Information and Policies
Introduction
Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary field of analysis in the humanities that investigates how relations of gender are embedded in social, political, and cultural formations. The undergraduate program in feminist studies provides students with a unique interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. The department emphasizes theories and practices derived from multiracial and multicultural contexts. Some topics you will find in our curriculum include: Black/Africana studies; colonialism and decolonization; trans, queer, and sexuality studies; media studies; law, politics, and social change; and science and technology studies.
Feminist studies prepares undergraduates for a variety of careers. The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Feminist Studies provides excellent grounding for undergraduates who have career aspirations in, for example, law, health, non-governmental organizations, museum curation, politics, media and film, research institutes, journalism, community organizations, and social services.
Students wishing to pursue doctoral work will also find that interdisciplinary training in feminist studies equips them with theoretical and methodological strengths in most disciplines and applied research fields including American studies, ethnic studies, science studies, anthropology, communications, and legal studies. Specialists in feminist studies are employed as consultants in industry, higher education, and human resources. State and federal government agencies employ people who have special training in understanding gender and race relations. Educational institutions need specialists to develop and administer feminist studies programs, women’s centers, and other institutional structures designed specifically to study and assist marginalized peoples, including women.
Program Learning Outcomes
Students who complete the feminist studies major should demonstrate the following skills upon graduation:
Outcome 1: Application of Feminist Approaches to Critical Interpretation
Students should be able to:
- Discuss a diversity of feminist approaches to understanding social, political, cultural, and scientific phenomena
- Connect feminist inquiry to a variety of other social phenomena including but not limited to race, nation, class, and sexuality
- Distinguish and evaluate assumptions underlying data and claims
- Place divergent interpretive frameworks in dialogue
- Perform close reading of texts and/or other objects
Outcome 2: Original Research
Students should be able to:
- Develop specific and detailed research questions
- Identify appropriate primary sources for feminist research projects
- Collect, evaluate, and analyze source material using appropriate theoretical framework(s)
- Identify key findings and draw conclusions for research and/or application
Outcome 3: Argumentative Communication
Students should be able to:
- Effectively formulate written arguments to frame research questions and analyze source material
- Present appropriate evidence to substantiate claims
- Logically organize arguments over the course of a research paper
- Use appropriate mechanics/grammar
Academic Advising for the Program
Email: fmst@ucsc.edu
Phone: (831) 459-1478
Feminist studies advising is held remotely and in Humanities 1, Room 403. Drop-in hours are posted on the feminist studies website. Students can make an appointment by using the Slug Success application found under Resources in their student portal (MyUCSC).
Transfer students should also consult the Transfer Student Information and Policy section for specific requirements.
Getting Started in the Major: Frosh
Acceptance to the feminist studies major: This major is not highly sequential or course intensive. Although it is advisable to begin taking courses in the major in the first year, it is not required.
Students are encouraged to declare the major as soon as possible to be assured entrance into the required core courses. Please see the section How to Declare a Major for more details.
There are no prerequisite courses that must be satisfied before declaring the feminist studies major.
Students should plan to enroll in FMST 01, Feminist Studies: An Introduction, in the fall quarter of their sophomore year if they did not complete the course during their first year at UC Santa Cruz. Please refer to the Four-Year Plan in the Planners section of the catalog.
Transfer Information and Policy
Transfer Admission Screening Policy
No major preparation courses are required prior to transfer. Prospective students are encouraged to complete the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or to complete all UC Santa Cruz general education requirements before matriculation. Transfer students may potentially pursue the feminist studies major even if they did not enter UC Santa Cruz with a proposed feminist studies major.
Getting Started in the Major: Transfer Students
Transfer students are encouraged to declare the major as soon as possible to be assured entrance into the required core courses. Please see the section How to Declare a Major for more details.
Transfer students may use an articulated equivalent of FMST 1 to satisfy the FMST 1 requirement. Please check assist.org for current articulation agreements.
