Program Requirements and Opportunities

Gender and Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary program committed to the study of the range of questions raised by the categories of gender and sexuality, considered historically, materially, and cross-culturally. Courses in the program investigate gender and sexual variance, gender and sexual roles and socialization, and gender and sexual bias, as they intersect with race, class, disability, religion, and nationality.

Students choosing a concentration, minor, or independent major in Gender and Sexuality Studies plan their programs in consultation with the Gender and Sexuality Studies director. Members of the Gender and Sexuality Studies steering committee serve as their individual mentors. All students in the program take an introductory course and the junior seminar, "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality." Other courses in the program allow students to explore a range of themes, approaches, and methodologies, including gender studies; feminist theory, queer theory, and trans studies; LGBTQIA+ history; transnational and third-world feminisms; women of color feminism and queer/trans of color critique; and science and technology studies.

Concentration and Minor Requirements

Six courses distributed as follows are required for the concentration:

• An introductory course (including equivalent offerings at Swarthmore College or the University of Pennsylvania).
• The junior seminar: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Sex and Gender (alternating fall semesters between Bryn Mawr and Haverford).
• Four additional approved courses from at least two different departments, two of which are normally at the 300 level. Units of Independent Study (403) may be used to fulfill this requirement.
• Of the six courses, no fewer than two and no more than three will also form part of the student's major.

Requirements for the minor are identical to those for the concentration, with the stipulation that no courses in gender and sexuality will overlap with courses taken to fulfill requirements in the student's major.

Neither a senior seminar nor a senior thesis is required for the concentration or minor; however, with the permission of the major department, a student may choose to count toward the concentration a senior thesis with significant content in gender and sexuality. Students wishing to construct an independent major in gender and sexuality should make a proposal to the Committee on Independent Majors.

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