BA in Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies

Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies (GWST) is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that investigates how gender and sexuality operate as organizing axes of social, cultural, economic and political institutions, as well as in the everyday lives and cultural products of people who must live within them. Emphasizing the importance of historical, cross-cultural, and transnational perspectives, GWST at UMBC critically examines the intersections of gender and sexuality with other differences, including, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, and ability to see structures of power that would otherwise remain hidden. We empower students to imagine a more just future and equip them with the tools to collectively enact it.

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The BA in Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies consists of 36 credits, divided as follows:

CORE COURSES (15 credits)

SS/C

GWST 100: Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies
GWST 200: Studies in Feminist Activism
GEP: SS | Offered: Spring Only
GWST/CSST 300: Methodologies of Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies
GEP: WI
GWST 480: Theories of Feminism
GWST 495: Colloquium: Research + Activism
GEP: WI | Offered: Spring Only
ELECTIVE CREDITS (21 credits)
  • 12 credits must be from the three content areas listed below
    • 6 credits in History and Public Policy
    • 3 credits in Representations as/in Culture
    • 3 credits in Material, Social and Technological Contexts
  • 9 additional credits of GWST electives
  • 6 credits must be designated Range of Experience (RoE) courses
  • 15 credits must be at the 300 level and above
  • Students have the option to take up to 3 credits of independent study and 3 credits of internship towards completion of the major
  • Selected topics courses (CSST 292, 392, 492, GWST 290, 390, 490) may be counted toward the 21 credits in electives

NOTE: A C or better is required in all courses applied toward the major

CSST 210: Introduction to Critical Sexuality Studies
RoE: | GEP: SS, C
GWST 315: Modern Masculinities
GEP: AH, C
GWST/HIST 325: History of Women in America to 1870
GEP: SS
GWST/HIST 326: History of Women in American Since 1870
GEP: SS
GWST327/AFST354/HIST323: African-American Women’s History
RoE: | GEP: SS
GWST/POLI 328: Women, Gender, Sexuality, + Political Power in the US
GWST 330/ANCS 320: Women + Gender in the Classical World
GEP: AH, C
GWST/POLI 338: Women, Gender, + Law
GEP: SS
GWST 340: Women, Gender, + Globalization
RoE: | GEP: SS, C
GWST/HIST 366: Doin’ It: Case Studies/History of Western Sexuality
RoE: | GEP: SS, C
GWST 373/HIST 379: “Do Muslim Women Need Saving?” – Women and Gender in Islam
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST/HIST 374: European Women’s History 1200-1750
GEP: SS, C
GWST/HIST 375: European Women’s History 1750-Present
GEP: SS, C
GWST/HIST 376: European Women’s History 1914-Present
GEP: SS, C
GWST/SOWK 377: Women and Social Policy
GEP: SS

GWST 379/SOWK 376: Intimate Partner Violence, a Social Work Perspective
RoE: | GEP: C

GWST 380/HIST 380: Women and Gender in Asia
RoE: | GEP: C

GWST 382/AMST 382: Perspectives on the Family
GEP: AH

GWST 383: History and Politics of Sexuality
RoE:  

GWST 439/AFST 439: Women in Africa and the Diaspora
RoE:  

CSST 321: Queer Representation in Film and TV
RoE: | GEP: AH
GWST 220: Introduction to Transgender Studies
RoE:  
GWST/AMST 245: Arab and Muslim Experiences in the United States
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST/PHIL 258: Philosophy, Race, and Gender
GEP: AH
GWST/MLL 320: Transnational Feminist Film
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST/MLL 322/AFST 347: Gender, Race, and Media
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST 323: Gender and Sitcoms
GEP: AH
GWST 334: Women in Music
GEP: SS, C
GWST 341: Indigenous and Decolonial Feminisms
RoE: | GEP: C
GWST 342: Gender in Modern South Asia
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST 343: Gender, Human Rights, and Political Violence in Latin America and Gender in Islam
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST 344: Transnational Femininities
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST 348: Black, Queer, and Feminist Film
RoE:  
GWST/THTR 349: Gender, Sexuality and Theatrical Performance
RoE: | GEP: AH
GWST/ENGL 364: Perspectives on Women in Literature
GEP: WI, AH

GWST 365: Black Women Novelists
RoE:  

GWST/PHIL 391: The Philosophy of Sex

GWST/MLL 413: Language, Gender and Sexuality
RoE:  

GWST/PHIL 458: Advanced Topics in Feminist Philosophy

GWST/ENGL 464: Studies in Women and Literature

CSST 332/SOCY: Sex and Society
CSST 345: Unruly Bodies
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
CSST/SOCY 353: Sociology of Families
GEP: SS
CSST 485: Sexuality and Queer Theory
RoE:  
GWST/ECON 250: Gender Roles in Economic Life
GWST/MLL 255: Intercultural Paris
RoE: | GEP: AH, C
GWST/AMST 310: Gender and Inequality in America
GEP: AH
GWST/SOCY 333: Human Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective
GEP: SS, C
GWST/CMSC/IS 352: Women, Gender, and Information Technology
GEP: SS
GWST/SOCY 355: The Sociology of Gender
GEP: SS
GWST/PSYC 356: The Psychology of Sex and Gender
GWST/PSYC 357: Psychology of Women and Gender
GWST/ANTH 367: The Anthropology of Gender
GWST/AFST 370: Black Women: Cross-Cultural Perspectives
RoE: | GEP: SS, C
GWST/AFST 371: The Female Offender

GWST 378: Women, Gender and Science
GEP: SS, WI 

GWST 381: Reproductive Justice in the US
RoE:  

GWST/SOCY 433: Gender, Work, and Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective
RoE: | GEP: WI

GWST/SOCY 434: Gender and the Life Course

GWST/PSYC 444: Psychology of Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity
RoE: | GEP: WI