If you have completed prior college-level coursework in feminist studies, women's studies, or a similar field of study, please contact feminist studies advising as soon as possible and provide a copy of your unofficial transcript and course syllabi so the coursework can be reviewed for potential fulfillment of feminist studies major requirements.
The Feminist Studies Department will consider, upon petition, which UC-transferrable courses from other institutions are acceptable. FMST 1, one feminist studies (FMST) lower-division course, and FMST 100 must be completed before the senior year so that the comprehensive requirement may be completed in the senior year.
Transfer students are strongly encouraged to enroll in FMST 105, Feminist Methodologies, a course designed specifically to aid in the transition to UC Santa Cruz's feminist studies major for incoming transfer students. FMST 105 is offered every fall. This course will also satisfy the one upper-division core course requirement.
Major Qualification Policy and Declaration Process
Major Qualification
Undeclared students may declare the feminist studies major at any time. While specific courses are not required in order to declare, students ideally will have completed or be enrolled in FMST 1, Feminist Studies: An Introduction.
How to Declare a Major
Petition to declare the feminist studies major before you reach your declaration deadline quarter. Students who enter UC Santa Cruz as frosh or sophomores must be formally declared in a major before enrolling in their third year (or equivalent). Junior transfer students must be declared in a major by the deadline in their second term at UCSC.
For a single major: Familiarize yourself with the content of the Feminist Studies website. Log into MyUCSC and click the link to submit the Petition for Major/Minor. Before submitting the petition, students are required to meet with feminist studies advising to create and/or update their academic planner. A template planner can be found here.
If you are planning to declare a double major or major/minor program, each major advisor will need to approve your academic planner. Please follow the declaration protocol for each major before submitting the declaration of major petition on MyUCSC.
If your proposed program exceeds your expected graduation term (EGT), your major advisor(s) will use the extension section of your academic planner to assign your college advising office to review the extension of enrollment request. Your college advising office will approve or deny the request and update your expected graduation term.
Students should submit a petition to declare as soon as they reach their declaration deadline quarter.
Students petitioning when the campus declaration deadline is imminent (i.e., in their sixth quarter, for students admitted as frosh), will either be approved, denied, or provided with conditions (e.g., completion of some courses with certain grades) that will be resolved within at most one more enrolled quarter.
Letter Grade Policy
Letter grades are required for 10 of the 11 courses applied toward the feminist studies major. FMST 100 and the comprehensive requirement course (FMST 194 or FMST 195) must be taken for a letter grade.
Course Substitution Policy
Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary major that includes courses taught by affiliated faculty in other departments (see the Courses page of the Feminist Studies website for current year offerings). However, a minimum of five courses counting toward major requiremetns must be taken at UC Santa Cruz taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199). At most three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including three Education Abroad Program (EAP) courses or courses from another university. Courses cross-listed with FMST courses count toward this five-course minimum.
Double Majors and Major/Minor Combinations Policy
The feminist studies major works very well as a double major with fields of study such as community studies, critical race and ethnic studies, sociology, politics, education, legal studies, literature, psychology, and more.
Study Abroad
As stated in the course substitution policy, a maximum of three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including courses from an Education Abroad Program (EAP).
Feminist studies majors are strongly encouraged to consider enriching their time at UCSC with Study Abroad opportunities. International classes are an exciting chance to broaden and deepen your feminist education by bringing questions around gender, sexuality, and social justice into dialog with different regions, nations, and cultures around the world.
Students should refer to the list of feminist studies approved Study Abroad classes offered at colleges around the globe. This list is being updated with more approved courses from more countries on an ongoing basis.
As noted above, students can use up to three approved Study Abroad courses to fulfill feminist studies upper-division elective requirements. Interested students should review the feminist studies major requirements and refer to these two- and four-year academic planners for examples of how to incorporate international classes into the feminist studies curriculum.
