Gender and Sexuality Studies

Major Requirements

(I) The Gender and Sexuality Studies major requires TEN courses, no more than five from one department, comprised of the following: 

(a) GSS 101 GSS 101 - Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies 

(b) Theory course: Majors must complete ONE but not BOTH of the following courses (only one of these may count toward the major)

OR

(c) Methods Course: Majors must complete at least ONE course which involves training in methodology. This course should be completed by the end of the junior year, and must be selected from those courses related to the major track chosen. Courses that serve both as methods classes and fall within one of the tracks listed below can only count for one of the requirements within the major, either methods or one of the tracks. 

(d) Upper Level Courses: SIX additional elective courses, with at least four at the 300 or 400 level. Within these six courses, at least three should be within one of the following three tracks: Society & Politics; Literary & Cultural Representations; Histories & Genealogies. Students are required to take at least one course in each of the two remaining tracks. 

(e) Senior Capstone: This senior research project involves a self-designed gender and sexuality studies topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. The capstone is taught as an independent study with the close guidance of a GSS-affiliated faculty member. 

(i) GSS Honors: Students who qualify during their junior year with a minimum GPA and an approved research proposal will be eligible to complete a year-long thesis (GSS 498/499) by way of which honors in the major can be earned, and which serves as the capstone for those students. These courses are taught as independent studies. To qualify for honors at graduation, candidates must earn an average of 3.5 or above in the major, an overall average of 3.2 or above, and earn an A- or higher on their final thesis paper. 

(II)  Sexuality Studies Requirement: At least ONE of the ten courses taken by each GSS major should deal primarily with the study of sexuality. Examples of courses which count for this requirement are: BIO 263/ENG 285 Representations of HIV/AIDS; BIO 363 Biology of HIV/AIDS; HIS 228 The Modern Body: Gender, Sex, and Politics in France; COM 390 U.S. Rhetorics of Sexuality; ENG 488 Modern Poetry: Queer America; SPA 403 Latino American Sexualities. Other courses may count with the chair’s approval. 

(III) Partial-Content Courses: Only ONE elective course (whether at the introductory or upper level) can be taken from a list of approved partial-content courses (courses which deal in a substantial way with questions related to gender and sexuality, but do not have Gender and Sexuality Studies as their primary focus). Some examples of partial-content courses are: ENG 231 Young Adult Literature; ENG 282 African American Literature; FRE 223 Childhood and Adolescence; HIS 215 Magic and Witchcraft in Pre-Modern Europe.

Note: Students may not choose both the GSS major and the Gender Studies Concentration [see Gender Studies Concentration].

Course Offerings

Note:  Courses other than those listed may count toward the major with the approval of the Gender and Sexuality Studies Chair.