Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies (WGSS) is an interdisciplinary field that centers intersectional feminist and queer histories and theories to challenge marginalization and advance social justice. Through WGSS courses, students gain valuable skills in critical thinking, writing, research analysis, communication, and problem-solving, which prepare them to make a meaningful impact in a wide variety of careers.
What is Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies?
The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program pursues critical inquiry through queer and feminist scholarship, teaching, and activism. They draw on intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to study how sex, gender, and sexuality are shaped by race, indigeneity, ethnicity, class, age, ability, nationality, and religion. They interrogate the conditions that render specific populations vulnerable to violence in a range of local and transnational contexts. They study and cultivate strategies of resistance and address issues such as war and militarism, political and social policy, the environment, education, healthcare, economics, the media, art, literature, and popular culture.
Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Degree(s)
Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, BA
WGSS provides students with the skills to critically and actively engage with the world around them. Our plan of study equips students to understand, apply, analyze, and critique key concepts and theoretical positions of social justice.
Contact
Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre, Chair, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
RaeLynn.Schwartz-DuPre@wwu.edu | 3606504212
Department Website(s)
View in Catalog
A Lot! WGSS students become critical thinkers, proficient writers, effective communicators, and engaged citizens who understand the increasingly diverse world in which they live. They learn the most in-demand skills for the current job market, including: critical thinking, effective writing skills, public speaking, collaboration, and leadership skills. These are skills that can be applied to various career fields including, but not limited to: psychology, education, environmental science, law, healthcare, public policy, and the nonprofit sector. A WGSS degree can be partnered with any other major or minor on campus.
Western’s WGSS alumni have gone on to careers as:
- teachers/professors
- lawyers
- politicians
- psychologists
- journalists
- public health professionals
- environmental scientists
- health organization directors
- grant managers
- business owners
...and so much more! A WGSS degree will make you an asset in any workplace.
Internship Opportunities
Our department encourages internships that enable students to bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and professional experience. Internships give our students a significant advantage in career development after graduation.
Graduate/Professional School
Students may continue their education in WGSS at the Master's or Ph.D. level, as part of their graduate program in a professional school of law, business, or medicine, or a disciplinary graduate program in, philosophy, student affairs in higher education, gerontology, cultural studies, history, religious studies, sociology, social work, psychology, art history, music, family studies, journalism, English, education, languages, or other fields.
WGSS prides itself on both the intellectual and experiential engagement of its students. The WGSS curriculum provides students with the skills to critically and actively engage with the world around them. Many of our courses look to connect academia to the material world by investigating the relationship between theory and practice — a central commitment of much feminist, gender, and queer scholarship. Our courses are characterized by rigorous and sustained critical thinking, inquiry, and analysis: skills central to the task of enhancing equality, dignity, and empowerment.
Drawing on the rich pool of academic expertise in the department and at Western, the courses emphasize theories and practices derived from feminist, queer, postcolonial, multiracial, and multicultural contexts. Our curriculum emphasizes scholarly engagement with a wide range of disciplines, including history, fine and performing art, literature, creative writing, political science, communication studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, environmental studies, visual culture, journalism, education, and science.
WGSS students enjoy small class sizes and close faculty interaction. Our community is intellectually challenging, supportive, and creative. Our diverse faculty encourages scholarship that is interdisciplinary and intersectional. Individual concentrations and senior projects evolve along with students' intellectual and experiential growth and academic expertise.
Related Majors
Related Minors
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