Honors
Feminist Studies awards honors and highest honors in the major. At the end of each quarter, a faculty committee meets to review graduating students’ files. Students are considered for honors and highest honors based on their cumulative GPA, calculated from grades earned in coursework and the comprehensive requirement undertaken for completion of the major. For honors, students must earn a minimum GPA of 3.70 in the relevant courses, while for highest honors, the GPA must be 3.90 or higher. Writing a thesis is not a requirement for receiving honors or highest honors.
Requirements and Planners
Course Requirements
Feminist studies majors must complete 11 courses including a comprehensive requirement in the Feminist Studies Department program. The three core courses--FMST 1, one lower-division feminist studies course, and FMST 100--must be taken at UC Santa Cruz absent a petition. A minimum of five courses at UC Santa Cruz taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199) must be completed for the major.
Lower-Division Courses
Take the following course:
| FMST 1 | Feminist Studies: An Introduction | 5 |
And one of the following courses:
| FMST 10 | Feminisms of/and the Global South | 5 |
| FMST 12 | Podcasting: Feminist Files | 5 |
| FMST 14 | Popular Culture in South Asia | 5 |
| FMST 15 | Gender, Sexuality, and Transnational Migration Across the Americas | 5 |
| FMST 16 | Media Histories--News and New Media | 5 |
| FMST 18 | Black Feminist Ethnographies | 5 |
| FMST 19 | Black Feminisms: An Introduction | 5 |
| FMST 20 | Feminism and Social Justice | 5 |
| FMST 21 | Religion in American Politics and Culture | 5 |
| FMST 30 | Feminism and Science | 5 |
| FMST 31 | Disability Studies | 5 |
| FMST 40 | Sexuality and Globalization | 5 |
| FMST 41 | Trans Gender Bodies | 5 |
| FMST 43 | Rasanblaj: On Wholeness and Well-Being | 5 |
| FMST 71
/VAST 01
| Introduction to Visualizing Abolition Studies | 5 |
Upper-Division Courses
Students are required to complete FMST 100, Feminist Theories, at UC Santa Cruz absent a petition.
Electives
Students complete seven additional 5-credit upper-division electives. Courses may be chosen from FMST 100-199, or the lists of approved electives from affiliated departments below.
As stated in the Course Substitution Policy, a minimum of five courses used toward major requirements must be taken in the Feminist Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz (i.e. courses designated FMST). FMST 193, 198, and 199 do not count toward this five-course minimum. Courses cross-listed with a FMST course will count toward this five-course minimum. At most three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including three Education Abroad Program (EAP) courses or courses from another university.
The Feminist Studies Tentative Curriculum is the definitive list of courses offered during the current academic year that will satisfy major requirements and is comprised of courses offered both from within the Feminist Studies Department but also with approved courses originating from many different departments throughout UC Santa Cruz.
Please consult feminist studies advising with any questions regarding this requirement.
Division of the Humanities Approved Electives
| APLX 112 | Language and Gender | 5 |
| CRES 100 | Comparative Theories of Race and Ethnicity | 5 |
| CRES 101 | Research Methods and Writing in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies | 5 |
| HIS 106B | Asian and Asian American History, 1941-Present | 5 |
| HIS 109A | Race, Gender, and Power in the Antebellum South | 5 |
| HIS 110A | Colonial America, 1500-1750 | 5 |
| HIS 112 | American Feminist Thought, 1750-1950 | 5 |
| HIS 113C | Women and American Religious Culture | 5 |
| HIS 119
/FMST 119
| Indigenous Feminisms | 5 |
| HIS 121B | African American History: 1877 to the Present | 5 |
| HIS 128 | Chicana/Chicano History | 5 |
| HIS 131 | Women in Colonial Latin America | 5 |
| HIS 140C | Revolutionary China 1895-1960 | 5 |
| HIS 140D | Recent Chinese History | 5 |
| HIS 140E | Women in China's Long 20th Century | 5 |
| HIS 150F | Engendering Empires: Women in Modern Japan and Korea | 5 |
