Gender and Women's Studies

The Gender and Women’s Studies department emphasizes interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and transnational studies with a focus on the intersectionality of gender, race, class and sexuality. It includes coursework in feminist theories, women and social movements, transnational feminisms, women of color feminisms, postcolonial feminism, women’s economic conditions in the context of globalization and development, productions of women in the media and literature, women and religion, queer studies, women’s health and masculinity studies.

The Gender and Women’s Studies department teaches students to view the world with a critical analytical approach grounded in a social justice framework. The department adheres to a disciplinary practice that centers on an integrative, intersectional framing of issues concerning gender, race, class, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, age and the differently abled.

The double major is designed for students who choose Gender and Women’s Studies as their second field of study. The 30-unit program will equip students with the competencies of the field and provide an excellent special focus for any field in the Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Courses taken toward fulfilling one major may also count toward fulfilling parallel requirements in the second major.

1. Lower Division Required Courses (3 units)

GWS 100 Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies (3)
or GWS 110 Women, Work and Family (3)
(Either course serves as a preparatory course for all other GWS courses).

2. Upper Division Required Courses (15 units)

GWS 300 Women as Agents of Change (3)
GWS 301 Feminist Theories (3)
GWS 302 Feminist Methods (3)
GWS 351 Gender, Race, Class and Sexuality (3)
GWS 400 Senior Seminar in Gender and Women’s Studies (3)

3. Electives (12 units)

Choose four courses, subject to the following conditions:

1. At least one course (3 units) must be at the 400-level other than GWS 400.
2. At least one course (3 units) must be at the 300-level or higher (excluding courses otherwise counted toward the major requirements).

GWS 205/CS Gender and Women’s Studies Community Service and Seminar (1/2)
GWS 220 Men, Masculinity and Patriarchy (3)
GWS 222 Gender, Sexuality, and American Indian Communities (3)
GWS 230 Women and Entertainment (3)
GWS 315 Gender, Sexuality and Islam in the U.S. (3)
GWS 320 Women and Urban Life/Urban Space (3)
GWS 340 Women, Gender and Global Development (3)
GWS 370 Women and Violence (3)
GWS 380 Sexual and Reproductive Health (3)
GWS 396A-Z Experimental Topics (3)
GWS 410 Sex, Lies and Media (3)
GWS 420 Women and Gender in Islamic Societies (3)
GWS 430 Global Sexualities (3)
GWS 440 Latin American Feminisms (3)
GWS 495A-Z Selected Topics (3)

Total Units in the Double Major Option: 30