Program Requirements
WGSS majors may choose an optional specialization within the major called Health if the students' interests lie primarily within this area of WGSS. Students enrolled in the Health specialization must complete the WGSS major using the approved courses in each required category below. Only 6 units may be taken at the 100 or 200 level. In addition, 6 units must be taken at the 400 level. One of the 400-level courses can be double-counted for one other category. For example, one class may count toward the 400-level class and it may fulfill the theory requirement.
Required Courses
- Introduction (3 credits); this course is required for all majors:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| WGSS 100B | Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | 3 |
- Theory (3 credits); students select one of the following:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| WGSS 3203 | Bodies Out of Bounds: Feminist and Queer Disability Studies | 3 |
| WGSS 3563 | Queering the History of Health | 3 |
- History (3 credits); students select one of the following:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| WGSS 3041 | Making Sex and Gender: Understanding the History of the Body | 3 |
| WGSS 310 | From Hysteria to Hysterectomy: Women's Health Care in America | 3 |
| WGSS 3141 | The Racial and Sexual Politics of Public Health | 3 |
| WGSS 414 | Gender, Religion, Medicine and Science | 3 |
- Race or Non-U.S. Course (3 credits); students select one of the following:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| WGSS 3141 | The Racial and Sexual Politics of Public Health | 3 |
| | 3 |
| WGSS 389 | The Global History of HIV/AIDS | 3 |
| WGSS 402 | Transnational Reproductive Health Issues: Meanings, Technologies, Practices | 3 |
| WGSS 4134 | The AIDS Epidemic: Inequalities, Ethnography, and Ethics | 3 |
- Required Health Elective (3 credits); students select one of the following:
- Methods (3 credits); students select one of the following:
Course List
| Code |
Title |
Units |
| WGSS 417W | Feminist Research Methodologies | 3 |
WGSS 444
& 444B | Sex and Gender in Public
and Sex and Gender in Public (These are 1.5-credit courses that meet once a week during both semesters of the senior year and that will result in a capstone project exploring gender and/or sexuality and politics broadly conceived.) | 3 |
| WGSS 3942 | Community-Engaged Learning: Projects in Domestic Violence | 4 |
| WGSS 3174 | Community Engaged Learning: Feminist and Queer Community Praxis | 4 |
Elective Courses
- Students select 9 units of any WGSS courses as electives.
Additional Information
Pass/No Pass credits do not count toward the major, even if they are WGSS internships. For a course to count for major credit, the student must earn a C- or better; however, the College of Arts and Sciences will only grant credit for a writing intensive course if the student earns at least a C+.
We strongly encourage and support students who wish to study abroad. Therefore, we accept up to 9 credits from study abroad (3 of those credits could fulfill the historical context or ethnic/global/racial requirement). Please
contact Amy Cislo, WGSS Study Abroad Faculty Advisor, about this option.
Current students who wish to take courses at other universities during the summer may transfer up to 6 credit units. However, these credits cannot be used to fulfill the introductory course or the theory or methods/service-learning requirements.
Students transferring to Washington University who wish to complete the major in WGSS may transfer no more than 9 credits of course work taken elsewhere.