The Women, Gender, & Sexuality program provides students with the opportunity to recognize the many ways in which our lives are shaped and limited by a variety of cultural constructions and circumstances. Grounded in diverse perspectives of intersectional feminism and queer scholarship, the program works to empower students to challenge such limitations through critical examination, theoretical analysis, and engaged activism. The program focuses on how social norms and the related assumptions and expectations have developed and changed over time, how they vary with different cultures, and how they position individuals and groups with specific social standpoints, locations, and power dynamics. Many courses examine and interrogate how such norms function in society thereby shaping feminine, masculine, transgender, and non-binary gendering, and the many sexualities across the spectrum in their myriad identities, expressions, and lived experiences.
The Women, Gender, and Sexuality program is interdisciplinary with a broad range of offerings, allowing students to choose from its courses to examine both current and historical experiences of individuals and communities through a variety of lenses, to analyze institutional sources of power and representational texts, to study the work of important figures, and to learn the philosophical and methodological approaches in different academic disciplines. The program offers a comprehensive and inclusive variety of coursework so that students learn about the different social constructions, privileges, oppressions, and intersections of sex, gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, nationality/citizehship, religion, social economic status, ability/disability, etc. The goal is to see the distinct identity standpoint of each individual/group within the specific and particular socio-cultural-historical era, and how that affects the power, equity, and access for individuals and communities on personal, relational, and institutional levels. The Women, Gender, and Sexuality program has three areas of focus for our students in their coursework and success: academic excellence, intersectional dynamics, and empowerment.
Student Learning Outcomes
Major Requirements: Women, Gender, and Sexuality.
A major in Women, Gender, and Sexuality consists of a minimum of 37 hours and is distributed as follows:
Professional Development: Throughout their Wesleyan education each student is given opportunities to explore professional and career choices, and to develop and demonstrate the knowledge and skills essential for professional success. Each student will complete PDE 400 Professional Development Experience and PDE 401 Professional Practice Seminar.
In addition, a Women, Gender, and Sexuality major may choose to fulfill the professional development requirement through an internship or field study taken as WST 452. It may take the form of volunteer or advocacy work, production of a creative project, or other comparable work experience approved by the Women, Gender, and Sexuality program chair. The student will be monitored by their advisor during their workplace experience and will submit a reflective summary at its conclusion.
Integrative Experience. Women, Gender, and Sexuality majors will be encouraged to begin broadly, taking courses in a variety of fields as well as introductory classes in Women, Gender, and Sexuality. As they move through the program, they will be encouraged to tailor their course of study to meet their own research interests. Through this coursework, they will learn to position themselves as a critical specialist on women, gender, and/or sexuality and the representations and intersections in their particular area of interest. In WGS 401 offered during the spring of the major's senior year, they will work with their fellow classmates and instructor to complete a scholarly, creative, or activist project. As the student is completing their interdisciplinary course of study conducted through the lens of focused feminist methodology, this seminar provides them with individual guidance to shape their senior research project.
Minor Requirements: Women, Gender, and Sexuality. The Women, Gender, and Sexuality minor provides students with a basic foundation of the issues, theories, and methods dealt within the discipline. Students will be encouraged to connect with Women, Gender, and Sexuality majors, faculty, and the community through participation in the various courses, program activities, and community events.
A minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality consists of a minimum of 18 hours and is distributed as follows:
Resources for Non-Majors. We welcome all students to join our classes; Women, Gender, and Sexuality courses offer a theoretical and experiential understanding of how individuals live in and are understood by our societies. This would be an excellent opportunity to make interdisciplinary connections through critical engagement and practical application. As most of our majors double with another, Women, Gender, and Sexuality courses complement most, if not all, majors on campus. Consider courses in the program (or perhaps a minor or double major) to enhance your own disciplinary work as well as gain an understanding of your own gendered and sexuality identities and position in society.
Postgraduate Opportunities. This major will prepare students for a wide variety of professional opportunities, including advocacy, art, business, communication, counseling, education, government, health care, the humanities, law, media, not-for-profit work, social justice, and social service. The Women, Gender, and Sexuality degree is also excellent preparation for graduate education in humanities, law, and social science fields.
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