Gender and Women’s Studies BA
Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies 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 and cross-cultural perspectives, the Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies Department at UMBC critically examines the intersections of gender and sexuality with other differences, including, class, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, and ability to make visible structures of power that otherwise remain hidden.
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The major in gender and women’s studies consists of 36 credits, divided as follows:
CORE COURSES (9 Credits) | |||
Course # | Course Name | GEP | Semester Offered |
GWST 100 | Introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies | SS/C | |
GWST 200 | Studies in Feminist Activism | SS | Spring Only |
GWST300 | Methodologies of Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies | WI | |
GWST 480 | Theories of Feminism | ||
GWST 495 | Colloquium: Research + Activism | WI | Spring Only |
ELECTIVE CREDITS (21 credits) – Twelve (12) credits must be spread across the three content areas as designated below. The additional nine (9) credits may be from any non-Core approved GWST courses, including topics courses (GWST 290, 292, 390, 392, 490, 492). Six (6) of the twenty-one (21) credits must be designated Range of Experience (RoE) courses. While all GWST courses are designed to explore multiple diversities, Range of Experience (RoE) courses focus specifically on intersections of gender with race/ethnicity, class, nation, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation, for example.
History and Public Policy (6 credits) | |||
Course Number | Course Name | RoE | GEP |
GWST/AMST 210 | Introduction to Critical Sexuality Studies | RoE | SS/C |
GWST 315 | Modern Masculinities | AH/C | |
GWST/HIST 325 | History of Women in America to 1870 | SS | |
GWST/HIST 326 | History of Women in American Since 1870 | SS | |
GWST327/AFST354/HIST323 | African-American Women’s History | RoE | SS |
GWST/POLI 328 | Women, Gender, Sexuality, + Political Power in the US | ||
GWST330/ANCS 320 | Women + Gender in the Classical World | AH/C | |
GWST/POLI 338 | Women, Gender, + Law | SS | |
GWST 340 | Women, Gender, + Globalization | RoE | SS/C |
GWST/HIST 366 | Doin’ It: Case Studies/History of Western Sexuality | RoE | SS/C |
GWST/HIST 374 | European Women’s History 1200-1750 | SS/C | |
GWST/HIST 375 | European Women’s History 1750-1914 | SS/C | |
GWST/HIST 376 | European Women’s History 1914-Present | SS/C | |
GWST/SOWK 377 | Women and Social Policy | SS | |
GWST/HIST 380 | History of Women + Gender in Asia | RoE | C |
GWST/AMST 382 | Perspectives on the Family | AH | |
GWST 383 | History and Politics of Sexuality | RoE | |
GWST/AFST 439 | Women in Africa and the Diaspora | RoE |
Representations as/in Culture (3 credits) | |||
Course Number | Course Name | RoE | GEP |
GWST 220 | Introduction to Transgender Studies | RoE | |
GWST 245 | Arab and Muslim Experiences in the US | ||
GWST/PHIL 258 | Introduction to Feminist Philosophy | ||
GWST/MLL 320 | Transnational Feminist Film | RoE | AH/C |
GWST 321 | Queer Representations in Film and TV | RoE | AH |
GWST/MLL322/AFST347 | Gender, Race, and Media | RoE | AH/C |
GWST 323 | Gender and Sitcoms | AH | |
GWST 342 | Gender in Modern South Asia | RoE | AH/C |
GWST 343 | Gender, Human Rights, + Political Violence: Latin America | RoE | AH/C |
GWST 344 | Transnational Femininities | RoE | AH/C |
GWST348/ART329 | Black, Queer, + Feminist Film | RoE | |
GWST/THTR 349 | Gender, Sexuality, + Theatrical Performance | RoE | AH |
GWST/ENGL 364 | Perspectives on Women in Literature | AH/WI | |
GWST 365 | Black Women Novelists | RoE | |
GWST/PHIL 391 | The Philosophy of Sex | ||
GWST/MLL 413 | Language, Gender, + Sexuality | RoE | |
GWST/PHIL 458 | Advanced Topics in Feminist Philosophy | ||
GWST/ENGL 464 | Studies in Women + Literature |
Material, Social, and Technological Contexts (3 credits) | |||
Course Number | Course Name | RoE | GEP |
GWST/ECON 250 | Gender Roles in Economic Life | ||
GWST/MLL 255 | Intercultural Paris | RoE | AH/C |
GWST/AMST 310 | Gender + Inequality in America | AH | |
GWST/SOCY 332 | Human Sexuality in Sociological Perspective | ||
GWST/SOCY 333 | Human Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective | SS/C | |
GWST 345 | Unruly Bodies | RoE | AH/C |
GWST/CMSC/IS 352 | Women, Gender, and Information Technology | SS | |
GWST/SOCY 353 | Marriage + the Family | SS | |
GWST/SOCY 355 | The Sociology of Women | SS | |
GWST/PSYC 356 | The Psychology of Sex + Gender | ||
GWST/PSYC 357 | Psychology of Women + Gender | ||
GWST/ANTH 367 | Anthropology of Gender | ||
GWST/AFST 370 | Black Women: Cross-Cultural Perspectives | RoE | SS/C |
GWST/AFST 371 | The Female Offender | ||
GWST378 | Women, Gender, + Science | SS/WI | |
GWST 381 | Reproductive Justice in the US | ||
GWST/SOCY 433 | Gender, Work, + Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective | RoE | WI |
GWST/SOCY 434 | Gender + the Life Course | ||
GWST/PSYC 444 | Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity | RoE | WI |
GWST 485 | Sexuality + Queer Theory | RoE |
NOTES:
- A C or better is required in all courses applied toward the certificate
- A maximum of six (6) credits of GWST electives may be taken at the 200 level
- A maximum of three (3) GWST independent study credits may be counted toward the major
- A maximum of three (3) GWST internship credits may be counted toward the major