The FGSS Major

Concentration

Since the 1960s, feminist scholarship and pedagogy have transformed existing theories and methodologies throughout the humanities, social sciences and sciences. Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary major that encourages students to explore and critique past and present cultural structures of power, focusing in particular on the social construction of gender as a category of analysis within the broader matrix of race, class, ethnicity, and sexual identity.

The core of the major is an individually designed concentration consisting of four courses. The concentration should be a well-focused topic which requires an interdisciplinary approach. When a student declares a Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies major, she or he is assigned an advisor who will sign the major acceptance card and then work with the student to design a concentration. Not all of the courses which contribute to the concentration need be FGSS  listings. Most importantly, the four courses must together make up a coherent approach to the topic of the concentration. Only two credits transferred from another institution may be applied to the major. A 500 word proposal describing the concentration must be approved by the student's advisor, and submitted to the FGSS office no later than fall semester of the junior year.

Additional Requirements for the Major:

1. Two core courses:

Gateway course (to be taken in the student's first or second undergraduate year): For the classes of '06 and '07, FGSS101, Introduction to Women's Studies AND/OR FGSS207, Gender and Political Economy in the Developing World. For the classes of '08 and thereafter, prospective majors may choose their gateway course from among several marked as such in the Program's annual listing of courses.  Note: Students who take more than one gateway course may count the other(s) they have taken toward the FGSS  major also. 

FGSS209: Feminist Theory, normally taken in the junior year. Prerequisite: FGSS101 or gateway course. Preference to junior and senior majors.

2. A distribution requirement of two courses from two different FGSS Area of Study categories; the courses must be from two different disciplines, and should not overlap in their content with courses taken for the concentration.

3. Senior Research Requirement: In the senior year, majors must complete an essay (1 credit), or a thesis (2 credits). This research must be centered on a theme or topic related to the concentration, and will be supervised by a tutor who may also be the student's advisor. During the semester or semesters in which the student completes this research, he or she must be registered with the tutor for the appropriate tutorial(s) (FGSS401 or FGSS402 for essay, or FGSS409/410 for thesis). (For Honors Thesis, see below.)

4. Senior Seminar (FGSS405): All seniors must participate in this pro-seminar.

Summary of Requirements for the Major:
(a total minimum of 10 credits)

• FGSS101 or gateway course (1 credit)
• FGSS209 (1 credit)
• Two courses for distribution (2 credits)
• Four courses composing the area of concentration (4 credits)
• Senior Research Requirement and relevant tutorial (1 or 2 credits)
• FGSS 405 Senior Seminar (1 credit)

Honors in FGSS:

Rising seniors wishing to write a Senior Honors Thesis (click here for more information) must have, at the end of their Junior year, an average of at least B+ in five of  the eight courses that count for the major. These five courses include the following: FGSS 101 or gateway course, FGSS 209 (Feminist Theory) and three of the four courses from the student's area of concentration within the major. Prospective thesis writers must submit to the FGSS Steering Committee in the second semester of the junior year a transcript on which they have identified the five courses that meet this requirement (or that will have done so by the end of the junior year).  Only students who complete the two-semester thesis can stand for honors.  Students who have not achieved a B+ average will undertake the one-semester senior essay project.