Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

WGSS Content and Theories

Students will be able to:

1. Show how critical analysis of gender and sexuality contributes to an understanding of the historical and contemporary formations of patriarchy, heteronormativity, and gender normativity;
2. Achieve a knowledge base about women’s and LGBTQ+ people’s role in history — their contributions, oppression, and resistance;
3. Describe the manner in which race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect;
4. Become aware of women’s and LGBTQ+ people’s experience in cultural contexts, both nationally and globally, including understanding the roles of gender and sexuality in social justice movements around the world;
5. Define and describe a range of theories that underlie feminist and queer analysis, understanding their similarities and differences;
6. Describe how theories reflect the historical and cultural context in which they emerge.

Research Methods

Students will be able to:

1. Utilize feminist and queer methodological approaches and explain their role in building knowledge;
2. Compare and contrast different feminist and queer theories and methodological approaches;
3. Critique scholarly works from a feminist and queer theoretical and methodological standpoint;
4. Develop a working knowledge of the connections between women’s studies and queer studies scholarship, activism, and social change.