| HIS 151A | Medicine and the Body in the Colonial World | 5 |
| HIS 159B | Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt | 5 |
| HIS 196H | Sex and the City--The History of Sexuality in Urban Areas Around the Globe | 5 |
| HISC 113 | History of Capitalism | 5 |
| HISC 125 | Queerness and Race | 5 |
| LIT 112P | Gwendolyn Brooks | 5 |
| LIT 121M | Blue and Brown: Race, Gender, and Blackness | 5 |
| LIT 121O | Body Theories and Embodied Poetics in Contemporary American Poetry | 5 |
| LIT 146G | Queer(y)ing Victorian Literature | 5 |
| LIT 156A | The Gothic Imagination in Fiction, Film, and Theory | 5 |
| LIT 161B | African American Women Writers | 5 |
| LIT 162C | So Many Little Lives: Representations of Trauma in Asian American Literature | 5 |
| LIT 166A | Representations of Gender in Medieval Literature | 5 |
| LIT 166E | Women's Literature | 5 |
| LIT 167E | The Vampire in Literature and Popular Culture | 5 |
| PHIL 147
/FMST 168
| Topics in Feminist Philosophy | 5 |
Division of Social Sciences Approved Electives
| ANTH 110G
/CRES 110G
| Westside Stories: Race, Place and the California Imaginary | 5 |
| ANTH 110Q
/CRES 110Q/FMST 110Q
| Queer Sexuality in Black Popular Culture | 5 |
| ANTH 110T | Motherhood in American Culture | 5 |
| ANTH 130E | Culture and Politics of Island Southeast Asia | 5 |
| ANTH 130F
/CRES 130
| Blackness In Motion: Anthology of the African Diasporas | 5 |
| ANTH 130L | Ethnographies of Latin America | 5 |
| ANTH 130O | Native Feminisms, Gender, and Settler Colonialism | 5 |
| ANTH 131 | Gender in Cross-Cultural Context | 5 |
| ANTH 134 | Medical Anthropology: An Introduction | 5 |
| ANTH 140
/CRES 140
| The Body in Rain: Environmental and Medical Intersections | 5 |
| ANTH 148
/FMST 148
| Gender and Global Development | 5 |
| ANTH 158 | Feminist Ethnographies | 5 |
| ANTH 160 | Reproductive and Population Politics | 5 |
| ANTH 194M | Medical Anthropology | 5 |
| ANTH 194X | Women in Politics: A Third World Perspective | 5 |
| CMMU 151 | Sex, Race, and Globalization | 5 |
| CMMU 161 | Gender Health and Justice | 5 |
| EDUC 135 | Gender and Education | 5 |
| ECON 183
/LGST 183
| Women in the Economy | 5 |
| LALS 144 | Mexicana/Chicana Histories | 5 |
| LALS 172 | Visualizing Human Rights | 5 |
| LALS 175 | Migration, Gender, and Health | 5 |
| LGST 111B
/POLI 111B
| Civil Liberties | 5 |
| POLI 103 | Feminist Interventions | 5 |
| POLI 105B
/LGST 105B
| Early Modern Political Thought | 5 |
| PSYC 107 | Gender and Development | 5 |
| PSYC 140G | Women's Lives in Context | 5 |
| PSYC 140H | Sexual Identity and Society | 5 |
| PSYC 140L | Women's Bodies and Psychological Well-Being | 5 |
| PSYC 140Q | Social Psychology of Gender | 5 |
| PSYC 140T | Psychology of Trauma | 5 |
| PSYC 149 | Community Psychology: Transforming Communities | 5 |
| PSYC 153 | The Psychology of Poverty and Social Class | 5 |
| PSYC 159A | Sexual Identity | 5 |
| PSYC 159D | Psychology of Sexual Aggression | 5 |
| SOCY 111 | Family and Society | 5 |
| SOCY 120 | Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Sexuality and Cultural Politics | 5 |
| SOCY 121 | Sociology of Health and Medicine | 5 |
| SOCY 126 | Sex and Sexuality as Social Practice and Representation | 5 |
| SOCY 132 | Sociology of Science and Technology | 5 |
| SOCY 145 | Sociology of Masculinities | 5 |
| SOCY 149 | Sex and Gender | 5 |
| SOCY 150 | Sociology of Death and Dying | 5 |
| SOCY 152 | Body and Society | 5 |
| SOCY 157 | Sexualities and Society | 5 |
| SOCY 156 | U.S. Latinx Identities: Centers and Margins | 5 |
| SOCY 158 | Politics of Sex Work and Erotic Labor | 5 |
| SOCY 172 | Sociology of Social Movements | 5 |
| SOCY 176 | Women and Work | 5 |
| SOCY 187 | Feminist Theory | 5 |
Division of the Arts Approved Electives
The Colleges Approved Electives
| JRLC 135 | Apprenticeship in Community Engaged Research | 5 |
| OAKS 150 | Queer History and Theory in the United States | 5 |
Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement
Students of every major must satisfy that major’s upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement in feminist studies is satisfied by completing the comprehensive requirement (FMST 194 or FMST 195).
