Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (First Year and Transfer)

• Information for Transfer Students

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Academic Bulletin

Area of Study: Interdisciplinary Studies
Programs: Major and Minor

 When advising a student interested in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS), please note the following:                       

• WGSS is an interdisciplinary major and minor program administered by a department chair and steering committee.
• WGSS 100 (Introduction to WGSS) is offered every semester; one of WGSS 210 (Social Movements) or 211 (Queer Lives) is offered each year. 
• Elective course offerings are available in poster form each semester. Most advisors receive this information. Students can also contact the chair or any member of the WGSS steering committee for more information.
• WGSS 100 and WGSS 210 or 211 are prerequisites for WGSS 300 (Feminist and Queer Theory) and WGSS 400 (Transnational Feminisms); electives for the program may require prerequisites from the particular discipline in which they are offered.
• BLKST 305 (Black Feminist Thought) counts as a substitution for WGSS 300 (Feminist and Queer Theory). Prerequisites for BLKST 305 are WGSS 100 or BLKST 100.

Majors in WGSS:

A major in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies requires the completion of 40 semester credit hours. It includes WGSS 100, 210 or 211, 300 or BLKST 305, 400, 580, 620 and 16 credits selected from approved electives of three types: program, discipline-focused, and related. Program Courses are electives carrying the WGSS prefix and course number. Discipline-Focused Courses generally address the study of women, gender, and sexuality within the context of a particular discipline. Related Courses give substantive attention to feminist frameworks that explore the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality, class, and nationality, but such issues may not be the primary focus of the class.            

• Major Advisors: Any faculty person serving on the WGSS steering committee can serve as a WGSS major academic advisor. The current faculty on the steering committee are Courtney Bailey, Paula Burleigh, M. Soledad Caballero, Dara Delgado, Rebecca Oliver, Barbara Riess, and Barbara Shaw (chair of record as of July 1, 2024). We also currently have a two year Visiting Assistant Professor, Jo Giardini. However, they are not able to serve as an academic advisor.
  • Students are welcome to meet with the chair of WGSS to discuss selecting their WGSS academic major advisor, or they may connect directly with the faculty person (who is a member of the WGSS steering committee) they have in mind and ask them to serve as their WGSS academic major advisor. After this, the declaration process is akin to the normal declaration process. Students submit a declaration of major and minor form to the Registrar.
• WGSS does not have the capacity to schedule a junior seminar in WGSS each semester, so WGSS schedules its junior seminar in spring semesters. WGSS majors should take the seminar in the spring of their junior year. WGSS junior seminars are open to students as long as they have taken WGSS 100, WGSS 201 or 211 and WGSS 300. We try to schedule WGSS 300 in fall semesters so that enrolling in the junior seminar will not be an issue. This is the ideal sequencing but if students have GSS 210 or 211 and WGSS 300 but not WGSS 100, or another configuration, that is usually not an issue.
• WGSS 620 can be taken either either fall or spring semester of the senior year. Students majoring in WGSS usually prepare for their senior project in the junior seminar, so then submitting a proposal at the end of the spring semester they are enrolled in the junior seminar should they want to do their senior project in the fall of their senior year is not an issue..  
• Because WGSS is an interdisciplinary major and because many of our students double major, it is important to make sure that both senior project directors are part of every aspect of developing a topic for a senior project. Some majors have year-long senior projects while WGSS is only one semester. This difference usually means that students are enrolled in a 2 credit fall class in their senior year to develop their topic and write their proposals in the year-long senior project. Students should still involve their WGSS first readers in the development of their senior project proposal even though they will not officially register for their WGSS part of the project in the spring of their senior year. As WGSS guidlines indicate:
  • From our most recent Guidelines:
    • Many WGSS students are double majors who present a single project to fulfill the requirements of both WGSS and another department.
      • The exact conditions by which a student completes a joint Senior Project must be approved by WGSS and the other department.
      • At least one chapter of the joint Senior Project must make significant use of feminist methodoloies or theories.
    • For single WGSS majors, in their junior seminar, they will receive the complete guidelines for a WGSS senior project and will be addigned their first and second readers by the end of the semester.
    • ​​Note: WGSS is in the process of revising its senior project guidelines in fall of 2023 for further clarification. As WGSS begins developing its action plan for its self-study, guidelines and course sequencing may shift. But for 2024-2025, the information provided is relevant and accurate

Minors in WGSS:

A minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies requires the completion of 24 semester credit hours. It includes WGSS 100, 210 or 211, 300 or BLKST 305, 580 and eight credits selected from approved electives (see description of electives above). As an interdisciplinary minor, WGSS may be combined with majors from any division: humanities, natural sciences, or social sciences.

• WGSS minors can enroll in the junior seminar in the spring of their junior year or the spring of their senior year. WGSS junior seminars are open to students as long as they have taken WGSS 100, WGSS 201 or 211 and WGSS 300. We try to schedule WGSS 300 in fall semesters so that enrolling in the junior seminar will not be an issue. This is the ideal sequencing but if students have GSS 210 or 211 and WGSS 300 but not WGSS 100, or another configuration, that is usually not an issue.
• WGSS requires its junior seminar for minors. Students should try to aviod enrolling in two junior seminars in the same semester.

Students are encouraged to consult with the director of WGSS regarding planning for the major or minor. 

If a student has questions, please refer them to the WGSS Program Chair: Barbara Shaw. 

Other things to note and know: every semester a few weeks prior to registration for the next semester, the WGSS department creates an electronic poster with all the WGSS program courses offered the next semester as well as discipline and related classes that also count toward the WGSS major and minor. The chair of the department shares this poster with all WGSS majors and minors, WGSS affiliated faculty, and all department chairs

Information for Transfer Students

Transfer of credits chart

• Students who transfer to Allegheny College and who are interested in WGSS are likely to have taken courses that would fill the major requirements below, especially electives from other departments and perhaps introductory WS or WGSS classes and perhaps a theory class.
• Because electives, WGSS 100 and WGSS 300 are the classes that have transferred from other institutions in the last 5 years, here are some guidelines for you to see what classes might transfer toward a WGSS major or minor.