Earn your BA in Gender, Women's, & Sexuality Studies
Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies teaches you skills such as: critical thinking, research, writing, activism and advocacy. These skills are required in a range of academic disciplines and professions. GWSS majors can work in numerous setting such as research / advocacy / policy & programming / government and nonprofit agencies / human resources / fundraising / counseling / education / publishing / international development / or activist work. With a GWSS major, you can continue your studies in numerous academic programs or professional schools such as women's and gender studies, history, anthropology, area studies and schools of law, public health, business and journalism.
A GWSS major is also personally fulfilling and helps students to understand issues of race, class, gender & sexuality in the US and internationally.
To declare GWSS as your first or second major, go to the College of Liberal Arts Academic Programs and Student Development Office, 120 Schaeffer Hall. Although there is no formal mechanism for declaring a minor, we encourage all those contemplating a minor to meet with the undergraduate advisor or another member of the GWSS Faculty.
Course Requirements
The BA in GWSS will be awarded on the successful completion of at least 39 semester hours (26 of which must be completed at the University of Iowa) of coursework culminating in the senior research seminar. The senior seminar will also provide a mechanism for Honors students to produce their theses. The modest number of required hours will make the GWSS major a reasonable choice for students pursuing double majors or multiple minors and/or certificates, along the lines of other majors in liberal arts fields (e.g., English, history, linguistics, anthropology). New majors may transfer up to 12 credit hours with the approval of the advisor.
Courses
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| All of these: | ||
| GWSS:1001 | Introduction to Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies | 3 |
| GWSS:1002 | Diversity and Power in the US | 3 |
| GWSS:3005 | GWSS Practicum | 3 |
Theory
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| One of these: | ||
| GWSS:3100 | LGBTQ/Queer Studies | 3 |
| GWSS:3200 | Theories for Gender, Women's & Sexuality Studies | 3 |
Transnational Theory
| Course # | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| One of these: | ||
| GWSS:3010 | Transnational Sexualities | 3 |
| GWSS:3326 | The Politics of Progress: NGOs, Development, and Sexuality | 3 |
| GWSS:3350 | Transnational Feminism | 3 |
| One GWSS course with a global/comparative focus | 3 | |
| One GWSS or other course with a race/ethnicity in the US focus | 3 | |
Students choose elective courses from this list of courses. They must complete at least four electives (minimum of 12 s.h.), earning at least 6 s.h. in courses numbered 3000 or above. Students can count GWSS distribution area requirement courses as electives if they were not used to fulfill their area requirements. With the instructor's permission, honors students may enroll in a graduate-level course numbered 5000 or above and count it toward the electives requirement.
In choosing electives, students are encouraged to pursue a course of study that emphasizes breadth and depth in a focus area. They may choose courses through which they gain deeper knowledge within a specific discipline, such as English, Communication Studies, Social Work, Anthropology, or History. This is especially useful for students pursuing double majors, since they may count toward the GWSS major a maximum of three courses they complete for the other major.
Students may also choose courses that allow them to focus on interdisciplinary fields such as sexuality studies, girls’ and women’s studies, global and transnational studies, or studies in race and ethnicity or in subjects areas such as social justice or health.
Students may request permission to use upper-level courses not listed, but for the course to be approved at least half of the course's content and requirements must focus on gender and/or sexuality. For information on requesting permission to use a course not listed, contact the GWSS undergraduate adviser.
Students first take GWSS:3900 in the fall semester of their final year, which focuses on developing advanced research, reading, and writing skills and choosing capstone topics. In the spring of their senior year, students take GWSS:4090, a research and writing workshop in which students work collaboratively with their classmates to complete their creative or scholarship capstone work, including creating a poster for the end of the semester Senior Research Poster Show.
Students who write an honors thesis enroll in GWSS:4095 in the spring semester of their senior year.
| This course: | ||
| GWSS:3900 | Research for Public Engagement | 3 |
| One of these: | ||
| GWSS:4090 | Senior Research Seminar | 3 |
| GWSS:4095 | Honors Senior Thesis | 3 |
TOTAL HOURS: 39 semester hours
In the fall semester of their final year, students complete SJUS:3400 which requires community service work at a related social justice organization. In the spring of their senior year, students complete SJUS:4080, in which they develop an individual creative or scholarly project that pulls together their lived and community experiences, their academic learning, and significant research. The project culminates with a poster displayed at the Senior Research Poster Show.
Students who write an honors thesis enroll in SJUS:4085 in the spring semester of their senior year.
| This course: | ||
| SJUS:3400/GWSS:3400 | Advocacy and Engagement Colloquium | 3 |
| One of these: | ||
| SJUS:4080 | Advocacy and Engagement Capstone | 3 |
| SJUS:4085 | Social Justice Bachelor of Arts Honors Senior Thesis | 3 |
TOTAL HOURS: 39 semester hours
How to Declare a Major
Students advised at the Academic Advising Center (C210 Pomerantz Center) may declare or change majors in that office. Students with a declared major in a CLAS department may declare or change majors at CLAS Undergraduate Programs (120 Schaeffer Hall). Students are generally assigned an advisor when the major is declared; in some cases, students visit with the departmental office of the major to ask for or change advisors.
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