The program in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
establishes gender and sexuality as fundamental categories
of social and cultural analysis. Drawing on history,
literature, cultural studies, social science, and science,
it offers interdisciplinary perspectives from which
to study the diversity of human experience. Gender -
the social meaning of the distinction between the sexes
- and sexuality - sexual identities, discourses, and
institutions - are studied as they intersect with class,
race, ethnicity, nationality, and transnational movements.
Majors choose one of two tracks: Women's and Gender
Studies (W&GS) or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,
and Queer Studies (LGBTQ). The major includes required
courses and an individual area of concentration. Women's,
Gender, and Sexuality Studies can be taken either as
a primary major or as one of two majors, in consultation
with the director of undergraduate studies and, when
appropriate, the executive coordinator of the Larry
Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies.
Students in the Women's and Gender Studies track focus
on the history, expression, and diversity (such as racial,
ethnic, religious, or class) of women's experiences,
and on the historical and theoretical construction of
the category of woman. Majors work toward supervised
independent research within the social sciences, humanities,
and natural sciences, and write a senior essay centrally
concerned with women as social actors, feminist theory
and methodology, and gender as a significant category
of social meanings.
Students in the LGBTQ track analyze social, historical,
and theoretical constructions of sexuality and identity,
including (but not limited to) gay, lesbian, bisexual,
transgendered, and queer. Majors in this track select
from a wide range of social science, humanities, and
natural science courses that foreground sexuality and
sexual difference. They work toward completing a senior
essay broadly concerned with the construction of sexual
difference as a significant category of social meanings.
Requirements of the major. The major in Women's,
Gender, and Sexuality Studies requires thirteen term
courses. Students in each track take two foundation
courses, three core intermediate courses, the junior
seminar in theory and methods, and the two-term senior
requirement. Majors also build an individual area of
concentration consisting of five elective courses in
a single disciplinary area or on a topic of particular
interest. At least one of the thirteen required courses
must focus on women, gender, or sexuality in Africa,
Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East. With permission
of the director of undergraduate studies, majors may
make an appropriate substitution for one core intermediate
course; students who are completing two majors may make
a second substitution.
Students are urged to take the foundation courses
in their freshman or sophomore year. The two foundation
courses - WGSS 295a, Women and Gender in a Transnational
Context, and WGSS 296b, Making Modern Sexual and Gender
Difference - are broadly interdisciplinary, introducing
the wide array of topics addressed by feminist and queer
scholarship on gender and on sexual identities.
The core intermediate courses are based in the disciplinary
areas of arts and literature, history, social science,
and natural science. Students must elect a core intermediate
course from three of these four disciplinary areas and
should complete at least two by the end of the junior
year.
The junior seminar, WGSS 398b, provides majors in
both tracks with grounding in theory and methodology
for the projects they will undertake during the senior
year. The joint senior colloquium, WGSS 490a, develops
research skills and plans for the senior essay, WGSS
491a or b.
Area of concentration. The area of concentration,
comprised of five electives, is planned in consultation
with the director of undergraduate studies and, when
appropriate, the executive coordinator of the Larry
Kramer Initiative for Lesbian and Gay Studies. Examples
include women's health and public policy; the history
of sexual difference; gender, race, and ethnicity; gay
and lesbian arts and intellectual history; transnational
feminism; transgender history; and theory, sexuality,
and social change.
Senior requirement. The senior requirement
consists of two courses. In the fall term of the senior
year all majors take the senior colloquium, WGSS 490a,
and begin researching and writing a senior essay. The
essay, on a topic in the area of concentration, is written
under the guidance of a faculty member in that area.
Students normally complete the senior essay in the spring
term of the senior year in WGSS 491b.
Electives. The Women's, Gender, and Sexuality
Studies program offers varied and extensive electives,
both within the framework of the program and by drawing
on the resources of other departments and programs.
Students are encouraged to investigate courses offered
by other departments and programs, the residential college
seminar program, and the graduate and professional schools
of the University, and to consult with the director
of undergraduate studies about applying these courses
toward the major.
Undergraduate
Course List
REQUIREMENTS OF THE MAJOR
Prerequisites: None
Number of courses: Thirteen term
courses (including the senior requirement)
Specific courses required: WGSS
295a, 296b, 398b
Substitution permitted: One relevant
course for an intermediate core course, with permission
of DUS
Distribution of courses: Three core
intermediate seminars in three different disciplinary
areas; five courses in area of concentration; one course
focusing on Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle
East
Senior requirement: Senior colloquium
and senior essay (WGSS 490a, 491a or b)
Official Yale College program information is found
in the Yale College Programs of Study, available on
line at www.yale.edu/yalecollege/publications/ycps.