Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Gender Studies Emphasis, B.A.

Requirements for Major

Eight units and a senior capstone experience (one-half or one unit). The requirements for each emphasis (Women’s Studies and Gender Studies) are described below.

Women Studies Emphasis Required Courses:

WGS 111: Introduction to Women, Gender and Sexuality (1 Unit)
One unit of either:
WGS 360: Feminist Theory (1 Unit)
WGS 364: Black & Queer Feminist Theory (1 Unit)
One-half unit (or up to one unit) of capstone experience: directed study, honors thesis, practicum, or internship. Note: A senior exit interview will be used for assessment.

Gender Studies Emphasis Required Courses:

WGS 111: Introduction to Women, Gender and Sexuality (1 Unit)
One unit of either:
WGS 360: Feminist Theory (1 Unit)
WGS 364: Black & Queer Feminist Theory (1 Unit)
SOC 333: The Sociology of Sex and Gender (1 Unit)
One-half unit (or up to one unit) of a capstone experience: directed study, honors tesis, practicum, or intership. Note: A senior exit interview will be used for assessment.

Distribution Requirements for Both Emphases

Six courses, at least one from each of the following lists, to be selected in consultation with the program director or the faculty member in the program.

Institutions or Knowledge Systems

This requirement emphasizes the study of the systemic nature of gender or of the critical perspectives brought to a discipline by feminist theory or gender theory.

SOC 333: The Sociology of Sex and Gender (1 Unit)
SOC 360: Intimate Violence (1 Unit)
BIOL 368: Behavioral Ecology (1 Unit)
COMM 207: Communicating Gender (1 Unit)
ENGL 385: Literary Theory 1 unit
PHIL 335: Philosophical Issues in the Law (1 Unit)
RS 320: Gender and Biblical Interpretation (1 Unit)
SCI 205: Women and Ethnic Minorities in Science (1 Unit)
WGS 250: Gender and the Global Garden

Representations

This requirement emphasizes feminist approaches or gender study approaches to the examination of gender in representations; this requirement also can involve the recovery and examination of representations that previously had been invisible due to gender bias.

ARTH 214: Baroque Art (1 Unit)
ARTH 310: Women and Art (1 Unit) Wickre
ARTH 320: Feminist Art (1 Unit)
ENGL 251: Contemporary Literature (1 Unit)
ENGL 321P: Redeeming Eve: Renaissance Women’s Writing 1 unit
ENGL 327: The 20th Century in English Literature 1 unit
ENGL 380P: The Novel and the New 1 unit

Global Perspectives

This requirement emphasizes the importance of gaining knowledge far from one’s own subject position. For this unit, students must choose a course outside their own cultural and geographical experience.

For U.S. Students, Some Options:

HIST 301: Gender in Latin American History (1 Unit)
HIST 364: Women in the Global South (1 Unit)
PLSC 372: Gender, Sex and International Politics (1 Unit)
RS 206: Women, Gender, Islam (1 Unit)

For International Students, Some Options:

HIST 340: History of Women in the U.S., 1877-Present (1 Unit) Franzen
RS 206: Women, Gender, Islam (1 Unit)
SOC 333: The Sociology of Sex and Gender (1 Unit) Melzer (if not taken as the theory requirement)

Historical Contexts

This requirement emphasizes the study of women or gender in specific and detailed historical context(s) or the study of the methodology of women’s or gender history.

ARTH 326: Issues in Contemporary Art (1 Unit)
E&M 351: Women in Business and Leadership (1 Unit)
ENGL 233: Writing Women in America 1 unit
ENGL 285: LGBTQ+ Literature 1 unit
ENGL 321P: Redeeming Eve: Renaissance Women’s Writing 1 unit
ENGL 324P: The Age of Elizabeth 1 unit
ENGL 351: Four American Poets (1 Unit)
ENGL 362P: Love in the 19th Century 1 unit
FREN 320: French Women Writers and Feminist Criticism (1 Unit)
HIST 294: The First World War (1 Unit)
HIST 340: History of Women in the U.S., 1877-Present (1 Unit)

Self Making

This requirement emphasizes the feminist and gender studies examinations of processes and narratives that transform beings into gendered humans.

ENGL 260: Immigration in Literature 1 unit
ENGL 352P: Toni Morrison 1 unit
PSYC 251: Child and Adolescent Development (1 Unit)
SOC 230: Men and Masculinities (1 Unit)
WGS 240: Sexualities, Histories and Culture (1 Unit)