Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

The Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies allows students to explore questions about women’s lives, gender and sexuality from a variety of perspectives in the humanities and social sciences. Courses examine how gender and sexual identities have been and are constructed, how they intersect with the categories of race, class, and ethnicity, and how we can create a more just and equitable world for people of all genders.

This interdisciplinary program allows students to understand the world around them by examining constructions of gender and sexuality and their intimate connections to structures of race, class and ethnicity. Students are required to take an interdisciplinary introductory course (WGSS 120 ) as well as an intermediate-level theory class. They can also choose from a range of other course offerings in the humanities and social and natural sciences, including ones on feminist and queer theory, literary constructions of femininity and masculinity, the history of gender and sexuality, and the role of gender in politics, religion, the economy and human psychology. Students who pursue the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor have the opportunity to complete a capstone project on a topic of their choosing.

All students interested in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies are invited to the program’s many lectures, readings, colloquia, and other events and to apply their heightened awareness of women’s, gender, and sexuality issues to every facet of campus life. The program’s graduates go on to pursue a wide range of career paths, including ones in the law, medicine, business, education, public policy, social services and advocacy work.

Program Head: Sarah Horowitz

Core Faculty

First date is the year in which the faculty member began service as regular faculty at the University. Second date is the year of appointment to the present rank.

N. Melina Bell, Ph.D. (2005, 2017)
Professor of Philosophy and Law
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Jenefer M. Davies, M.F.A., M.A.L.S. (2006, 2020)
Professor of Dance
M.F.A., George Washington University
M.A.L.S., Hollins University

Megan Fulcher, Ph.D. (2004, 2018)
Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Science
Ph.D., University of Virginia

Genelle C. Gertz, Ph.D. (2003, 2016)
Professor of English and Associate Dean of The College for Strategic Initiatives
Ph.D., Princeton University

Sascha L. Goluboff, Ph.D. (1999, 2013)
Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Director of the Office of Community-Based Learning
Ph.D., University of Illinois

Sarah Horowitz, Ph.D. (2008, 2020)
Professor of History
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

Wan-Chuan Kao, Ph.D. (2013, 2019)
Associate Professor of English
Ph.D., City University of New York

Robin LeBlanc, Ph.D. (1998, 2008)
Professor of Politics
Ph.D., University of Oklahoma

Ellen C. Mayock, Ph.D. (1997, 2008)
Ernest Williams II Professor of Romance Languages
Ph.D., University of Texas

Domnica V. Radulescu, Ph.D. (1992, 2003)
Edwin A. Morris Professor of Comparative Literatures
Ph.D., University of Chicago

Katharine L. Shester, Ph.D. (2011, 2017)
Associate Professor of Economics
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Taylor Fontaine Walle, Ph.D. (2016, 2022)
Associate Professor of English
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Lesley M. Wheeler, Ph.D. (1994, 2006)
Henry S. Fox Professor of English
Ph.D., Princeton University

Julie A. Woodzicka, Ph.D. (2000, 2012)
Abigail Grigsby Urquhart ‘11 Term Professor of Cognitive and Behavioral Science
Ph.D., Boston College

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Courses

Courses relevant to the Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies are as follows:

The following courses may also meet program requirements when the topic is appropriate: