Bachelor of Arts in Women and Gender Studies

Women and Gender Studies examines the importance of gender and feminism in relation to issues such as race, class, sexuality, labor, colonialism, multiculturalism and globalization. Students study how bodies, families, communities and nations are gendered in specific cultural, political and historical locations, and investigate connections to their own lives, roles and contributions.

Students wishing to declare Women and Gender Studies as their major can now do so online, via Campus Solutions. A follow-up email will be sent from the department chair. Students can also make an appointment with one of the undergraduate advisors and fill out an advising form before the appointment. View our advising page to find the form you need.

Students majoring in Women and Gender Studies may enroll in WGS courses and courses focusing on women, gender and sexuality, in any other department. The choice of electives is flexible, and your advisor will assist you in devising a program appropriate to your own needs and interests. With the consent of your academic advisor, you may also use courses with a focus on women taken at other colleges and universities as part of the Women and Gender Studies major.

The major requires at least 39 units, no more than 9 of them lower division:

  • WGS 200: Introduction to Women and Gender Studies
  • WGS 300GW: Politics of Gender, Race and Nation
  • WGS 690: Senior Seminar
  • WGS 698: Internship

27 units of electives are required, of which 21 units must be taken within the department and 6 units may be taken outside the department.

WGS electives offer exciting interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to a wide variety of subject areas. These courses include Gender, Health and Environment; Gender, Poverty and Globalization; History of African American Women; Lesbian, Queer and Transgender Identity; Gender, Race and Sexuality in Popular Music; Gender and the Law; Gender, Globalization and Women’s Human Rights; Women Writers and the Politics of Decolonization; Women in the Muslim and Arab Worlds; Queer Literatures and Media; and many others.

General Education

Students may double-count a maximum of 12 units for both General Education and the Women and Gender Studies major.

Credit/No credit

A maximum of 9 units within the major can be taken credit/no credit, but students are strongly urged to take all courses within the major for letter grades.