 units
CTSJ 222	Body Politics	4 units
CTSJ 255	Women of Color Feminisms	4 units
CTSJ 311	Children, Poverty, and Public Policies	4 units
CTSJ 360	Feminist Methodologies	4 units
CTSJ 361	Gender, Race, and Nationality in Latin American and Latinx Film	4 units
CTSJ 375	Indigenous Feminisms	4 units
DWA 230	Gender and International Human Rights	4 units
DWA 231	Gender and International Relations	4 units
DWA 258	The Global Politics of LGBT Rights	4 units
DWA 329	Junior Seminar: Human Rights and Trafficking in Persons	4 units
ECON 327	Economics of Gender -- Marriage, Motherhood, and Money	4 units
ECON 328	Economics of Race and Gender	4 units
ENGL 159	Lavender Cowboys: Power and Gender in the American Western	4 units
ENGL 248	Money, Gender, and the Nineteenth Century Novel	4 units
ENGL 274	Women Writers	4 units
FREN 365	Seminar in a Literary Theme. French Feminism	4 units
HIST 150/LLAS 150	Colonial Latin America	4 units
HIST 182	The Social and Cultural History of the Modern Middle East	4 units
HIST 192	Gender	4 units
HIST 206	History of American Women	4 units
HIST 220	Ancient Athens and Renaissance Florence	4 units
HIST 237	Changing Views of Gender, Women, and Sexualities	4 units
HIST 243	Modern China: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Revolution	4 units
HIST 258/LLAS 258	Twentieth Century Mexico	4 units
HIST 277/BLST 277	Women and Community Health	4 units
HIST 282	The Muslim World in Modern Times	4 units
HIST 359/LLAS 359	Mexico-United States Borderlands	4 units
HIST 385	Identity Formation in the Modern Middle East and Africa	4 units
KINE 201	Sport in American Society	4 units
KINE 299/UEP 299	Women's Sports and Empowerment	4 units
MAC 244	Topics in Media Representation	4 units
PHIL 221	Feminist Theories	4 units
PHIL 360	Beauty	4 units
POLS 321	Gender and Politics in the Global South	4 units
PSYC 350	Psychology of Gender	4 units
PUBH 301	Women's Health	4 units
RELS 254	Muslim Bodies: Islam, Gender, and Health	4 units
RELS 266	Sexuality and Gender in Buddhism	4 units
RELS 351	"Good" Sex: History of Christian Sexual Ethics	4 units
SOC 105	Immigrant Youth and Youth Cultures	4 units
SOC 225	Masculinities	4 units
SOC 230	Marriage and Family	4 units
SOC 255	Youth Culture in United States Society	4 units
SOC 265	Gender and Society	4 units
SOC 320	Health and Illness	4 units
SOC 355	Power and Sexuality	4 units
WRD 265/AMST 265	Feminist Rhetorics and Social Change	4 units

Transfer Credit Policies

Courses approved for transfer by the appropriate department or program will be considered to apply toward the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies minor. Students should reference the Transfer Credit section for details.

Faculty

Affiliated Faculty

Laura Hebert, chair

Associate Professor, Diplomacy and World Affairs

B.A., University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; M.A., University of Oregon Ph.D., University of Denver