Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality StudiesDegree optionsMajor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Major in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

This program is not accepting majors at this time. For more information about undergraduate courses, minors, or graduate certificate options, please contact Professor Melissa Nicolas (melissa.nicolas@wsu.edu)

Bryan Tower and Kimbrough Hall on with blooming lilac bush in foreground on the WSU Pullman campus.

The major in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies places gender and sexuality at the center of inquiry, drawing on the methodologies of the interdisciplinary field of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality studies. In required and elective courses for the  major, students work together to explore the ways that race, ethnicity, sexuality, social class, nationality, age, and ability intersect to shape gendered experience, injustice, and social change. Using an intersectional lens, students gain expertise in analyzing gendered social roles and the ways in which they affect personal lives, artistic expression, work, relationships, institutional structures, the production of knowledge, and national and international political and economic relations.

Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies seeks to:

  • Provide students with a systematic knowledge of the interdisciplinary scholarship about gender and by women and other gender minorities.
  • Enhance the qualifications of students to work in today’s diverse workplaces.
  • Further university and societal goals of diversity and equity.
  • Work for social and institutional change.

Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements

The major in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies requires a minimum of 36 credits, of which 15 credits are required in the major, 12 credits are required in Field Electives, and 9 credits are required in Interdisciplinary Electives. 15 credits of electives must be at the 300-400 level. You may view a sample four-year plan for the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major in the WSU Catalog.

Required Courses (15 credits)

  • WGSS 101 W ST Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
    • OR WGSS 120 Sex, Race, and Reproduction in Global Health Politics
  • WGSS/ANTH 332 Global Feminisms
    • OR WGSS 340 Gender and Decolonial Representation in Film
    • OR WGSS 406 Women and Work in Global Contexts
  • WGSS/SOC 385 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies
  • WGSS 481 Feminist Theory [M]
  • WGSS/CRMJ 403 Violence Toward Women (CAPS)
    • OR WGSS 495 ReDirections in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (CAPS)

Students are encouraged to

  • Reevaluate assumptions.
  • Analyze the structures and systems controlling and shaping the lives of people of all genders.
  • Use intersectional knowledge in practical and meaningful ways for gender equity and justice.

Field Electives (12 credits)

  • WGSS 101: Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  • WGSS 120: Sex, Race, and Reproduction in Global Health Politics
  • WGSS/ENGL 211: Sex Matters: Introduction to Queer Culture and Literature
  • WGSS 220: Gender, Culture, and Science
  • WGSS/SOC 300/ENGL310: Intersections Race, Class, Gender, Sexualities, & Dis/ability [M]
  • WGSS 301: Introduction to Critical Race Feminism
  • WGSS/SOC 302: Contemporary Masculinities
  • WGSS /ENGL 309: Women Writers
  • WGSS/ENGL 317: Queer Literature
  • WGSS 321: Topics in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  • WGSS 332 /ANTH 317: Global Feminisms
  • WGSS/HIST 336: History of Sexualities
  • WGSS 338: Gender, Race, and Popular Culture
  • WGSS 340: Gender and Decolonial Representation in Film
  • WGSS/HIST 369: Queer Identities in Contemporary Cultures
  • WGSS/ENGL 373: Empire, Gender, and Poscoloniality in Global Literature
  • WGSS/SOC 385: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Studies
  • WGSS/CRMJ 403: Violence Toward Women
  • WGSS 406: Women and Work in Global Contexts
  • WGSS 477: Special Topics Study Abroad
  • WGSS 485: Theoretical Issues in Queer Studies [M]
  • WGSS 495: ReDirections in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Interdisciplinary Electives (9 credits)

  • AMDT/ WGSS 222: Fat Studies
  • AMST/ENGL/HIST/WGSS 216: Introduction to American Cultural Studies
  • AMST/DTC/ENGL 475: Digital Diversity
  • ANTH/WGSS 316: Gender in Cross Cultural Perspective
  • BIOL/WGSS 307: Biology of Sex and Gender
  • CES/ANTH 312: Indigenous Women in Trad & Cont Societies
  • CES/WGSS 411: Asian Pacific American Women
  • CES 435: African American Women in US Society
  • CES 454: Latinas in US Culture & Society
  • COMM/WGSS 464: Gender and the Media
  • ENGL/WGSS 308 Introduction to Literary Criticism [M]
  • ENGL/WGSS 409: Gender, Race, and Environmental Literature
  • ENGL 482/WGSS 482: American Literature: 1940-Present
  • FINE ART/WGSS 308: Women Artists I [M]
  • FINE ART/WGSS 310: Women Artists II [M]
  • HIST/WGSS 298: History of Women in American Society
  • HIST/WGSS 335: Women in Latin American History
  • HIST/WGSS 350: European Women’s History
  • HIST/WGSS 399: LGBTQ+ History: Culture, Politics, and Social Change in the US
  • HIST/ WGSS 398: History of Women in the American West
  • MUS/WGSS 363: Women in Music
  • MUS/WGSS 366: LGBTQ+ Music
  • PHIL/WGSS 425: Philosophy and Feminism
  • POL S/ WGSS 305: Gender and Politics
  • PSYCH/WGSS 230: Human Sexuality
  • PSYCH/WGSS 324: Psychology of Gender
  • SOC/WGSS 251: The Sociology of Sex, Relationships & Marriage
  • SOC/WGSS 351: The Family
  • SOC/WGSS 384: Sociology of Gender
  • SOC/ WGSS 390: Gender and Work
  • WGSS/PHIL 462: Women and Ethics [M]