Minor in Women's and Gender Studies

Units required for the Minor: 21

Program Description

Women’s and Gender Studies is a dynamic interdisciplinary field preparing students to be future leaders, scholars, and social justice activists. We are dedicated to studying the social production of gender and women’s experiences in relation to formations of sexuality, race, class, nationality, ability, ageism, and other categories of difference. Scholarship and research in Women’s and Gender studies emphasize the importance of connecting what students learn in the classroom to political projects and personal experiences.

Our curriculum empowers students to be agents of change in their communities and society. It provides them tools to examine relations of gender in local, national, and global contexts. Our courses situate gender within specific historical and cultural contexts, allowing students to examine how our lives are shaped by social and economic institutions, political movements, and individual experiences. “Putting Theory into Practice” since 1971, we place a strong emphasis on community involvement and activism, and we offer many opportunities for internships and service work credit.

The Minor in Women’s and Gender Studies will help students prepare for careers in education, as professors, teachers, or curriculum specialists; counseling, as school counselors, psychological or family therapists; law; health; human services; student services; and public service.

Minimum Grade Requirement

A minimum grade of C- is required of courses applied to the minor.

Program Requirements

A. Core Courses (9 Units)
WGS 85Introduction to Women's & Gender Studies3
WGS 110Introduction to Women's Movements in the United States3
WGS 180Seminar in Feminist Theory3
B. Required Departmental Elective Courses (9 Units)
Select one course from each of the following categories:9
Political and Social Movements / Applied
Introduction to Gender & Sexuality
Introduction to Disability Studies
Gender & Health
Gender, Race, and Class
Violence Against Women
Gender & Disability
Fieldwork in Women's Studies
Special Topics in Women's and Gender Studies
Special Problems
Critical Cultural Studies
Mother Woman Person
Women Of Color
Latinx Feminist Studies
Feminism and the Spirit
Women In Art
Introduction to Queer and Trans Studies
Globalization and Transnational Feminisms
Women Of The Middle East
Sex & Gender in South Asia
Women and Work
Women's Global Issues
C. Interdisciplinary Elective Courses (3-4 Units)
Select one course from the following:3 - 4
Women and the Criminal Justice System
Women and the Economy
Sex Role Stereotyping in American Education
La Mujer Chicana
Native American Women
Black Women In America
Twentieth Century Fiction by Women 1
British Women Novelists 1
American Women Writers 1
History of American Women
Sex, Population, and Birth Control in America
Women in Film and American Culture
Women in the Mass Media
Philosophy and Feminism
Psychology of Human Sexuality
Psychology of Women
Sociology of Gender
Crimes Without Victims
Asian American Women
Women and Theatre: Staging Diversity
Gender and Politics
LGBTQ Histories
Total Units21-22