School of Interdisciplinary Studies

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Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Courses

Listed below are the courses in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) taught within SIS.

There are many additional courses across the College of Liberal Arts that contribute to the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies plan of study.

  • Fall 2026
    • WGSS 280- Women's Studies: An Introduction
    • WGSS 281 - Women, Politics and Public Policy
    • WGSS 282- Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies
    • WGSS 380- Comparative Studies In Gender & Culture   
    • WGSS 390- Christian Ethics: Gender & The Body
    • WGSS 390 - Women and Leadership
    • WGSS 480- Feminist Theory          
    • WGSS 492 - Practicum in Women's Studies
  • Summer 2026
    • WGSS 280- Women's Studies: An Introduction
  • Spring 2026
    • WGSS 280- Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: An Introduction
    • WGSS 281- Arab Women Writers
    • WGSS 281 - Women, Politics and Public Policy
    • WGSS 282- Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies
    • WGSS 381- U.S. Women of Color
    • WGSS 382- Love, Sex and Sexuality
    • WGSS 390 - Women and Leadership
    • WGSS 390 - Gender and Literature
    • WGSS 390 - Women and the Law
    • WGSS 390- Sport and Feminisms
    • WGSS 485 - Feminist Perspective on Film
    • WGSS 492 - Practicum in Women's Studies
  • Fall 2025
    • WGSS 280- Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: An Introduction                     
    • WGSS 281- Feminist Inquiry Research Methods                      
    • WGSS 281- Women, Politics And Public Policy                          
    • WGSS 282- Introduction To LGBTQ Studies                           
    • WGSS 380- Comparative Studies In Gender & Culture                      
    • WGSS 390- Understanding The NFL                       
    • WGSS 480- Feminist Theory                          
    • WGSS 492- Practicum In Women's Studies

  • WGSS 28000 - Women’s, Gender, And Sexuality Studies: An Introduction
    • An introductory survey of the concepts and research data in the new scholarship on women. Topics covered include biology, sexuality, socialization, family and work, creativity, and politics. 
  • WGSS 28100 - Variable Topics In Women’s, Gender, And Sexuality Studies
    • This course examines in-depth particular topics from the introductory course in Women’s Studies. It addresses gender issues for both men and women. Possible topics include gender and popular culture, women’s bodies, body image, and health, masculinities, queering gender and gender transgression.
  • WGSS 28200 - Introduction To LGBTQ Studies
    • This course offers students an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer lives. It provides a basic grounding in theories of sexuality and LGBT histories, identities and movements in the U.S. and globally. 
  • WGSS 38000 - Comparative Studies In Gender And Culture
    • This course expands students’ understanding of gender issues by exploring the multicultural diversity of women’s lives. It examines how race, class, sexuality, and culture interact and shape society and ecology in the United States and in a global context. 
  • WGSS 38100 - Women Of Color In The United States
    • Explores the diversity of racial and ethnic groups in the United States with a particular emphasis on the histories, experiences, and cultural contributions of women of color. Provides a broad introduction to the intersections of gender, race and ethnicity. 
  • WGSS 38200 - Love, Sex And Sexuality
    • Explores intimate relationships and marriage practices in Western and non-Western societies from a historical and comparative perspective. Examines the changes in love and marriage in Greco-Roman societies, medieval and modern Europe, China, India and the Muslim world, among others. 
  • WGSS 38300 - Women, Work, And Labor
    • Examines race, class and gender issues as they affect working women in America. Covering women’s work from domestic labor to informal economies to factories, topics include women’s participation in trade unions, wage inequalities, family leave policies and sexual harassment.
  • WGSS 39000 - Variable Topics In Women’s, Gender And Sexuality Studies
    • Variable topics under the direction of an instructor in a particular field of specialization. 
  • WGSS 48000 - Feminist Theory
    • Intensive study of a variety of contemporary and international feminist theories from an interdisciplinary perspective. Provides an overview of major trends, critical approaches, and diverse viewpoints in the field of feminist theory. 
  • WGSS 48200 - Interdisciplinary Studies In Sexuality
    • This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to recent work in lesbian and gay studies in various fields, including literature, history, film, cultural theory, medicine, law, and studies of sexuality.
  • WGSS 48300 - Feminisms In Global Perspective
    • Explores feminist struggles through the writings of First and Third World feminist scholars. Focuses on feminist projects within and against colonial, nationalist, religious and global contexts. Includes Third World feminist critiques of Western feminisms. 
  • WGSS 48500 - Feminist Perspectives On Film
    • In this course, students investigate the gendered and intersectional meanings ascribed to or generated by popular cinematic and other mass-distributed visual texts, with particular attention to the way that visual media have impacted women’s participation in public culture over the last century and a half. This course is highly conceptual, asking students to learn to recognize power relations hiding within visual entertainments and embedded within the experience of everyday life, with the goal of deepening their understanding and appreciation of the experience of spectatorship and visuality as a central element of modern American and contemporary global mass culture.
  • WGSS 49200 - Practicum In Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
    • This course is designed to integrate knowledge derived from women’s studies scholarship with practical experience. Students will define their own projects in consultation with women’s studies faculty. Periodic conferences and written reports required. Permission of instructor required. 
  • WGSS 49900 - Independent Study In Women’s, Gender And Sexuality Studies
    • Special topics or projects under the direction of the instructor in a particular field of specialization. Permission of instructor required.
  • WGSS 59900 - Selected Topics In Women’s Gender And Sexuality Studies
    • A study of selected topics taught by an instructor in whose particular field of specialization the content of the course falls. Permission of instructor required. 
  • WGSS 68000 - Feminist Theory
    • This course focuses on feminist theories at an advanced level and in a global perspective. Graduate students engage with key theoretical issues in contemporary feminist studies, and examine how feminist scholars have theorized women and gender issues across disciplines. 
  • WGSS 68100 - Contemporary Issues In Feminist Scholarship
    • Applies feminist theory, knowledge, and methods to the examination of selected contemporary issues. Emphasizes ways in which theory and practice interact in feminist scholarship. Content may vary according to the issues examined. Prerequisite: WGSS 68000. 
  • WGSS 68200 - Issues In Feminist Research And Methodology
    • This course provides a methodological framework for theorizing, constructing and executing research from a feminist perspective. Students acquire knowledge of the diversity of feminist research projects and methods; they learn to pose research questions; and they will be able to prepare a research or grant proposal drawing on interdisciplinary methods. The course is designed to meet the needs of graduate students in Women’s Studies and is open to students in other programs who are interested in feminist research. The course deals with both theoretical and practical issues in methodology. Prerequisites: WGSS 68000.