Major & Minors

Ready to declare?

If you would like to declare
a major/minor or have any
other questions, please make
an appointment with our
academic advisor.

We offer a rigorous and encouraging intellectual environment in which to pursue an undergraduate major in GWSS, a minor in GWSS, and a minor in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) studies. Our interdisciplinary program centers an inclusive examination of gender, women, and sexuality that acknowledges multiple social and cultural differences and inequalities. Majors and minors will learn to consider the complex relationship between knowledge and power by challenging traditional disciplines and methodologies.

While GWSS classes draw upon history, philosophy, sociology, and psychology, our students learn to raise and identify limitations in how these disciplines study and speak about local and globally marginalized communities. As a student in our department, you will develop skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical research, and writing; and you will create and contribute to social change. In gender, women, and sexuality studies, we give students the knowledge and the tools to transform the world.

GWSS teaches students to scrutinize for exercises of power, structures of inequality, and injustice no matter where they go and what they do. Whether a GWSS major, minor, or a learner in one of our innovative classes, GWSS students develop the knowledge and language to dismantle conventional assumptions about the world around them and acquire a more nuanced understanding of social justice.

Hear from undergraduate student Kate Feuling on how she chose GWSS: