Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
MAJOR AND MINOR DESCRIPTIONS BY DEPARTMENT
Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
The Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies program at the University of Pittsburgh is committed to promoting feminist and LGBTQIA activism, pedagogy, and scholarship that engage with the larger local, national, and global communities. Program offerings provide opportunities for students and faculty to explore the historical development, cultural variations, and changing representations of gender and sexuality as they organize identities, interactions, and institutions and intersect in complex ways with sex, race, class, ethnicity, ability, age, religion, and nation.
Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies Major Requirements
The goals of this major are: to educate undergraduate students in the analysis and understanding of gender as a knowledge base and critical lens through which to read critically; to write and conduct research in disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts; to begin to connect academic work with broader community interests; and to prepare students for graduate school and professional lives. The interdisciplinary nature of this major makes it ideal for students who wish to add breadth and depth to their studies in other disciplines. This major requires 30 credits, distributed as follows.
Core courses
GSWS 0100 Introduction to Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
GSWS 0500 Introduction to Feminist Theory
GSWS 0550 Sex and Sexualities
Two elective courses; choose one from each of the following groups
Group A
- GSWS 0200 Sex, Race, and Popular Culture
- GSWS 0210 Wired Women
- GSWS 0220 Contemporary Issues and Arguments
- GSWS 0350 Global LGBTQ Literature
Group B
- AFRCNA 0454 Man/Woman in Literature
- ANTH 0768 Human Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective
- ENGCMP 0203 Seminar in Composition: Gender Studies
- ENGLIT 0610 Women and Literature
- ENGLIT 0630 Sexuality and Representation
- FR 0012 French Kiss: Love, Sex, France
- GSWS 1140 Study Abroad – Pitt in China, Pitt in London, etc.
- GSWS 1900 Internship (junior or senior only)
- PSY 0184 Psychology of Gender
- SOC 0436 Social Aspects of Sexuality
- SOC 0446 Sociology of Gender
- Any course officially cross-listed with GSWS (check course offerings each semester for options)
Four upper-level courses; choose two from each group
Group A
- GSWS 1140 Special Topics in GSWS
- GSWS 1150 Global Feminisms
- GSWS 1160 Race, Glass, and Gender
- GSWS 1170 Queer Theory
- GSWS 1180 Politics of Gender and Food
- GSWS 1190 Masculinities
- GSWS 1235 Language, Gender, and Society
- GSWS 1450 Gender and Sustainability
Group B
- ADMJ 1242 Gender, Race, Class, and Crime
- AFRCNA 1309 Women of Africa and the African Diaspora
- ANTH 1738 Gender Perspectives in Anthropology
- COMMRC 1148 Rhetoric and Human Rights
- COMMRC 1160 Visual Rhetoric
- ENGFLM 1703 Gender and Film
- ENGLIT 1704 Women and Literature
- FR 1085 Women’s Voices in French Literature
- HIST 1560 Women in Latin American History
- HIST 1662 Topics in Women’s History
- LEGLST 1315 Sex, Law, and Marriage
- MUSIC 1398 Women and Music in Cross-Cultural Perspective
- PS 1622 Women and Political Theory
- PSY 1110 Psychological Aspects of Human Sexuality
- RELGST 1684 Gender and the Jewish Tradition
- SOC 1413 Marriage
- SOC 1448 Working Women
- Any 1000-level course officially cross-listed with GSWS (check course offerings each semester for options)
Capstone
- GSWS 1910 Senior Seminar: Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
Grade requirements
A minimum GPA of 2.0 is required in those courses that count toward the major. Students must also have a minimum GPA of 2.0 in all GSWS courses. Students may have no more than six credits overlap with another major or certificate.
Writing (W) requirement
Students must complete at least one writing-intensive (W) course with the GSWS subject designation. Check the Course Descriptions Web site (www.courses.as.pitt.edu) each term for writing-intensive course options.
Related area
A minimum of 12 credits is required in any one Dietrich School department or in a thematic cluster chosen in consultation with the major advisor. The completion of an official Dietrich School minor or a Dietrich School or UCIS certificate also satisfies this requirement.