Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Major

A major in WGSS leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree and requires the completion of a minimum of 40 semester credit hours, of which at least 12 must be at the 300- or 400-level. At graduation, WGSS majors are required to have a GPA of at least 2.0 in fulfillment of major requirements. All Allegheny courses required for a WGSS major must be taken on a letter-grade basis and are included in the GPA calculation with the exception of repeated courses, for which only the most recent grade counts.

Because this major is interdivisional, students may complete any minor to satisfy the college requirement that the major and minor be in different divisions.

All courses marked with an asterisk (*) below have prerequisites.

Requirements:

Core Courses:

All majors must take the following core courses:

WGSS 100 - Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Credits: 4
WGSS 210 - Social Movements in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Credits: 4 OR
WGSS 211 - Queer Lives Credits: 4
WGSS 300 - Feminist and Queer Theory Credits: 4 *
WGSS 400 - Transnational Feminisms Credits: 4 *
WGSS 580 - Junior Seminar in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Credits: 4 *
WGSS 620 - Senior Project Credits: 4 *

Electives:

In addition to the Core Requirements listed above, WGSS majors must take 16 credits of electives selected from the lists below. At least eight out of the 16 elective credits must come from program based and/or discipline-focused courses, and at least four of the elective credits must be at the 300 or 400 level. At most four credits from the internship courses WGSS 501 , WGSS 502 , WGSS 503 , and PSYCH 540 may count toward the elective requirement.

Program Courses:

WGSS 207 - Human Sexual Identities Credits: 4
WGSS 255 - Women and Migration Credits: 4
WGSS 275 - Bodies in American Culture Credits: 4
WGSS 306 - Cultural and Evolutionary History of Sexuality Credits: 4
WGSS 310 - Gendered Violence Credits: 4 *
WGSS 410 - Critical Perspectives in Global Women’s Health Credits: 4 *
WGSS 501 - Internship: Women’s Services I Credits: 2 * (Note: PSYCH 540 is a co-requisite for this course and may be counted as elective credit towards the WGSS major.)
WGSS 502 - Internship: Women’s Services II Credits: 2 * (Note: PSYCH 540 is a co-requisite for this course and may be counted as elective credit towards the WGSS major.)
WGSS 503 - Internship: Women’s Prison Credits: 2 * (Note: PSYCH 540 is a co-requisite for this course and may be counted as elective credit towards the WGSS major.)

Discipline-Focused Courses:

COMRT 251 - Gender in Public Communication Credits: 4
COMRT 331 - Bodies and Health in Public Communication Credits: 4 *
COMRT 351 - Media and Identity Credits: 4 *
ENGL 211 - Women and Literature Credits: 4 *
ENGL 324 - Latino/a Literature Credits: 4 *
ENGL 415 - Topics in Literature of the Middle Ages Credits: 4 *
HIST 261 - A Survey of American Women’s History Credits: 4
HIST 339 - Problems in the History of American Women Credits: 4 *
HIST 353 - Women and Revolution in China Credits: 4 *
PSYCH 423 - Gender and Families Credits: 4 *
PSYCH 453 - Psychology of Women Credits: 4 *

Other Electives:

COMRT 277 - Video Activism: History, Theory, Politics and Practice Credits: 4
COMRT 336 - The Visual in Public Communication Credits: 4 *
COMRT 465 - Media and Cultural Theory Credits: 4 *
COMRT 471 - Theories of Identity and Representation Credits: 4 *
DMS 470 - History of Contemporary Dance Credits: 4
HIST 380 - Disease and Medicine in Modern History Credits: 4 *
HIST 571 - The Civil Rights Movement Credits: 4 *
PHIL 210 - Oppression and Liberation Credits: 4
POLSC 303 - Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Credits: 4
PSYCH 452 - Psychology of Prejudice Credits: 4 *

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