Undergraduates

The Department of Women's & Gender Studies (WGS) offers students an opportunity to learn about the past and present achievements and experiences of women and to understand more clearly the decisive role that gender has played and continues to play in human societies.

Women's and Gender Studies is administered by a committee of faculty members appointed by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. WGS is interdisciplinary, and courses are taught in many areas of study: Anthropology, Architecture, Arts & Administration, Education, English, History, International Studies, Journalism, Literature, Philosophy, Planning & Public Policy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology, among others.

Any student may take WGS courses. Some students take a few courses to complement the curriculum in another major. Others choose to fulfill the requirements for a major or minor in WGS.

Many WGS courses satisfy group and multicultural requirements. For courses approved to fulfill these requirements, see the current list on the registrar’s website.

Preparation

No specific high school preparation is necessary. Students who transfer to the University from other colleges may apply up to 8 credits of WGS courses to the major or minor program.

Careers

Since women comprise more than half of the world's population, an understanding of their experiences, abilities, and needs is an asset to careers in such fields as education, social service, government, business, law, medicine, the ministry, journalism, counseling, and childcare. In addition, a Women's & Gender Studies background can be used as a basis for entering a growing number of graduate programs that emphasize the study of women or gender.

Majors & Honors

The Department of Women's & Gender Studies offers an undergraduate major in Women's & Gender Studies leading to a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree. Students may major in Women's & Gender Studies alone or as one of two or more majors. Majors must construct their programs in consultation with WGS advisors.

Major Requirements		48 SCH
Specific Courses		28
WGS 101	Women, Difference, and Power	4
WGS 315	History and Development of Feminist Theory	4
WGS 303	Women and Gender in American History	4
WGS 321	Feminist Perspectives: Identity, Race, and Culture	4
WGS 352	Women's Literature, Art, and Society	4
WGS 415	Advanced Feminist Theory	4
Seminars	WGS 411 Feminist Praxis	4
Electives		20
Approved courses with the WGS subject code		8
Approved upper-division courses with WGS or other subject code		12

Students should consider selecting a set of elective courses that constitute a coherent and focused course of study within the major. Students are encouraged to plan their courses with advisors to achieve this goal. All courses counting toward the major must be taken for letter grades except for: WGS 403 - Thesis WGS 405 - Reading and Conference WGS 409 - Practicum WGS 413 - Feminist Pedagogy No more than 12 credits taken pass/no pass in these courses may be counted toward the major. At least 32 credits must be in upper-division courses. At least 24 upper-division credits must be taken at the University of Oregon. WGS majors must attain a grade point average of 2.50 or higher in courses applied to the major; all graded courses in the major must be completed with grades of C- or higher. Note: Students who have declared their major before fall term 2010 may choose the requirements in place when they declared or those above.

* These 48 SCH in WGS are in addition to the requirements of the second major.

Senior Thesis in Women's and Gender Studies

Students interested in producing a substantial piece of original research and writing may elect to do a senior thesis in Women’s and Gender Studies.  Eligible students must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 in WGS.

Requirements

Students producing a senior thesis should expect to do this work over the course of a full year prior to their graduation.

Summer-Fall:  Students should identify a primary advisor who is either a faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies or an affiliate faculty member (see website for list of affiliates).   By the end of the fall term, they should have a complete draft of a research proposal approved by their thesis advisor.  Proposals will be 5-8 pages in length and will identify an important issue in the field of gender/sexuality studies and the question(s) the student wishes to pursue about the topic.  If an affiliate faculty member is advising the student, the student must have their proposal approved by their primary advisor in WGS as well.
Students would ideally have research or reading credits with their advisor during fall term.

Winter:  Students must register for WGS 405 (1-4 variable credits) and meet with the WGS 601 course “Dissertation and Research Writing.”  They will spend winter term conducting their research and writing the thesis, working closely with their advisor and attending the writing seminar (601).  By the end of winter term, students should have completed their research and be well into writing the thesis.

Spring:  Students write, revise, and produce a final draft of the thesis.  A first draft of the thesis is due in the third or fourth week of the term.  A revised (hopefully final) draft of the thesis is due in the sixth or seventh week of spring term.  The length of a senior thesis will vary, but generally they are 35-50 pages long.

 

Honors in Women's & Gender Studies

If the primary advisor feels that the thesis is of honors quality, they must seek a second reader for the thesis.  If both faculty members concur that the thesis is of honors quality the thesis will be designated honors and the student will be informed.  If the primary advisor is a WGS faculty member, the second reader can be either another WGS faculty member or an affiliate.  If the primary advisor is an affiliate of WGS, then the second reader must be a WGS faculty member.

If the senior thesis is designated honors, the student must file the thesis in the WGS main office and their degree will indicate that they graduated with honors in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Minors

Students must apply for the WGS or QS minor in the Women's & Gender Studies office well in advance of graduation for transcript evaluation. In order to be eligible for the minor, students must complete all degree requirements and a major in another academic department.

Women's and Gender Studies Minor

WGS Minor Requirements		24 SCH
WGS 101	Women, Difference, and Power	4
WGS Elective Courses		8
Approved upper-division courses with WGS or other subject code		12

• Minor candidates are strongly urged to take at least one term of History and Development of Feminist Theory (WGS 315, 415).
• No more than 6 credits of Reading and Conference (WGS 405) and Practicum (WGS 409) may be counted toward the minor.
• No more than 8 credits may be taken pass/no pass. All graded courses in the minor must be completed with grades of C- or higher.
• No more than 8 credits may count toward both the minor and the student's major.
• At least 16 credits applied to the Women's & Gender Studies minor must be taken at the University of Oregon.

Queer Studies Minor

The Queer Studies (QS) minor is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary program whose goal is the study of sexuality as a complex historical and cultural formation. Rather than understand sexuality as merely a feature of private intimacy or as a result of unchanging biological forces, the QS minor approaches the study of sexuality in relation to the social construction of gender, race, ability, class, and citizenship.  

As a program committed to critical thinking and social analysis, the QS minor introduces students not only to the complex histories, cultures, political activities, and expressions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people, but it also raises questions about larger social and institutional formations. For instance, QS is particularly interested in the assumptions, language, and power of science, medicine, law, and religion to explain and regulate sexuality and the social relations based on it. In this way, QS places emphasis on the knowledge and activism generated by sexual minorities, as it explores the social construction of sexual identities and their connections to practices and discourses accepted as normal. Queer Studies focuses on the social and political forces shaping norms (particularly those pertaining to sexuality, gender expression, and family formation) and conversely how these norms come to be challenged either through their own internal contradictions or through pointed interventions of activists seeking social justice.

Requirements		24 SCH
WGS 201	Introduction to Queer Studies	4
WGS/QS	Lower or Upper Division	4
Approved upper-division courses with WGS or other subject code		16
A minimum of 16 of the 24 credit hours must be graded.

All students will be required to satisfactorily complete (grade of C-/P or better) 24 credit hours of course work in Queer Studies approved by the Queer Studies Steering Committee. A minimum of 16 credit hours must be graded. 16 credit hours must be earned at the University of Oregon. No more than 8 credits may count toward both the minor and the student's major. 

Students may have up to 8 credit hours from pre-approved courses from another University or approved overseas programs.  Transfer credits from other universities will be considered on an individual basis, following existing procedures in appropriate departments for determining their equivalence to University of Oregon courses.