Minor in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Northeastern offers an undergraduate minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, though students need not be enrolled in the minor to take WGSS standalone, cross-listed, and affiliated courses.

The undergraduate program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) offers a wide, interdisciplinary range of courses for students who wish to explore gender and sexuality and its relation to other axes of power and identity, including race, class, ethnicity, dis/ability, and other vectors of identity. WGSS covers a variety of theoretical and empirical scholarship both within traditional disciplines and in cutting-edge, interdisciplinary frames. Our goal is for students to learn about approaches to gender and sexuality in the Social Sciences and Humanities and through frameworks that bridge traditional fields.

Minoring in the interdisciplinary WGSS program complements and deepens a variety of majors. Combining WGSS with your major field of study will open up new ways of thinking, bringing gender and sexuality studies to bear on important social and intellectual questions.

What sets WGSS apart is the freedom to take courses from across the university to complete your requirements. Students take one introductory course, providing an interdisciplinary framework for their studies. They then take three electives from a pre-approved list and two of the three must come from at least two different departments. In addition, one of these electives must be taken at the 2000 level or above. Our wide range of interdisciplinary course offerings give students the chance to explore gender and sexuality and their relation to other axes of power and identity in a variety of contexts. (Note: Students are not limited to the course list in the catalog: many times, special topics courses will have a focus on feminism, gender, or sexuality and may be reviewed for exception by the program director.)

Opportunities for Minors

Minoring in WGSS at Northeastern provides students the unique opportunity to engage with the premiere academic journal in women’s and gender studies – Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. Northeastern is the editorial home of the journal and many of our affiliated faculty serve on the editorial board. Program Director Professor Suzanna Walters serves as Editor-in-Chief and Professor Carla Kaplan is the Chair of the Board of Associate Editors. Previous WGSS minor students have completed a co-op with the journal as well as at various political and human services organizations. Minors will also have the opportunity to attend speaker series, panels, symposia, and film screenings.

Who Can Minor in WGSS?

Students from any college or major may pursue a minor in WGSS, provided that they have a 2.00 GPA. To declare your minor in WGSS today, visit the Minor Declaration Page.

See the catalog listing for the WGSS minor here. Please note that this list does not include special topics courses. If you have taken a course with significant WGSS content that is not included here, the program director may review the course syllabus to make an exception to include the course as an elective for your minor. To submit a syllabus for review, contact wgss@northeastern.edu.