Comprehensive Requirement
Comprehensive requirement options include a senior seminar taught by core faculty or a senior thesis/project. Completion of the Entry Level Writing and Composition Requirements are prerequisites to FMST 194 and FMST 195.
Students who wish to complete FMST 195, Senior Thesis or Project, should consult early with the feminist studies advisor and a prospective faculty advisor. The senior thesis or project option is by petition only, and faculty advisors may request that students complete a Senior Seminar (FMST 194) before agreeing to supervise a senior thesis or project.
Double majors may be able to write a thesis of 50 or more pages over three quarters to satisfy the comprehensive requirements of feminist studies and the second major. The Feminist Studies Department will review and approve or deny proposals for a double thesis on a case-by-case basis.
Students should be aware that not all departments will accept a double thesis. Students who wish to propose a double thesis should consult with both major advisors before the end of their junior year. Such a proposal must be approved by both departments or referred to the Committee on Educational Policy. In evaluating such proposals, the departments will require the student to have completed significantly more work than the minimum required for the comprehensive requirement of each major. The student's work must clearly explain to the reader the relevance of the work to both disciplines.
Planners
The tables below are for informational purposes and do not reflect all university, general education, and credit requirements. See Undergraduate Graduation Requirements for more information.
Four Year Plan
| |
Fall |
Winter |
Spring |
Summer |
| Entering |
|
|
|
College 1A |
| |
|
|
Summer Edge (optional) |
| |
|
|
|
| 1st (frosh) |
College 1 |
WRIT 1/WRIT 1E (if needed) |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| 2nd (soph) |
FMST 1 |
FMST 100 |
FMST lower-division core |
|
| WRIT 2* |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| 3rd (junior) |
FMST elective |
FMST elective |
FMST elective |
|
| |
FMST elective |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| 4th (senior) |
FMST elective |
FMST 194 or
FMST 195 |
FMST elective |
|
| FMST elective |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
FMST 01 fulfills the CC general education (GE) requirement. Many FMST courses fulfill other GE requirements.
*WRIT 2 should be taken in or before spring quarter of the second year.
Two Year Plan for Transfer Students:
| |
Fall |
Winter |
Spring |
Summer |
| Entering |
|
|
|
Kresge 1T |
| |
|
|
Summer Edge (optional) |
| |
|
|
|
| 3rd (junior) |
FMST 1 |
FMST 100 |
FMST elective |
|
| FMST lower-division core |
|
FMST elective
|
|
| FMST elective* |
|
|
|
| 4th (senior) |
FMST elective |
FMST elective |
FMST 194 or 195 |
|
| FMST elective |
FMST elective |
|
|
*Transfer students are strongly encouraged to enroll in FMST 105, Feminist Methodologies, a course designed specifically to aid in the transition to UC Santa Cruz's feminist studies major for incoming transfer students. FMST 105 is offered every fall. This course will also satisfy one FMST elective requirement.