Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Minor

Why Consider a Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Minor?

Drawing on the rich pool of academic expertise at Western, the program emphasizes theories and practices derived from feminist, queer, postcolonial, multiracial, and multicultural contexts. Our curriculum emphasizes scholarly engagement with a wide range of disciplines, including: history, fine and performing art, literature, creative writing, political science, communication studies, health and human development, language and linguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, environmental studies, visual culture, journalism, education, and science.

The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Minor enhances any major and adds a valuable aspect to one's training for the professional world. Our graduates go on to careers in both traditional and non-traditional career fields. Recent graduates have gone on to law school, graduate school in many fields, public service and private sector careers, medicine, business, political leadership positions, community organizing, and teaching in both K-12 and higher education.

Students enjoy small class sizes and close faculty interaction. Our community is intellectually challenging, supportive, and creative. Our diverse faculty encourages scholarship that is interdisciplinary and intersectional.

Student presenting at Scholar's Week with audience members listening

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrates knowledge of WGSS as an interdisciplinary academic field focused on feminist and queer approaches to theory, research, and action.
  • Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of gender as historically changing and constituted by intersecting systems of power including, but not limited to, race, sexuality, class, nationality, and ability.
  • Demonstrates an ability to implement WGSS’s critical approaches to one’s own listening, speaking, writing.
  • Demonstrates how to effectively advocate for social justice and respond imaginatively to social, political, and intellectual issues. 

Program of Study

Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Minor
Declare Your WGSS Major/Minor

Requirements: 25 Credits

Choose two courses from:

  • WGSS 211 Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, BCGM
  • WGSS 212 Feminist Theory and Expression, BCGM
  • WGSS 213 Introduction to Queer and Sexuality Studies, ACGM

Complete:

  • WGSS 350 Feminist and Queer Methodologies (OR a comparable methods course in another program, per advisement/approval of director)
  • 10 credits of 300- or 400-level coursework in WGSS program (electives from other programs may be substituted with advisement)

Course descriptions and additional details are available in the University Catalog. 

Students who are preparing for graduation should contact the WGSS advisor to request a minor evaluation: RaeLynn.Schwartz-DuPre@wwu.edu

WGSS upper division course list

WGSS 300- & 400-level courses

  • WGSS 310 - Race, Ethnicity and Indigeneity, ACGM
  • WGSS 314 - Gender Across Borders, ACGM
  • WGSS 317 - Woman, War, and Post Conflict Transformation
  • WGSS 320 - Topics in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, BCGM
  • WGSS 331 - Studies in Gender Theory
  • WGSS 335 - Queer Comics & Graphic Novels, BCGM, WP 2pts
  • WGSS 339 - Women, Sexuality, and Society, BCGM
  • WGSS 344 - Critical Childhood Studies
  • WGSS 348 - Masculinities in U.S. History
  • WGSS 356 - Gender and History
  • WGSS 358 - Women of Color in the U.S.
  • WGSS 363 - Feminist Food Justice
  • WGSS 365 - Feminist Pop Culture
  • WGSS 367 - Feminist Disability Studies
  • WGSS 372 - Gender & Media, BCGM
  • WGSS 400 - Directed Internship
  • WGSS 453 - Women of the Global South

General University Requirement (GUR) and Writing Proficiency (WP) fulfillment in italics

Additional Information

If you signed up for the WGSS minor before 2018, the WGSS 411 requirement can now be fulfilled with WGSS 450: Capstone Seminar