Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Explore important conceptual frameworks and gain deeper insight into everyday issues

The Oglethorpe minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies offers an interdisciplinary introduction to theoretical perspectives on feminism, masculinity, sex, gender, and sexuality – plus a history of women, and their meaningful contributions in many fields. Through an analysis of public and interpersonal power structures, students investigate cultural constructions of sex and gender, and their intersection with other aspects of identity.

As a student, you’ll begin with the foundational course, Gender, Culture, and Communication. The additional four required courses should be chosen from at least three different departments, ensuring that the curriculum is comprehensive and multi-disciplinary.

Course offerings include:

Women’s Studies – Theory
Women’s Studies – History
The Literature and History of Immigrant and Minority Women in America
Women Poets
Southern Women’s Literature and History
Great French Actresses and Their Film Roles

Real-World Experience
Life After Oglethorpe
Degree Requirements & Courses

Atlanta is a city filled with living history – and the long fight for human and civil rights is a particularly potent part of that history. If you’re passionate about social justice issues, and dedicated to fighting for the rights of the oppressed, this is a powerful place to learn.

Oglethorpe students with a strong interest in gender and women’s issues have completed internships at organizations like the ACLU, the Carter Center, and Red Cross International. As the program has continued to grow, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minors have been encouraged to explore an even wider variety of internships and service-learning opportunities – in areas such as assistance for immigrant and refugee women, domestic violence prevention, homeless shelters for women and children, reproductive rights organizations, rape crisis centers, and LGBTQ support programs for youth.

Undergraduate research is strongly supported at Oglethorpe, offering ambitious and intellectually curious students a chance to shine – and a way to take their interests to the next level. Students complete honors theses, present at national conferences, and share their research with their peers at the Oglethorpe Liberal Arts and Sciences Symposium. A few recent research paper titles include: “Cultivating Global Citizens: Encountering Refugees and Their Stories”; “Coming out: Building Community by Contesting Constructions of Binary Gender Identity”; and “Taking My Seat at the Table: Rediscovering Relations in the Gay Community Through Burke.”

The complex analysis and theoretical work you complete in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor will be excellent training for the intellectual challenges of any graduate program. While your career options will depend on your major, the minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is an excellent addition to other fields of study, including American Studies, Communication and Rhetoric Studies, history, English, politics, sociology, or social work.

Recent alumni are furthering their education in a number of prestigious graduate programs across the nation: pursuing master’s degrees in communication studies, nonprofit management, and public administration; earning a Ph.D. in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois Chicago, and attending law school at Emory University and Georgia State University.

See degree requirements and course descriptions in the University Bulletin.