Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies
Overview
The Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies (GWSS) minor is an interdisciplinary program that encourages the study of gender construction and identities, the lives of women, and the range of sexualities, in local and global contexts.
There is no monolithic approach to the study of gender, women, and sexuality, as demonstrated by the wide range of departments across campus that offer related courses. The study of these concepts involves multiple layers of complexity and various disciplinary paradigms. The GWSS minor offers students the opportunity to engage in dialogue with learners across the curriculum as they study the power of critically analyzing gender, women, and sexuality from a multitude of disciplinary perspectives and philosophical positions.
Minor Requirements
Courses
The GWSS minor is a five-course (5) program consisting of one (1) required core class and four (4) electives. Note: no more than three courses from one department can be counted toward the minor.
Electives
In addition to completing one core course, students will take four additional courses from the list below to fulfill the minor. Note that the five courses for the minor must be taken in at least three different departments.
| AMST 240 | African American Women Writers | 4 |
| ARTH 250/MAC 251 | American Indians in Film | 4 |
| CTSJ 210 | Mother Goose to Mash-Ups: Children's Literature and Popular Texts | 4 |
| CTSJ 222 | Body Politics | 4 |
| CTSJ 230 | Fundamentals of Queer Theory | 4 |
| CTSJ 233 | Queer Literature and Culture | 4 |
| CTSJ 234 | Materialist Feminism | 4 |
| CTSJ 255 | Women of Color | 4 |
| CTSJ 311 | Children, Poverty, and Public Policies | 4 |
| CTSJ 332 | Psychic Life of Violence | 4 |
| CTSJ 335 | Queer of Color Critique | 4 |
| CTSJ 337 | Queer Los Angeles: Cruising the Archive | 4 |
| DWA 230 | Gender and International Human Rights | 4 |
| DWA 231 | Gender and International Relations | 4 |
| DWA 329 | Junior Seminar: Human Rights and Trafficking in Persons | 4 |
| ECON 327 | Economics of Gender -- Marriage, Motherhood, and Money | 4 |
| ECON 328 | Economics of Race and Gender | 4 |
| ENGL 274 | Women Writers | 4 |
| FREN 365 | Seminar in a Literary Theme. French Feminism | 4 |
| HIST 150 | Colonial Latin America | 4 |
| HIST 182 | The Social and Cultural History of the Modern Middle East | 4 |
| HIST 206 | History of American Women | 4 |
| HIST 220 | Ancient Athens and Renaissance Florence | 4 |
| HIST 237 | History of Feminism | 4 |
| HIST 258 | Mexican Politics in the Twentieth Century | 4 |
| HIST 277 | Women and Community Health | 4 |
| HIST 282 | The Muslim World in Modern Times | 4 |
| HIST 353 | Catholicism and Social Justice in the Americas | 4 |
| HIST 359 | Mexico-United States Borderlands | 4 |
| HIST 385 | Identity Formation in the Modern Middle East and Africa | 4 |
| MAC 244 | Topics in Media Representation | 4 |
| PHIL 235 | Feminism and Philosophy | 4 |
| POLS 321 | Gender and Politics in the Developing World | 4 |
| PSYC 350 | Psychology of Gender | 4 |
| RELS 305 | Islam, Gender and Sexuality | 4 |
| RELS 351 | "Good" Sex: History of Christian Sexual Ethics | 4 |
| SOC 225 | Masculinities | 4 |
| SOC 230 | Marriage and Family | 4 |
| SOC 255 | Youth Culture in United States Society | 4 |
| SOC 265 | Gender and Society | 4 |
| SOC 320 | Health and Illness | 4 |
| SOC 355 | Power and Sexuality | 4 |
| WRD 265 | Feminist Rhetoric and Social Change | 4 |
Core coursework
All students minoring in GWSS must take at least one of the following core courses:
| CTSJ 140 | Critical Theories of Sexuality | 4 |
| DWA 230 | Gender and International Human Rights | 4 |
| HIST 237 | History of Feminism | 4 |
| POLS 321 | Gender and Politics in the Developing World | 4 |
| SOC 265 | Gender and Society | 4 |
All of the core courses examine gender, women, and sexuality, and approach these concepts from an intersectional perspective, emphasizing their interconnections with different bases of identity and multiple systems of oppression, including race and class.