See bottom of page for a concise list of classes that fulfill general education and multicultural requirements. You can also see a chart view here.

In addition to the WGSS courses listed below, WGSS students have the opportunity to fulfill major/minor upper division requirements with select courses in other codes.

Course List

WGS 101 Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies: Interdisciplinary examination of the diverse experiences, status, and contributions of women in the United States. Topics include social construction of gender, race, sexualities, work, class, violence, and health. Gen Ed Requirements: Social Sciences;  Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 198 Colloquium: [Topic] (1–2R)

WGS 199 Special Studies: [Topic] (1–5R)

Example topics:

Art, Activism & Pop Culture
Gender and Pop Culture: Welcome to the Whedonverse
Women and Deviance
Ethics/Gender/Sex

WGS 201 Introduction to Queer Studies: Introduction to the study of sexuality and society from a queer studies interdisciplinary perspective. Gen Ed Requirements: Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 221 Bodies and Power: Focuses on gender, the body, and dis/ability as a particular nexus of experience and social meaning, influenced as well by race, sexuality, age and class. This course considers bodies and how we understand them within contexts shaped by social relations and systems of power.

WGS 250 Gender, Literature, and Culture: Examines literary and other cultural representations of gendered experiences using novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and visual cultural production. Gen Ed Requirements: Arts & Letters; Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 251 Transnational and Indigenous Feminisms: Introductory survey of transnational and Indigenous feminist scholarship, two intersecting strains of feminism that address the workings of culture, nationalism, and gender in multiple contexts. Explores cross-section of key issues and perspectives using interdisciplinary lenses and methodologies employed by scholars in transnational and Indigenous studies.

WGS 303 Women and Gender in American History: Focuses on women and gender in the U.S., highlighting how diverse women have experienced gender roles and sexism since the 17th century. Gen Ed Requirements: Social Sciences; Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 315 History and Development of Feminist Theory: Feminist theory from the Enlightenment through the Second Wave, with special emphasis on the diverse theories of the 1960s to the present. Prereq: WGS 101. Gen Ed Requirements: Social Sciences; Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 321 Feminist Perspectives: Identity, Race, Culture: Examines intersections of race and ethnicity, class, sexuality, and gender in the history and lives of United States women of color. Explores definitions of community, culture, and identity. Prereq: one WGS course or ES 101 or 102. Gen Ed Requirements: Social Sciences; American Cultures

WGS 331 Science, Technology, and Gender: Topics include the role of gender in the practice of science and the impact of sexism and racism on the development of science and technology. Prereq: WGS 101 or equivalent. Gen Ed Requirements: Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 341 Women, Work, and Class: Explores contexts and cultural attitudes shaping the women’s market and domestic labor including race, sexuality, age, and class as well as occupational segregation and control. Gen Ed Requirements: Social Sciences; Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 351 Decolonial Feminisms: Exploration of feminist activism and women’s movements globally, organizing to challenge the state, civil society, international agencies, and corporations for a more just world. Gen Ed Requirements: Social Sciences; International Cultures

WGS 350 Literature as Feminist Theory: Analyzes literary and media texts while considering questions and intersections of race, gender, sexuality, ability, class, nation, culture, and power central to the field of women and gender studies, and demonstrates how these intersections within literary texts are sites of knowledge production in feminist theory. Gen Ed Requirements: Arts & Letters; Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 361 Gender in Film and Media: Students read, view, examine, discuss, and write about film and media in terms of gender and feminist and queer theory. Offered alternate years.

Example topics:
Gender and Video Games

WGS 399 Special Studies: [Topic] (1–5R)

Example topics:

Transgender Studies
Gender & Muslim Modernities
Race & Gender in Science Fiction
Queer Film
Race/Sex/Popular Culture

WGS 401 Research: [Topic] (1–16R)

WGS 403 Thesis: R with program director’s and thesis adviser’s consent for maximum of 12 credits.

WGS 405 Reading and Conference: [Topic] (1–5R)

WGS 406 Field Studies: [Topic] (1–12R) R with department head’s consent for maximum of 12 credits.

WGS 407 Seminar (1–5R)

Past topics:

Women’s Health
Transnational Families
Feminist Radical Imaginations of the Neo-Liberal turn

WGS 410/510 Experimental Course: [Topic] (1–4R)

Example topics:

Feminist Science Fiction
Gender, Race and Performance
Islam, Gender, Modernity
Feminist Perspectives on Environment and Development
Fear & Family in the Horror Film
Queering the Global
Transgender & Media
Medical Humanities
Gender, Culture & Knowledge
Women & Global Labor
Cinema/Gender/Environment
Women & Religion

WGS 411/511 Feminist Praxis: Combined internship and seminar explores the history and politics of community agencies and the relationship of feminist theory to practice. Prereq: any WGS or other approved course. Gen Ed Requirements:  Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

WGS 422/522 Sexuality Studies: Various topics in sexuality studies, including the relationship between gender and sexuality and between queer studies and women’s and gender studies. R twice when topic changes for maximum of 12 credits. Prereq: WGS 101 or 201 Gen Ed Requirements: Identity, Pluralism & Tolerance

Example topics:
Queer of Color Performance
Advanced Queer Theory
Explicit Sex & Politics
Queer Film
Queer/Trans Sports Studies
Transgender Issues
Queer Ethnic Literature

WGS 432/532 Gender, Environment, and Development: Surveys gender and political, economic, and cultural strategies for development and environmental change around the world. Pre- or coreq: WGS 101.

WGS 450/550 Literature and Feminist World-Making: Examines feminist world-making in literary texts as a form of political theory, a strategy for thinking critically about the present, imagining the world under different circumstances, and building an alternative world from a feminist perspective.
Prereq: one 300-level WGS course

WGS 451/551 Global Issues and Perspectives: Designed to deepen understanding of diverse global issues and perspectives related to women’s and gender studies. R twice when topic changes for a maximum of 12 credits.

WGS 601 Research: [Topic] (1–16R)

WGS 602 Supervised College Teaching: (1–16R)

WGS 605 Reading and Conference: [Topic] (1–5R)

WGS 607 Seminar: [Topic] (1–5R)

WGS 608 Workshop: [Topic] (1–16R)

WGS 609 Practicum: [Topic] (1–5R)

WGS 610 Experimental Course: [Topic] (1–4R)
Example topics:
Feminist Theory

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General Education & Multicultural Fulfillment

• Arts & Letters (Group 1)
  • WGS 352
• Social science (Group 2)
  • WGS 101
  • WGS 303
  • WGS 315
  • WGS 321
  • WGS 341
  • WGS 351
• Science (Group 3)
  • None
• American Cultures (AC)
  • WGS 321
• Identity, Pluralism and Tolerance (IP)
  • WGS 101
  • WGS 201
  • WGS 303
  • WGS 315
  • WGS 331
  • WGS 341
  • WGS 352
  • WGS 411
  • WGS 422
• International Cultures (IC)
  • WGS 351