Women, Gender, & Sexuality, BA

Location(s): On Campus

The Women, Gender, & Sexuality program provides students with the opportunity to recognize the many ways in which our lives are shaped and limited by a variety of cultural constructions and circumstances. Grounded in diverse perspectives of intersectional feminism and queer scholarship, the program works to empower students to challenge such limitations through critical examination, theoretical analysis, and engaged activism. The program focuses on how social norms and the related assumptions and expectations have developed and changed over time, how they vary with different cultures, and how they position individuals and groups with specific social standpoints, locations, and power dynamics. Many courses examine and interrogate how such norms function in society thereby shaping feminine, masculine, transgender, and non-binary gendering, and the many sexualities across the spectrum in their myriad identities, expressions, and lived experiences.

The Women, Gender, and Sexuality program is interdisciplinary with a broad range of offerings, allowing students to choose from its courses to examine both current and historical experiences of individuals and communities through a variety of lenses, to analyze institutional sources of power and representational texts, to study the work of important figures, and to learn the philosophical and methodological approaches in different academic disciplines. The program offers a comprehensive and inclusive variety of coursework so that students learn about the different social constructions, privileges, oppressions, and intersections of sex, gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, nationality/citizenship, religion, social economic status, ability/disability, etc. The goal is to see the distinct identity standpoint of each individual/group within the specific and particular socio-cultural-historical era, and how that affects the power, equity, and access for individuals and communities on personal, relational, and institutional levels. The Women, Gender, and Sexuality program has three areas of focus for our students in their coursework and success: academic excellence, intersectional dynamics, and empowerment.

Student Learning Outcomes

The student learning outcomes for the Women, Gender, and Sexuality major are as follows:

The student shall demonstrate an awareness of the value and impact of intersectionality dynamics.
The student shall demonstrate an understanding of the past and present status of women in a variety cultural contexts.
The student shall examine the impact of gender on individual and institutional levels of social position.
The student shall examine different identities and lived experiences in the spectrum of sexuality and their related cultural power.
The student shall produce a theoretically grounded scholarly, activist, or creative work.

Major Requirements: Women, Gender, and Sexuality

A major in Women, Gender, and Sexuality consists of a minimum of 37 hours and is distributed as follows:

Required WGS courses (10 hours):

WGS 200: Women’s Movements of the United States Credit: 3
WGS 250: Global Feminisms Credit: 3
WGS 338: Identity, Power, & Culture Credit: 3
WGS 401: Senior Seminar Credit: 1

Chosen Interdisciplinary Courses (27 hours):

Students must take nine additional courses, at least three of which must be at the 300 level.

WST 201: Psychology of Human Sexuality Credit: 3
OR
PSY 201: Psychology of Human Sexuality Credit: 3
LED 207: Effective Leadership in Community Credit: 3
WST 210: Women and Economic Development Credit: 3
OR
BUS 210: Women and Economic Development Credit: 3
OR
ECO 210: Women and Economic Development Credit: 3
PHI 210: Readings in Philosophy Credit: 3 (when topic is WGS-centered)
WST 213: Gender and Religion Credit: 3
OR
REL 213: Gender and Religion Credit: 3
WST 215: Women, Music, and Culture Credit: 3
OR
MUS 215: Women, Music, and Culture Credit: 3
ENG 221: Readings in Race, Class, and Gender Credit: 3
WST 225: Gender and Politics Credit: 3
OR
POL 225: Gender and Politics Credit: 3
WST 267: Women in World History Credit: 3
OR
HIS 267: Women in World History Credit: 3
REL 290: Readings in Religious Studies Credit: 3 (when topic is WGS-centered)
ENG 300: Literature and Film Credit: 3
WST 301: Psychology of Gender Credit: 3
OR
PSY 301: Psychology of Gender Credit: 3
WGS 305: Mediating Genders Credit: 3
OR
COM 305: Mediating Genders Credit: 3
LED 307: Power and Service Leadership Credit: 3
WST 328: Women, Culture, and Theatre Credit: 3
OR
THE 328: Women, Culture, and Theatre Credit: 3
WST 354: Art History III: 20th Century to Contemporary Credit: 3
OR
ARH 354: Art History III: 20th Century to Contemporary Credit: 3
WST 355: Seminar in Gender and Philosophy Credit: 3
OR
PHI 355: Seminar in Gender and Philosophy Credit: 3
WST 377: Seminar in Women’s History Credit: 3
OR
HIS 377: Seminar in Women’s History Credit: 3
WST 396: Special Topics in Women’s Studies Credit: 3 /Cross-Listed Credit: 3
WST 451: Directed Independent Study Credit: 1-6
WST 452: Field Study/Internship Credit: 1-12

Professional Development

Throughout their Wesleyan education each student is given opportunities to explore professional and career choices, and to develop and demonstrate the knowledge and skills essential for professional success. Each student will complete PDE 350: Professional Practice Seminar and PDE 400: Professional Development Experience .

In addition, a Women, Gender, and Sexuality major may choose to fulfill the professional development requirement through an internship or field study taken as WST 452 . It may take the form of volunteer or advocacy work, production of a creative project, or other comparable work experience approved by the Women, Gender, and Sexuality program chair. The student will be monitored by their advisor during their workplace experience and will submit a reflective summary at its conclusion.

Integrative Experience

Women, Gender, and Sexuality majors will be encouraged to begin broadly, taking courses in a variety of fields as well as introductory classes in Women, Gender, and Sexuality. As they move through the program, they will be encouraged to tailor their course of study to meet their own research interests. Through this coursework, they will learn to position themselves as a critical specialist on women, gender, and/or sexuality and the representations and intersections in their particular area of interest. In WGS 401 offered during the spring of the major’s senior year, they will work with their fellow classmates and instructor to complete a scholarly, creative, or activist project. As the student is completing their interdisciplinary course of study conducted through the lens of focused feminist methodology, this seminar provides them with individual guidance to shape their senior research project.

Postgraduate Opportunities

This major will prepare students for a wide variety of professional opportunities, including advocacy, art, business, communication, counseling, education, government, health care, the humanities, law, media, not-for-profit work, social justice, and social service. The Women, Gender, and Sexuality degree is also excellent preparation for graduate education in humanities, law, and social science fields.